Rick Perry vs World

29 November 2005

Kinky is in the valley

Kinky Friedman will spend most of his time trying to encourage college students and professors to vote for him. If past stops are any indication, much of that encouragement will come in the way of jokes.

Friedman’s strategy is to bring new voters to the polls, so college campuses are full of potential, said Laura Stromberg, press secretary for Friedman.

“We need to bring new voters into the electorate, and obviously young open-minded people are a good place to start,” she said.

Friedman is a country singer, satirist and mystery novel writer. His campaign slogan, “Why the Hell Not?” says a lot about his campaign. He faces significant hurdles to getting his name on the ballot, but insists he is a serious candidate.

Friedman will speak at 12:30 p.m. today at the SET-B Lecture Hall at the University of Texas at Brownsville. The event will be followed by a book-signing at 1:30 p.m.

Tonight, he will host a will host a $125-per-person fundraiser at the Sea Ranch at South Padre Island.

On Wednesday, he will speak at 2:30 p.m. at South Texas College. He will address the Pan American University Faculty Forum at 6:30 p.m. at the UTPA Union Theater.

Note: I resisted the urge to entitle this post "Kinky in the Valley." I think that double entendre is fully played out to the point of cliche now. Let's hope the state's political journalists take note.

Posted by Evan @ 11/29/05 10:53 AM | Comments (0)

28 November 2005

Kronberg on the school finance Supreme Court decision

Quorum Report's Harvey Kronberg on the recent Supreme Court decision:

Last week, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that our current system of funding schools was unconstitutional because the system had deteriorated into an illegal statewide property tax.

But of course, there's more.

For instance, the Supreme Court rejected most of the legal theories proposed by the attorney general intended to take the courts out of education policy or at least severely limit judicial participation.

On top of that, the court rejected the Legislature's assertion that as long as it has a so-called rational basis, lawmakers can define whatever they want as a suitable and adequate education.

But most interesting of all, the court said that Texas education was adequate and suitable, but just barely. While agreeing with most of the public education failings outlined in Judge Dietz's original ruling, the Court pointed to generally rising test scores as evidence that while flawed and failing many students, Texas education was still adequate and therefore constitutional.

Passed along -- but not in full -- as the best commentary I've seen on the decision.

Posted by Evan @ 11/28/05 06:43 PM | Comments (0)

26 November 2005

Arrogant Euros really shouldn't write about Texas politics

When writing about Texas politics, you should find an author who knows something about Texas politics.

Left-wing UK paper The Guardian (in the UK, newspapers have admitted leanings) profiled Kinky Friedman's campaign for governor. If you don't know much about Texas politics -- I assume most of The Guardian's readers don't -- I'd recommend that you not read this article. It will only confuse you with its inaccuracies. If you're a Texan, it may irk you to read that many paragraphs dripping of superior European elitism.

If you still want to read the article, I'd suggest you try to count the number of factual inaccuracies. My count didn't reach double digits....until I'd read a few paragraphs. I mean, they can't even spell Molly Ivins' name correctly. And did you know we've had three Bush presidents from Texas?

Here's a suggestion for The Guardian: next time you want to condescend to Texans, at least be smart enough to get most of your facts right. Until then, keep your smug sense of superiority to yourselves.

UPDATE: Welcome Chronicle opinion readers! This blog started out as a personal way to chronicle the impending gubernatorial primary between Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison. That didn't happen, and so far Carole Keeton Strayhorn isn't running close or gaining ground on Governor Perry. Perhaps Kinky Friedman or a so-far unannounced Democrat or perhaps even Chris Bell will make the gubernatorial race interesting. However, the blog's focus has expanded beyond the gubernatorial race and contains political analysis on Texas politics.

If that's your thing, then come on by more often.

Posted by Evan @ 11/26/05 11:21 PM | Comments (1)

25 November 2005

The battle of the party switchers

Selby in the Statesman:

It days was 20 years ago today, Carole Strayhorn taught the band to play. [sic]

Scotch that Beatle-ism and chomp on this: Two decades ago this week, Carole Keeton Strayhorn (then Rylander) shelved her lifelong affiliation with the once-dominant Texas Democratic Party — joining a trend that was just bubbling.

...

Up next: the Battle of the Party Switchers for the 2006 GOP gubernatorial nod. After all, Gov. Rick Perry went from D to R in 1989 before upsetting Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower, a Democrat, in 1990.

Perry was encouraged to jump by the state's pre-eminent switcher, Phil Gramm, who won election to the U.S. Senate in 1984 after having gone from D to R and re-winning a U.S. House seat he'd first won as a Dem.

Talk about history: The number of GOP officeholders in Texas has more than quadrupled from less than 500 with nobody in a statewide post in 1984 to nearly 2,200 now, with Republicans clutching every statewide office for six years-plus..

George Strake of Houston, state GOP chairman when Strayhorn came aboard, said he approached right-leaning Dems with a phone call."I've heard through the grapevine that you are sounding a lot like a Republican," he'd say. "Should you ever come over, I want to be chairman of the red-carpet committee that welcomes you."

His footsie calls were often followed by dial-outs from Gramm and, occasionally, George Bush, then-vice president of the United States. More than 60 current or former Democratic incumbentschanged parties by the time Strake stepped down in June 1988.

Strayhorn, No. 50, recalled acting without courtship. "They welcomed me with open arms, but I made my decision on my own."

Strayhorn, who hopes Democrats and independents vote for her in the GOP primary, said she treasures a letter from President Reagan, but doesn't stress her partisanship. "Every single speech I give, I say Texas belongs to no special interest group, no special political credo, no special individual, it belongs to all Texans."

The balancing act could be the subject of a column in and of itself.

Posted by Evan @ 11/25/05 04:13 PM | Comments (0)

22 November 2005

For whom the bell tolls

The AP:

The Texas Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that local property taxes used to pay for public schools amount to an unconstitutional statewide tax and has given the state until June 1 to fix the system.

Texas' highest civil court agreed 7-1 with one of three arguments brought against the state by hundreds of school districts, but found that overall school funding is adequate and that poor districts have equal access to facilities funding. Justice Scott Brister was the only member of the nine-member court to dissent. Newly sworn in Justice Don Willett did not participate.

The majority opinion is here, while Justice Brister's dissent is here.

So, the appointment of a commission gives Perry and the Lege a politically good reason to delay until after the primaries. But the Legislature's actions will still be relatively fresh in early November.

Posted by Evan @ 11/22/05 11:05 AM | Comments (1)

21 November 2005

The puzzling nature of Carole Strayhorn's campaign

"Strayhorn battling campaign slowdown," is the title of Peggy Fikac's SAEN must read on Carole Strayhorn's campaign.

Strayhorn announced in June that she's running for the GOP nomination and had signaled it long in advance by regularly trashing Perry's record on everything from education to transportation to taxes.

But since then, skeptics have found much to feed their doubts.

With the primary just months away, attention-grabbing events — including two special legislative sessions on school funding and two hurricanes — have hampered her ability to get out a message. As the holidays near, Strayhorn said her efforts are geared toward January, when she expects more voters to tune in.

But even the message she controls has seemed to move in fits and starts.

She has skewered Perry's education finance plan without offering a detailed proposal of her own.

She canceled her radio ads as Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, explaining it was a time for prayer, but soon lambasted Perry at a news conference and within days had her ads back on the air.

She called on Perry to spend $1.2 billion in unanticipated revenue to help local communities deal with the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita — and when rebuffed said he should use the money to give a tax rebate to homeowners.

When asked about illegal immigration in August, she was quoted as saying, "I sympathize with those coming over who want to put a roof over their heads." Two months later, she blasted a Perry-signed law allowing undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition — lower than out-of-state charges — if they meet certain conditions.

Strayhorn insisted in an interview at her campaign headquarters — which a sign labels "one tough grandma's house" — that her broad message is consistent, with a focus that includes "children, children, children" affected by issues such as education and health care.

She said she consistently has "been adamantly opposed to illegal immigration" and that her August comment was part of an answer to someone wondering "why do they come here?"

On school finance, she said in June that she would support a teacher pay raise, with money she said could come from legalizing video lottery terminals. She also has said she would restore money-saving programs cut from her office in 2003 by lawmakers and Perry.

As for a detailed revamp of the property tax-heavy school funding system, she emphasized her support for lowering property taxes and for a "fair business tax." She said she would bring business leaders and educators to the table the day after the March 7 primary "to fix the problem."

Strayhorn said her campaign is going full force and that speeches she's giving around Texas shouldn't be discounted "just because the Capitol press corps isn't out traveling around with me."

"The Capitol press corps ... (and) people in general are going to focus on this after the holidays," she said. "And frankly, everything I'm doing is gearing up to that."

Strayhorn said she has plenty of fundraisers planned, including two in San Antonio, after reporting $7 million in cash on hand in June, compared with nearly $8.8 million for Perry.

She said she has spent close to $1 million buying radio time and added that "when we spend that first million on TV, that's when you'll see the numbers move."

A recent poll — scoffed at by Strayhorn, who says "it's all in how you ask the questions"— conducted for the Texas Credit Union League found Perry besting Strayhorn head to head by 35 percentage points.

Political scientists, even those who see her as a strong, engaging campaigner, describe her as having something more than an uphill battle.

They note Perry's successful courtship of religious conservatives for a primary in which such voters have been dominant. Strayhorn's desire to lure independents and crossover Democrats to join Republicans who'd prefer her to Perry is a tough task, they say.

"Strayhorn would look like a very decent candidate if she were running against him in an all-comers race. This isn't an all-comers race," said Rice University political scientist Bob Stein. "She's not right of Genghis Khan. Nor are most Republicans. But most Republicans don't vote in the primary."

Interesting Stein quote.

Strayhorn hasn't found a message that will let her beat Perry in a primary. Without a clear focus on what she's trying to convey to voters, she's tested different themes and that sometimes makes her sound inconsistent. She also has the problem that some see her as reflexively anti-Rick Perry.

Posted by Evan @ 11/21/05 11:21 AM | Comments (2)

Tax reform panel starts work

The tax reform panel meets today:

Awaiting only final marching orders from the Texas Supreme Court, a high-profile committee of business leaders headed by a prominent Democrat is poised to tackle the divisive issues that roiled three sessions of the Legislature this year: tax and education funding overhauls.

The 24-member Texas Tax Reform Commission, appointed by Gov. Rick Perry and led by his one-time political rival, Democrat John Sharp, will begin work today on recommendations for cutting school property taxes and raising new revenue for education through higher business and consumer taxes.

The issues dominated Austin while lawmakers struggled and squabbled, but they have receded as policymakers await the high court's ruling on a lawsuit by school districts over the state's funding system. But they are no less divisive, as shown by an outcry over the Sharp panel's lack of labor, education or consumer representatives.

Mr. Sharp said the panel would examine potential increases in sales taxes, higher cigarette and alcohol taxes, along with a redesigned state business tax.

"We are open to everything except an income tax," the former state comptroller said, adding that even expansion of gambling in Texas, which failed to pass the Legislature, will be on the table.

At the same time, Mr. Sharp said, the panel will respond to calls from state leaders and taxpayers to significantly cut back school property taxes.

"I take 'significant' to be at least a third," Mr. Sharp said. The current maximum school property tax rate is $1.50 per $100 valuation. Cutting the rate to $1 would save property taxpayers about $5.5 billion a year.

The more high profile this thing is, the more the chance that our Legislature will feel compelled to enact whatever the panel comes up with.

Posted by Evan @ 11/21/05 10:53 AM | Comments (0)

Dick DeGuerin

David Casstevens of the FWST profiles famed criminal defense attorney Dick DeGuerin:

During his last year in law school at the University of Texas, Dick DeGuerin drove to San Antonio and applied for a job with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. His interview went well, he believed, until ... "Have you ever been arrested?" the agent asked, fixing him with a level gaze. DeGuerin wasn't under oath, but his father, a lawyer, had taught him to be truthful, and he didn't dare lie to the feds. For all he knew, J. Edgar Hoover already had a file on him. "Yes," DeGuerin replied.

The applicant told the story about watching an annual spring parade near the Austin campus with a few college buddies. As they sat curbside in DeGuerin's 1959 Chevrolet convertible drinking beer, a float appeared along Guadalupe Street carrying Price Daniel, who was then the Texas governor.

"I'll bet he'd like a cold one," DeGuerin suddenly thought.

He hopped from his car, a can of suds in hand, and in his uninhibited haze, attempted to climb on the governor's float.

Police arrested him for public intoxication.

I'm amused. The rest of the profile is pretty entertaining too.

Success for Tom DeLay is to get the case dismissed as a matter of law or to be found not guilty on a speedy enough trial in order that he retain his leaderhip role as House Majority Leader. Can DeGuerin do it?

Posted by Evan @ 11/21/05 10:49 AM | Comments (0)

"Democratic Senate hopeful poised to assail Hutchison"

Selby -- Statesman:

Radnofsky is a mediation lawyer for the Vinson & Elkins firm, which employs Hutchison's husband, Ray, in Dallas. She has not met him but cannot wait to debate his wife, the state's senior senator.

Hutchison "has refused to defend her record," Radnofsky said. "She's ready to run a race by traveling in a Cadillac appearing to honor her past as a University of Texas cheerleader," a reference to Hutchison recently joining an Austin parade featuring former Longhorn cheerleaders. "She's running the fluffiest race you can imagine."

Hutchison campaign adviser Bryan Eppstein called the jab "an immature statement by an immature candidate. We will debate on facts and the record, not on falsehoods."

...

[Democratic strategist Kelly Fero] said Hutchison, initially elected to the Senate in June 1993, "comes across as a moderate and a common-sense official who reflects the mainstream values of Texas. She's not a rabid political hack. It will take scandals in Washington to put Radnofsky over the top."

Radnofsky said Hutchison, who ranks among the GOP vice presidential prospects for 2008, will have trouble defending her role as a "rubber stamp" for President Bush, with at least three issues surfacing as soft spots: the Iraq war, veterans affairs and a comment on the recent CIA leak investigation.

•Radnofsky favors the United States setting a timetable for getting its troops out of Iraq. Hutchison thinks specifying a timetable would only embolden enemies.

•Radnofsky has characterized Hutchison as falling short of fully funding programs for service veterans by not voting for funding increases proposed by others.

Hutchison's office countered that this year, the senator, a Veterans Affairs Committee member who heads an appropriations subcommittee on military construction and veterans affairs, carried legislation saving the Veterans Affairs Department from a budget shortfall.

•Hutchison told an NBC-TV audience last month that she hoped a grand jury looking into possible Bush administration leaks of an undercover CIA operative's name would not indict anyone on "some perjury technicality where they couldn't indict on the crime."

Radnofsky isn't going to win this race. If she starts slinging personal mud (eg, the cheerleader crack, which admittedly is very mild. In other states it would be slightly more personal...), it may limit her future opportunities in politics. Going negative generally hurts you, even if it hurts your opponent more.

My feeling has been that Radnofsky might be running this race in order to gain name ID to use it for another race. However, if you go overly negative, you may not get a chance for that other race. On the flip side of that though, is that if Radnofsky doesn't come close at all, she won't look as attractive.

The veterans issue is interesting. Service in the military makes any demographic group more likely to vote Republican. So veterans are generally a pretty tough place for Democrats to go campaigning for votes, even when you focus your entire campaign around being a veteran, ie John Kerry (see 2004 DNC convention). It's tough to transition veterans issues into a campaign issue which swings non-veteran votes. Perhaps it is possible, but it is a tough hill to climb.

Posted by Evan @ 11/21/05 10:44 AM | Comments (1)

20 November 2005

Bob Gammage to run for governor?

Selby -- Statesman:

Llano lawyer Bob Gammage, a former Texas Supreme Court justice, says he might enter what he calls a sleepy race for the Democratic gubernatorial nod in 2006.

"My closest and best friends have asked me if I've completely lost my mind," Gammage said Friday.

Gammage, 67, a mediation attorney whose consideration surfaced this week on blogs, including the Democrat-oriented Burnt Orange Report, said he's weighing whether he can raise enough money to run and whether his candidacy would draw grass-roots support.

And now for some Democratic infighting:

But Gammage said Bell "hasn't been able to focus public attention on much of anything else. And he can't run on that. He's not running against Tom DeLay; he's running for governor of Texas, and it's a big state. Anybody who hasn't run statewide really can't appreciate how big.

"The campaign conducted so far puts you to sleep," Gammage said. "The message is not being delivered so that anyone is listening. One thing I can do is deliver a message. I know how to wage a late-starting, under-funded campaign. Been doing that all my life."

On taxation, Gammage differs from Bell in saying that creation of a state personal income tax should be considered with other government finance options. "Everything is on the table," he said.

Gammage, a Houston native, is a former college instructor whose career includes stints in the Texas House and Senate and the U.S. House. He also served on the Third Court of Appeals in Austin and on the Texas Supreme Court.

Bell spokesman Jason Stanford said it was "ludicrous" that Bell is fixed on DeLay. Bell "was not afraid of Tom DeLay. He isn't afraid of Rick Perry. And he's certainly not afraid of Bob Gammage," Stanford said.

Stanford made a comparison to jockeying among Democratic presidential possibilities before the 1992 election season.

"How many Mario Cuomos have to pass on this race before we realize we've got a Bill Clinton already running?" Stanford asked.

Chris Bell has the political skills of Bill Clinton?

Seems like it would be a tough race for Gammage, whose name ID would be even lower than Chris Bell's name ID.

Posted by Evan @ 11/20/05 04:03 AM | Comments (7)

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