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Bully Pulpit GOP Senate candidate urging Texas to secede By Greg Rohloff If the campaign war chest is any indication, incumbent John Cornyn can count on making campaign appearances throughout the summer while his Republican primary opponent will be making plans to carry on his quest another day.
Amarillo native Larry Kilgore, who last challenged Rick Perry for the governorship in the 2006 primary, is seeking Cornyn's seat in the Senate, not so much as a means of influencing government domestic and foreign policies, but more as a bully pulpit to urge Texans to secede from the Union and become an independent nation governed by biblical principles. According to Kilgore's blog on his Web site, those principles refer to ending abortion and punishing women who have had abortions. Kilgore stopped in Amarillo a week ago to address the Ron Paul supporters and the Junior Statesmen of America chapter. The Independent caught up with Kilgore by telephone as he was campaigning in Waco earlier this week. All told, Kilgore says he is running his campaign on $9,000 in donations. The Cornyn campaign, on the other hand, has $7.5 million in its pockets. That disparity doesn't deter Kilgore, drawing allusions to the Alamo and the ultimate outcome of that drive for independence. The Cornyn campaign is not taking the primary for granted, said Kevin McLaughlin, Cornyn's campaign communications director. "We don't take any challenge lightly," McLaughlin said, adding that the senator respects Kilgore's right to his views on secession and his right to seek election. Kilgore, a graduate of Palo Duro High School, first became aware of the secessionist movement in 2004 when he attended the League of the South Convention and listened to one of the speakers, Michael Peroutka, the Constitution Party's candidate for president in 2004. Peroutka campaigned on a restoration of states' rights and a weaker federal government, positions the party believes to be closer to the vision of the Founding Fathers. And while the League of the South seeks to resurrect the Confederacy, Kilgore believes Texas is large enough to be an independent nation on its own, noting its population and gross domestic product exceed Australia's. "I'm sure the people of Texas would love to be a free nation," Kilgore said, adding that the secessionist movement has attracted both left- and right-wing groups, largely in reaction to the federal foreign policy and the intervention of the United States in the Middle East. And if he were elected? Kilgore feasts on that prospect, as unlikely as it appears. "I doubt I'd ever appear in the Senate, although I'd love to get the $180,000 a year paycheck." Instead, he says, he'd approach the Texas Legislature and the governor to call a special session to vote on secession and, if approved, to negotiate a breakaway with Congress. His election should be considered a mandate to secede, he said, with the Legislature evolving into the governing body. E-mail
comments about this story Posted: February 14, 2008
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