Pro-Bush or anti-Bush, it’s as simple as that

The case for Democratic candidate Barbara Radnofsky over Texas senior senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is pretty straightforward. If you think George Bush has done a good job as president, you should vote for Hutchison. If you think George Bush has done a bad job as president, you should vote for Radnofsky. It’s just as simple as that.

Unlike some Texas Republicans, Kay Bailey Hutchison has not defined herself with much controversy or rhetorical bomb-throwing in Congress. She garnered a little controversy last year when she said of Bush official Scooter Libby’s indictment that she hopes, “It is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality.” Perjury must have become a less serious crime in the past eight years, since Hutchison voted to remove President Clinton from office for perjury in 1998.

Hutchison also toyed with the idea of running for governor this year and traded some public barbs with Republican Governor Rick Perry, but she ultimately decided to stay in the Senate after being pressured by Republican Senate leadership.

For the most part, Hutchison has remained a quiet, loyal Republican backbencher in the U.S. Senate, almost universally supportive of President Bush’s agenda. She has been a stalwart supporter of the war in Iraq, Bush’s tax cuts and a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages; and she has claimed that global warming “lacks scientific evidence.” Those issues and a host of others provide a good contrast to the candidate who should win the election this fall.

Take the issue of net neutrality, for instance. Imagine an entire section of the Internet relegated to the dark days of dial-up modems. That’s what would happen if we do not enforce “net neutrality,” which requires Internet service providers to provide access to everything on the Internet at the same speed. If the telecommunications lobby eventually gets its way on this issue, any ISP could slow whatever content it finds objectionable. Imagine going on YouTube to watch a Bill O’Reilly or Al Franken clip and finding one blazing fast and the other as slow as AOL. While Hutchison opposes net neutrality, Radnofsky has consistently supported it.

Kay Bailey Hutchison also has an interesting history on choice. Texas’ senior senator has built a “moderate” reputation because she does not believe Roe v. Wade should be overturned. But she still calls herself pro-life, has voted for types of abortion bans that have no exceptions for the mother’s health and voted against $100 million in funds for health care service to help prevent unwanted pregnancies. She also voted to confirm Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito, whom many have predicted would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Radnofsky represents the new direction our country needs to go in the next six years and is a fine person to take us there. She is a native Houstonian and has been a lawyer at the downtown law firm Vincent & Elkins for nearly 30 years. She is pro-choice, believes strongly that the United States should begin a phased redeployment of our troops, supports civil unions for GLBT couples and net neutrality, and believes the United States should do more to combat the very real effects of global warming. Radnofsky faces an uphill battle in a Republican state like Texas, but I can tell you from meeting her firsthand that she is a strong advocate for what she believes and would make an excellent U.S. senator.

Kay Bailey Hutchison hasn’t been much of a headline grabber in the decade or so she’s been in Washington, but that makes the choice in the election even starker. If you want more of what President Bush has offered, vote Hutchison. If you want a change, vote Radnofsky. It’s as simple as that.

Ryan Goodland is a Lovett College senior and president of Rice Young Democrats.

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