Cruz Versus Dewhurst the Final Debate

FIRST PERSON | HOUSTON -- The King Street Patriots, a Houston tea party group, flexed some big muscles and hosted what was most likely the final debate between Ted Cruz and David Dewhurst before the run-off election for the Republican primary Senate nomination that will take place on next Tuesday.

I had to see this. The only thing I knew about the duo, Cruz and Dewhurst, was that they are running non-stop ads against each other. In my opinion, if I just had to go by the ads, Dewhurst would be the winner. He said Cruz worked for the Chinese, after all. However, I learned a long time ago, never get your information about a candidate from his or her opponent. So I did myself a favor and went directly to the sources. I heard it straight from both of them, live and in person. I'm glad I did.

The debate was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the King Street Patriots headquarters. This excited me on its own. I'm not a tea partier, but only because I can't seem to muster up enough righteous indignation to attend meetings. However, I am definitely a sympathizer. I respect the energy, spirit and ferocity of the party. The party's ability to organize and make things happen is impressive. This would be my first up-close and personal look at the movement and I was really looking forward to it.

The venue itself was about as big as a gymnasium. The room was partially lined with large banners that were made to look like parchments with saying from Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and other founding fathers. There were also large orange round Japanese paper-type lanterns hung about -- why I don't know, they weren't giving off any light. Maybe they were meant to give a festive feel to an otherwise mundane event. The audience was seated in folding chairs packed tightly into the space.

The makeup of the crowd was just as I expected. It looked like your typical homeowners association meeting: mainly middle-aged white people with their arms crossed. There was about a 10 percent non-white contingent also. That was good to see. There were also many young people (younger than 25) in attendance.

The debaters entered the room and climbed onto the stage separately to about an equal amount of applause for each of them. Ted Cruz has been called the Tea Party favorite, so I'm guessing the applause for Dewhurst was from non-members. The debate itself shed no new light on anything. The only hint of excitement that happened during the debate was when a spectator, in grand Tea Party fashion, yelled "You Lie" at a perfectly timed moment.

The debate did give me the opportunity to get a feel for each candidate. As for positions on issues, there really isn't all that much difference, so for me the choice is a strictly "gut check" one. It's Cruz, hands down. Dewhurst seemed spent and there was nothing fresh about him or his delivery. Cruz just seemed smarter.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cruz-versus-dewhurst-final-debate-125100517.html

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