Rick Perry vs World

18 April 2006

DeLay cover story

I know this belongs over at my Tom DeLay / CD 22 blog, but I'll cross post it here.

The May issue of Texas Monthly features a Tom DeLay cover story by Paul Burka.

I haven't read it yet. I'm extremely busy between a number of different things, so you may or may not get my thoughts on the piece. I barely have time to eat and sleep.

Posted by Evan @ 04/18/06 11:20 PM | Comments (0)

03 April 2006

DeLay resigns

DeLay has announced that he will not be running for re-election.

Rumor is that DeLay will step down before his term is over, so we might have a special election too.

I'm all over it (or trying to be) at DeLay vs World.

Posted by Evan @ 04/03/06 10:11 PM | Comments (0)

02 April 2006

Zogby online poll

Perry 36%
Bell 21%
Friedman 19%
Strayhorn 17%

Online polls should be taken with a very big grain of salt.

Posted by Evan @ 04/02/06 09:33 PM | Comments (7)

21 March 2006

No recent media polls

We haven't had any media polls on the gubernatorial race recently. I wonder how long it will be until the next?

Maybe news organizations have decided not to waste any more money on polls and surveys until they have a better idea of what the ballot will look like.

Posted by Evan @ 03/21/06 03:10 AM | Comments (2)

Special session.

Rick Perry's release:

Gov. Rick Perry today announced that he will call a special session of the legislature beginning on Monday, April 17, at 2 p.m.

"The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that Texas' current tax system must be reformed by June 1," Perry said. "This special session provides legislators of both parties a rare opportunity to significantly reduce property taxes, make substantial reforms to the franchise tax so it is fairer and broader, and ensure our schools have a reliable and constitutional stream of revenue."

The governor will issue a proclamation outlining the specific issues for the session at a later date.

Would it surprise you that Strayhorn had a reaction, and that she wasn't complimentary of Perry?

Strayhorn, who brought her independent campaign for governor to San Antonio, said Perry deliberately delayed convening a special session until after the primaries, so Republicans didn't have to deal with the issue at the same time they were on the campaign trail.

"Now he is punting it as far as he can go to get everybody past runoff elections," she said. "It is purely for political and partisan reasons."

We've got a month until the special. Anyone want to take odds on what the Legislature will accomplish (or won't)?

I know this is olds, not news. But I'm trying to catch up.

Posted by Evan @ 03/21/06 03:07 AM | Comments (1)

19 March 2006

Strayhorn gets Sanchez, Price. Friedman gets Willie

AP:

Two [names that Carole Strayhorn] likes to point out: Former Democratic nominee for governor Tony Sanchez and former House Speaker Rayford Price, who left the Democrats to become a Republican.

Sanchez ran for governor in 2002 but lost in a landslide to Gov. Rick Perry, who Strayhorn hopes to challenge in November. Price was a Democrat when he was House speaker in 1972 before switching to the Republican Party in 1973.

Strayhorn, who was elected state comptroller as a Republican, and writer-humorist-musician Kinky Friedman are both collecting signatures in order to get on the Nov. 7 ballot as independents.

Friedman launched a new radio ad touting biodiesel as a fuel alternative with country music star Willie Nelson as his pitchman. Nelson tells listeners, "I'll be one of those signatures. I hope you will, too."

Willie was already expected.

Sanchez and Price are surprises. It's worth pointing out that Sanchez isn't exactly the staunchest Democrat, having support George W. Bush while governor, and becoming a big enough fundraiser for Bush's 2000 presidential campaign to be named a Pioneer.

Still, it's a blow to Bell. I'll have more on this soon, when I'll offer updated thoughts on the race in partial response to Royal Masset's recent QR column.

Posted by Evan @ 03/19/06 10:54 PM | Comments (0)

Friedman caught drinking beer at parade in violation of law

AP:

Gubernatorial hopeful Kinky Friedman rode in a St. Patrick's Day parade car Saturday with his trademark black hat and burning cigar — plus a beer in his hand, an apparent violation of the state's open container law.

A spokeswoman for Friedman, the author and musician running as an independent, acknowledged that the candidate drank from a can of Guinness handed to him. State law prohibits opened alcoholic beverages in the passenger area of a motor vehicle. The Class C misdemeanor carries a maximum fine of $500.

"Guinness is the drink that kept the Irish from taking over the world. It would be unthinkable not to have a Guinness during a St. Patrick's Day parade. In fact, it would be spiritually wrong," Friedman said in a statement issued by spokeswoman Laura Stromberg.

The Dallas police didn't ticket Friedman, because no officer witnessed the imbibing of the libations. They aren't planning to ticket him, despite photos.

In typical style, Friedman said:

Yes, I admit to holding a Guinness. I even admit to drinking it. But I did not swallow.

Having a swig of Guinness during a St. Patrick's Day Parade doesn't really seem like a worthy ticket to me. And Friedman and I have something in common: we both had free Guinness on the 17th.

However, I think that it's arguably a bad headline for voters to read as they form initial impressions of Friedman as a gubernatorial candidate. While disgruntled voters won't mind, they are also less likely to vote, because voting is a habit. Somebody like Ventura didn't win solely because of disgruntled voters, but because they were able to persuade frequent voters as well.

So all in all, maybe a dumb story/scandal, but probably not a good one for Friedman.

Posted by Evan @ 03/19/06 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

Lowest primary turnout in decades

Hoppe -- DMN:

Even Republican Secretary of State Roger Williams, who predicted a paltry 13 percent turnout, was caught being overly optimistic.

"We don't know why the turnout was low, and certainly this office is disappointed," spokesman Scott Haywood said.

He said he should make it clear that TV commercials running statewide and starring Mr. Williams were not part of a failed get-out-the-vote effort. They were designed to inform voters about where to vote and that they would be casting ballots on new electronic equipment – part of a $5 million voter education drive.

"We're pretty pleased with the results. Things went really well with the new equipment," he said.

Mr. Haywood said that if any one factor was significant, it was that Democrats failed to show up. "I couldn't find a Democratic primary that was lower," he said.

The Democratic primary drew 4 percent of registered voters, the GOP primary 5 percent.

Primary turnout was low, but it is probably not because people chose to stay home and sign petitions.

The Dems had a big race in 2002 -- Sanchez vs. Morales. Sanchez spents lots of money turning people out. This year, the primary wasn't nearly as high-profile, and Democratic turnout went from a million to 600K. Meanwhile, just like four years ago, there weren't any big races for the GOP, and turnout was only up a modest amount (less than 10%).

So unless you think lots more people were going to come to the polls this year, it's probably not because of Strayhorn or Friedman or their petitions. Individual voter behavior is not easily malleable in the aggregate.

Posted by Evan @ 03/19/06 10:36 PM | Comments (0)

Misc.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you should know that when I say that I'll have a post on Saturday, I really mean that I'll have a post on Monday...at the earliest.

In the meantime, let me point you to a new blog, Right of Texas. There aren't enough center-right Texas bloggers, so drop by and say hi. He's much more prolific than I am.

EDIT to add the italics for accuracy.

Posted by Evan @ 03/19/06 05:17 PM | Comments (1)