Rick Perry vs World

24 June 2005

Linkin it -- Adios Mofo style

1. Dave McNeely's most recent column on the guv race.

2. I thought Waco Trib's op-ed editor John Young had some interesting insights. There was also some stuff I didn't agree with, but I'll leave you guessing on that for now. I'm tricky like that.

3. ABC Austin does a story on the merchandise that has come out about "Adios Mofo".

I still think this story is entirely hilarious. My favorite part: "..."adios, mofo" appears to have existed since at least 1963 and is so common in the military that AMF is its well-known acronym, according to Grant Barrett, project editor for the Historical Dictionary of American Slang. "

So Perry does well with the miltary votes? What's next, hoo ah? (to our veterans and armed forces, we salute you!)

4. David Hill has a column in the Hill (I know, I thought it was funny too) about Hutchison's decision not to run.

5. Perry has a radio ad on the air supporting his school finance proposal.

Posted by Evan @ Adios Mofo style"> 06/24/05 06:26 AM | Comments (0)

22 June 2005

School finance

Meanwhile, Craddick and Dewhurst don't seem too enthused about Gov. Perry's school finance proposal.

That's it for me today, as I have had an excruciatingly terrible day. So I'm going to go do something that doesn't involve the computer.

Posted by Evan @ 06/22/05 03:12 PM | Comments (0)

Too funny

Someone emailed me asking me if I thought "Adios Mofo" is a serious issue. Of course not. I think it's hilarious.

Then I noticed that Scott thinks that this is a "huge on-camera gift" to Comptroller Strayhorn.

Uh, I don't see it. This isn't nearly as juicy as "major league asshole," nor is it as mean-spirited (though Bush did say it jocularly), and Bush wasn't hurt by it. It humanized him, and it was kinda funny.

Perry kinda has a smirk on his face (watch the video here -- thanks to Keath Milligan). He may have been joking, he may not have -- current claim is that it was an inside joke; that Black had "used the phrase in the governor's company while the two were watching the NBA finals" -- but it doesn't come across particularly vicious. Frankly, given the way Perry says it, I tend to believe their story. To some degree, maybe this humanizes Perry too.

If I were running a campaign against Rick Perry, I can think of better lines of attack to be used in paid media. I highly doubt we'll see this in a campaign ad.

Posted by Evan @ 06/22/05 03:06 PM | Comments (4)

Hutchison for #4?

Samantha Levine in the Chron reports that KBH will be running for #4 in the Senate. Right now she is #5.

As of yet, she is unopposed.

She and Jon Kyl of Arizona worked out a deal where she would become #4 and he would be #3. He was #4 (to use standard Senate parlance).

It would be tough for Hutchison to defeat Kyl, as Kyl has the sterling credentials with the conservative members of the Senate that Hutchison has reportedly never been able to obtain.

Of course, if Rick Santorum is defeated, then it would appear likely that Kyl would be #2 and Hutchison would be #3.

Kay Bailey Hutchison is technically up for re-election. But can anyone imagine a scenario where she loses? It's tough.

Posted by Evan @ 06/22/05 03:54 AM | Comments (0)

21 June 2005

"Adios, Mofo"

There's lots of important events going on in the governor's race. Perry vetoed the education parts of the budget in order to force a deal to be made on school finance in a special session. Kay dropped out and is trying to decide whether to run to be the #3 or #4 Republican in the Senate, which could become the race for #2 if Santorum loses to Democrat Bob Casey, Jr. (who lost badly to Rendell in a Dem primary for guv in 02) Senator Cornyn felt unencumbered by Kay's dropping out, and thus endorsed Perry.

Strayhorn is officially in, is good at getting media attention, and one of her four sons is managing her campaign. You might see her son Scott on tv now and again -- he's Bush's spokesman in DC. Another son is FDA Commish. She's taken to calling Rick Perry a "drugstore cowboy" and finally has a website.

Will Hutchison endorse Strayhorn? She is the last statewide officeholder who has not endorsed Perry.

Yeah yeah. But in a line reminiscent of W's "there's Adam Clymer, major league asshole from the New York Times" -- although not nearly as "good" -- Rick Perry had some parting words for a KTRK reporter (link via Pink Lady):

Our questions were not recorded on tape, but in saying goodbye I told the governor, "Try as I may, Governor, I guess I can't win this one."

Eleven seconds after he said goodbye, the camera crew was getting ready for the next interview with another station. That's when Gov. Perry repeated what he thought I'd said, and added a few words of his own with his microphone on and tape still rolling.

"Try as I may, Governor, I'm not going to wait that long," Gov. Perry said. "Adios, Mofo."

Those last words aren't exactly part of the seven dirty words, but it isn't something you want to say to your mother or use in good company. Tuesday morning, Governor Perry called me personally. He apologized and said his comment wasn't directed at us.

He agreed it was just one of those times a politician is caught by an open mike saying something embarrassing. He tells us he was just trying to get a reaction from the camera crew and it wasn't said with any malice or intent.

Of course, without seeing the clip, it's pretty hard to determine what Perry meant. We don't know whether he has a history with this reporter, whether he thought the entire interview was unfair, whether he was being untoward and curmudgeonly, or whether he was obviously joking. If anyone has a clip they can send me, I'll post it here.

Either way, it's still funny.

UPDATE: Harvey has Perry saying:

"I called Ted this morning and I apologized to him," Perry said. "I explained to him that it wasn't.... Some inappropriate banter that was directed towards Robert Black, and no offense towards him and I shared that with him or anyone else for that matter. It was Robert and I making some banter and it was inappropriate."

UPDATE DOS: Try this link for video of the matter. Thanks to the comments.

It appears to me that Perry is indeed speaking offcamera, which supports his view that he was just joking around.

Posted by Evan @ 06/21/05 09:27 PM | Comments (3)

17 June 2005

KBH to run for re-election to Senate!

Kay Bailey Hutchison is expected to announce plans to run for re-election to the Senate, and will not challenge Rick Perry.

The announcement is scheduled for June 27th. That leaves her a bit of time to change her mind, so we'll see what happens.

Interestingly, the Rick Perry campaign even sent out an email containing the Quorum Report's announcement that KBH was running for re-election.

Hutchison will be an overwhelming favorite for re-election, even though she's breaking her term limits pledge.

Posted by Evan @ 06/17/05 07:53 PM | Comments (0)

Texas Monthly's Best and Worst Legislators

Texas Monthly's biennial list of the Best and Worst Legislators was unveiled this morning in Austin.

The Best: Dianne Delisi, Robert Duncan, Dan Gattis, Charlie Geren, Fred Hill, Steve Ogden, Jim Pitts, Mike Villareal, John Whitmire, Judith Zaffrini

The Worst: Gonzalo Barrientos, Dwayne Bohac, Mary Denny, Al Edwards, Mario Gallegos, Kent Grusendorf, Chris Harris, Terry Keel, Phil King, Robert Talton

I'll have more later today.

Posted by Evan @ 06/17/05 11:26 AM | Comments (0)

15 June 2005

Strayhorn trial balloon?

Peggy Fikac, SAEN:

A consultant close to state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn’s campaign said she intends to announce Saturday that she’s running for governor, making official her long-rumored challenge to incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Perry.

The consultant, who is not in the campaign business and spoke on condition of being unnamed, said that based on what’s been conveyed by Strayhorn’s campaign, "I can say she’s going to announce for governor on Saturday."

Asked if there’s any doubt, the consultant said, "This might be a trial balloon. There is a remote possibility that this is a bait and switch, but that is not her style. There’s no coyness to what they do."

There has been some speculation that Strayhorn, a Republican who has long and clearly signaled her interest in the governor’s race, might instead run for lieutenant governor if U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison jumps into the GOP primary for governor.

Like the anonymous "consultant" who "is not in the campaign business" (er, ok, so why is this consultant trustworthy?), I'm not convinced Strayhorn's announcement is set in stone.

You might recall that both then-Land Commissioner Dewhurst and then-Supreme Court Justice Greg Abbott were running for lite guv at about this point in the 2002 cycle. When then-Senator Phil Gramm decided to retire in early September 2001, then-Attorney General Cornyn jumped to the Senate race. That prompted Abbott to switch to the Attorney General post that he now holds.

The point is: voters -- even primary voters -- don't particularly care at this point. If Strayhorn announces for governor, then there's some improved chance that she might keep KBH out of the governor's race. But if KBH jumps into the race, Strayhorn can still switch races. Given the celerity with which Strayhorn has office-hopped before, there's no reason to think she might not race-hop this cycle.

Posted by Evan @ 06/15/05 04:56 PM | Comments (4)

Strayhorn to announce for governor?

Harvey Kronberg:

Reliable sources tell QR that Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn will announce her candidacy for the Republican nomination as Governor this Saturday.

We have not yet received direct confirmation from her campaign office but have enough confidence in our sources to run with this story.

Plans may change, but what we have confirmed are that calls are being made giving supporters a heads up about the pending announcement.

Wow. If this is true, then Strayhorn isn't waiting for KBH to decide.

Will this affect KBH's decision? The conventional wisdom says that in a three-way Strayhorn v. Hutchison v. Perry race, Perry benefits the most. While he'll bear the brunt of the attacks from Strayhorn and Hutchison, his support is assumed to be the most solid. Thus, Perry and Hutchison make it into a runoff, where Perry has an advantage.

This is going to be a fun race. Can't you tell already?

UPDATE: Sal Costello has this:

Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn personally asks you to BE HERE for a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT this Saturday. June 18th at 12:15 - 16th & Congress (Just North of the Capital). Free Hotdogs, Free Drinks and Music. She says to bring the Family!

Posted by Evan @ 06/15/05 12:48 PM | Comments (0)

14 June 2005

Kay Bailey Hutchison and Senate leadership

From the Roll Call article:

In an early public move for a pair of the second-tier leadership posts, Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.) acknowledged last week that they are pushing for the Nos. 3 and 4 positions of Republican Conference chairman and Policy Committee chairman, respectively.

Kyl already chairs the Policy Committee, but term limits will force Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) out of his Conference chairmanship after six years of service at the end of 2006, opening up that post.

...

The early declarations of interest from Kyl and Ensign set up a further dilemma for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), who is term limited out of her position as vice chairwoman of the Conference, generally considered the No. 5 post in leadership. Hutchison is actively considering a bid for Texas governor, but that would involve the risk of running in a primary against Gov. Rick Perry (R).

“She has not made a decision yet. She’s certainly keeping all her options open,” said Terry Sullivan, Hutchison’s top political adviser in the Lone Star State.

If she were to balk at the governor’s race and run what would likely be an easy bid for re-election in 2006, Hutchison could find herself in a position of a different sort of intraparty squabble: a leadership race in the Senate.

Hutchison is believed to have her eyes on the Conference chairmanship as well, as it’s in line with the talents she’s displayed in more than four years as vice chairwoman.

The Conference chairman is generally in charge of leading the message and communications efforts, and Santorum expanded his portfolio by also serving as leader of outreach to K Street.

The Policy Committee chairman is in charge of generating position papers and data, with a large staff breaking down the impact on key issues of the day for the rest of the Conference.

As vice chairwoman of the Conference, Hutchison serves as the deputy to Santorum and is in charge of helping craft the message as well as leading floor speakers during the chamber’s “morning hour” debate. Hutchison also served as the Senate GOP’s main liaison to trade association lobbyists under Santorum.

Some GOP aides and strategists openly speculated last week about whether Kyl could be talked into staying put at Policy if Hutchison were to stay in the Senate, clearing the way for her ascension to Conference chairwoman.

And at an event for GOP women hosted by Hutchison, Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) openly stated that he expects Hutchison to chair the Conference if she remains in the Senate, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Of course, Santorum is running for the #2 spot in leadership: Majority Whip. Santorum is about a 50/50 shot at re-election, by my estimates. He's running behind in all polls right now, but he's not to be underestimated.

If Santorum is not re-elected in PA, then the #2 spot is open and the race for #3 between Kyl and Hutchison could become a race for #2.

However, in previous years, there has been talk that Kay Bailey wouldn't be able to win one of the top 2 leadership posts in the Senate, because she is (whether correctly or not) seen as a moderate. That talk seems to have abated recently, but it might affect a leadership election.

So these are the things Kay Bailey has to weigh: does she want to continue to commute with her young children, even though now is the time she can take advantage of the seniority given to her by her last 12 years of work? Or would she rather put her political career at substantial risk in order to come back to Texas, have a primary brawl and be the most powerful official in Texas?

Posted by Evan @ 06/14/05 07:30 PM | Comments (0)

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