Rick Perry vs World

24 June 2006

Everybody wants a nickname

Texas law allows political candidates to be called by a nickname on the ballot. And apparently everyone wants a nickname. Chris Bell is actually R. Christopher Bell, Rick Perry's real name is James Richard Perry, and Kinky Friedman isn't known by anyone as Richard.

As probably everyone reading this knows, Carole Keeton Strayhorn apparently wants to be on the ballot as Carole Keeton Grandma Strayhorn. She's never been on the ballot as Strayhorn before. Last time she was Carole Keeton Rylander.

Is Grandma a nickname? Or a slogan? Secretary of State Roger Williams says slogan, but is giving her a chance to prove otherwise:

"It appears that your use of the term 'Grandma' within your name constitutes a slogan," Williams said in a letter to Strayhorn, explaining that the Texas Election Code bans the use of a slogan as a nickname.

He asked Strayhorn to provide any information to verify that "Grandma" doesn't constitute a political slogan. Secretary of State's Office spokesman Scott Haywood noted that "Grandma" even appeared on the campaign letterhead Strayhorn used in asking that her name be listed as "Carole Keeton 'Grandma' Strayhorn" on the ballot.

Strayhorn calls herself "one tough grandma" and says she's been known by the nickname since being elected Texas comptroller in 1998. Strayhorn ran as a Republican for that office, but opted out of the GOP primary this year against Perry to run for governor as an independent.

At an unrelated news conference Friday afternoon, Strayhorn said she has been known as "Grandma" for more than 11 years and said people call her that everywhere she goes.

"I am not a slogan. I am a grandma," she said, displaying a photo of her newest granddaughter.

Seems to me that there are several categories of nicknames here:
1) Middle names commonly used as a first name, eg Perry or Bell.
2) Nicknames derived from the name, eg Junior.
3) Nicknames not related to name in anyway, eg Kinky Friedman.
4) Slogans

I fall into the third category, so I have some familiarity here. Evan isn't my real name, although nobody knows me by my real name, and only close friends could probably tell you my real name. If you were to call me my real name, I wouldn't respond because I'd assume you weren't talking to me. These sorts of complications can occasionally get annoying.

It's tough for me to see how Strayhorn will convince Roger Williams (or a court, depending perhaps on the standard of review) that Grandma is a name. It seems like a slogan to me. I've never heard her referred to as "Grandma" outside of "One Tough Grandma," which seems to be undeniably a slogan (and a very effective one at that). Thus I'd conclude she probably won't be on the ballot as Grandma. That's a shame for her, because it is something that voters connect with her.

On the other hand, I think you should be able to get on the ballot as anything you want, under the 1st Amendment.

Posted by Evan @ 06/24/06 05:58 PM | Comments (2)

22 June 2006

Bell returns illegal gift

From the McAllen Monitor:

The Chris Bell for Governor campaign has returned a collection of gemstones after learning the donor -- a Mexican national staying in McAllen -- is not a permanent resident of the United States, which makes the contribution illegal.

Max Garcia gave the campaign several stones including a ruby, a sapphire and an emerald, valued at $8,225 by a campaign-hired appraiser.

Bell listed the gift on the disclosure report filed last week with the state. That report included a false McAllen address for Garcia, which the campaign said Garcia furnished.

Since February when he offered the gemstones, Garcia told campaign workers in the course of conversation that he had the legal status necessary to give the gift, said Jason Stanford, spokesman for the Bell campaign.

But what Stanford called several "red flags" about the gift led to a personal phone conversation between Bell and Garcia this week, during which Garcia told the Democratic candidate he was in the United States on a tourist visa, Stanford said.

"He had told us two different stories about whether or not he had the legal status to give us those gemstones, and once we got the second story we decided to give those back," Stanford said.

Garcia confirmed on Wednesday he is staying in McAllen on a tourist visa and said he never lied about his legal status. He thinks the campaign assumed he was allowed to give the gift, he said.

In an election cycle where immigration is a hot-button issue, this is fodder for a potential attack ad.

On the other hand, who wants to attack Chris Bell right now? And who will in the future? Perry is unlikely to use this unless things look awfully bleak for him. Strayhorn and Friedman will probably keep training their fire on Perry. Unless Strayhorn decides to fire back as a warning since Bell has been attacking her.

Posted by Evan @ 06/22/06 08:30 PM | Comments (0)

We're on! Four-way race!

The race is on. It's the not-often-seen four-way race! Here's the Chron's Clay Robison:

Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn and author-musician Kinky Friedman have qualified for spots on the November ballot as independent candidates for governor, Secretary of State Roger Williams ruled today.

Williams, the state's chief elections officer, deferred a decision on whether Strayhorn will be allowed to use the nickname, "Grandma," on the ballot, as she has requested. The secretary of state needs to do more research on that issue, a spokesman said.

Williams said Strayhorn and Friedman far exceeded collecting the 45,540 signatures that each needed for a ballot spot. All signers had to be registered voters who didn't cast ballots in either major party's primary or runoff elections.

After a preliminary review, Williams certified 108,512 of the 222,514 signatures submitted by Strayhorn and 137,154 of the 170,258 signatures submitted by Friedman.

So, it was obvious from the start that any serious candidate should be able to get on the ballot. I was saying that from the start. And it was obvious during the signature gathering period that they would get enough signatures. Then they turned plenty in.

But now we know for sure that they are on the ballot. Let the games begin, R. Chris, J. Richard, Richard, and Carole.

In other news, Steve Stockman will not face Democrat Nick Lampson and Republican To-Be-Named-Later. He didn't gather nearly enough signatures.

Posted by Evan @ 06/22/06 08:19 PM | Comments (0)

08 June 2006

World Cup begins tomorrow

Since I'm going to spend the next month being obsessed with the World Cup without enough people to discuss it with, I'm going to have a month-long World Cup blog.

What's it called? You guessed it. USA vs. World.

Posted by Evan @ 06/08/06 04:04 PM | Comments (0)

02 June 2006

Rick Perry calls Chris Bell "my principal opponent"

Chris Elam is liveblogging the Texas Republican Convention over at Texas Safety Forum.

1:13 - Perry just referred to Chris Bell as "my principal opponent." What an ego boost for the Mandate!

Not too surprising that Perry is poking Strayhorn at the GOP convention.

Posted by Evan @ 06/02/06 01:54 PM | Comments (0)

21 May 2006

I'm back; where I've been

I intend to pick up blogging again, starting now.

Where've I been? Well, I've been very busy making money, dealing with general life, and taking law school finals. Probably in that order. Blogging fell by the wayside in the list of priorities. In the meantime, I also recently had a birthday (I turned...old), my once-freshmen at Rice graduated (at about the same time as my birthday) meaning that I don't know anyone on campus at my alma mater anymore, and I moved out of my old house. Unfortunately, I don't have internet at my new house, which is why I haven't been blogging for the past week as I promised.

I intend to do quite a bit of blogging this summer, and there may even be a new blogging project or two in the works. My plan for the month of June is to watch soccer. Lots and lots of soccer. The World Cup spans from June 9 to July 9, and I plan to watch every game. I've never had cable during the World Cup before, and so I intend to do something I've always wanted to do: watch lots of World Cup soccer. Unfortunately, the United States received the worst possible first-round pairing and is unlikely to go through to the second round.

I'll also be doing several other things this summer: studying for the GMAT, deciding what I want to do next year, making the occasional dollar, going to friends' weddings, and lots of reading. In the past four days I've read about 7 books. It's been glorious. One of those books was Ben Barnes' memoir, and I hope to have a review up soon.

As for what I'll be doing next year, it could be one of several things (not listed in order of probability): law school, getting a job in the energy trading field (feel free to pass along contacts!), joining the Army or Marines, getting a job doing something else, getting a job in politics such as working in the 80th General Session of the Texas Legislature, starting a business that I've wanted to start for a long time (and almost started once before), or taking the year off before business school (depending on my GMAT score, but my goal would be to go to Chicago and if not, then to Texas or A&M). Many people insist that I should go back to law school, but I've never particularly desired to be an attorney, and I'm not particularly happy at the law school I've been at (eg, it's not Chicago Law). Yes, there is something alluring to me about the University of Chicago: it has a certain mystique. It's "the place where fun goes to die," after all! Actually, that's exactly why I want to go there. It's definitely not the weather, and my heart would pine for Texas for the duration.

The future is bright, if hazy. Having options is wonderful. If you have guidance, wisdom, or job offers, I'd love to listen. In the meantime, hopefully I'll have something interesting to say about politics.

Posted by Evan @ 05/21/06 11:18 PM | Comments (1)

Newest Texas Monthly

The newest Texas Monthly has a bunch of good articles.

Most germane to this blog is the long S.C. Gwynne take on Chris Bell and his chances in the gubernatorial race.

There's also a very interesting interview with GOP moneygiver Dr. James Leininger, as well as an article by Virginia Postrel on her kidney donation surgery and an Evan Smith interview with Betty Flores, the mayor of Laredo.

Posted by Evan @ 05/21/06 10:58 PM | Comments (0)

Random political notes

Dr. Whited sent along this HouChron article, and asked what I thought.

The Asian-American community, which is approaching the growth rate of Latinos in some parts of Texas, contributes to a shifting demographic landscape that may eventually return the state to Democratic control, according to a panelist discussing the group's emergence Saturday at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

The diversity of the cultures and languages encompassed by the Census Bureau category of "Asian" makes it difficult to reliably chart voting trends, said Robert Stein, dean of the School of Social Sciences at Rice University. But he added that the group clearly resists voting Republican; a shift that is otherwise common to upwardly mobile populations.

The article is headlined, "Asian-American growth seen as a boon for Dems."

Here's a slightly (and quickly!) edited version of what I wrote Kevin back:

Perhaps Dr. Stein makes a better case in his paper than this article. Unless anything has changed in the last few years, if you factor out Hawaii, Asians break close to 50-50 partisanship-wise. Minor caveat: it depends of course on who you count as "Asian." The exact percentage depends on how many countries you include as being part of Asia.

Obviously, it also depends what specific Asian ethnicities are represented in Texas. The Vietnamese and Chinese (particularly second half of the 20th century immigrants and their children) are historically the most GOP ethnic groups in the US. Generally, the Japanese and Koreans are the Dem-leaning ethnic groups, although how much so can also vary by state. I don't have numbers for the ethnic makeup of Asian Texans (This is not necessarily the preferred nomenclature), and I won't speculate here.

The article makes it unclear what exactly Dr. Stein was propounding.

I'm skeptical that this will be a factor in Texas' statewide elections in the next decade or two. However, I'll try to track down the article or Dr. Stein and see what his thesis really is.

Posted by Evan @ 05/21/06 10:53 PM | Comments (0)

11 May 2006

I'll be returning to blogging imminently

If by "imminently," I mean that I'll be blogging again sometime this weekend.

In the meantime, I've been told to link to my friend Andy's band: General Noise.

Posted by Evan @ 05/11/06 06:24 PM | Comments (0)

19 April 2006

Two quick notes

1. With the news that Scott McClellan is resigning as White House Press Secretary, does that mean he's coming home to work on mom's campaign? Does Mark Sanders need to worry about his job?

I'm kidding of course. I expect McClellan will probably get a little more involved in his mom's campaign behind the scenese, but I doubt he'll be the public face given who I assume the Strayhorn's campaign target voters are (I suppose this could've changed; I haven't had the time to be paying attention.)

2. I met Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz today. He entertained us with some stories about arguing in front of the Supreme Court. I've heard very good things about this guy, and I can see why. Also, he held my dream job: clerking for the late Chief Justice Rehnquist.

I can definitely see both Cruz and George P. Bush being future statewide officeholders.

(In case you're wondering, I don't have the time to be posting this. I may try and post some this weekend, but no promises.)

Posted by Evan @ 04/19/06 02:59 PM | Comments (3)

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