Rick Perry vs World

12 January 2010

Annise Parker: 82nd most influential liberal in America?

Frankly, it seems a little crazy to me, but so says the UK's Telegraph.

Of course, any list that has John Edwards on its most influential is worth taking with a grain of salt.

Posted by Evan @ 01/12/10 07:01 PM | Comments (0)

11 January 2010

Gilbert Garcia of the SAEN profiles San Antonian Linda Chavez-Thompson:

Despite a formidable resume that includes a stint as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, membership on a race-relations advisory board created by then-President Bill Clinton and 40 years on the front lines of the labor movement, Chavez-Thompson had never sought public office until now.

That doesn't sound like a formidable resume for running for statewide office in 2010 Texas.

Party leaders gathered in Austin last month to brainstorm on promising candidates for the lieutenant governor's race. They had initially approached state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, but she said she declined.

Someone suggested Chavez-Thompson, and before long, her friends and associates began a full-court press to persuade her.

Strategists dropped by her home and made their case. Pollsters broke down the numbers for her. Prominent politicians such as former state Comptroller John Sharp and state Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, urged her to run.

"There'd be one day when I thought it was doable," Chavez-Thompson said. "And the next day I'd think, 'Am I crazy or what?'"

Ultimately, Democratic leaders convinced her that she could energize the party's labor base and connect with women and Latinos.

Candidacies with backgrounds like that are no usually winning candidacies. Campaigning and governing are tough; you've really got to want to do them.

Posted by Evan @ 01/11/10 08:53 PM | Comments (0)

Link dump

- FWST's Bud Kennedy on Craig James' possible run.

- I didn't get the impression that Wayne Slater thought too much of Ron Paul-like Debra Medina's candidacy.

- Texas is $1 billion behind budget on sales taxes, after only 4 months into the new budget. Of course, given how difficult economic forecasting is, it's almost more like news if the budget is close to the collections.

- The DMN does factchecking on this ad.

They don't give him a very score because they think he exaggerated the specific claims about fiscal conservatism. Still, would anyone really not claim that Perry has governed fairly conservative fiscally?

- Karen Hughes denies an Austin rumor that she advised Straus to help lay an attack for KBH.

- Perry was in Frisco for the 10th anniversary of a megachurch.

- KBH says the campaign has momentum and is "peaking at the right-time." Is that like Joe-mentum in 2004?

Posted by Evan @ 01/11/10 08:48 PM | Comments (0)

Sen. Cornyn was in San Angelo for a ribboncutting of a wind energy production plant, reports the San Angelo Standard-Times.

Although the Texas senator voted against the stimulus bill that will aid in the plant's completion and operation, he said in an interview after the tour that he is a supporter of clean energy alternatives and voted against the overall stimulus bill because it was borrowed money.

“Having voted against the overall bill, I figure it's my job to make sure that, if it's going to pass, that Texas gets it fair share, and that’s why I’m certainly supportive of the use of these tax credits to help job creation right here in West Texas,” Cornyn said.

The plant is expected to hire 225 mostly local employees and produce 400 wind turbine towers a year by 2013. San Angelo's Hirschfeld Industries joined Portugal-based Martifer Energy Systems late last year to construct the $40 million factory on Old Ballinger Highway. Plant Manager Paulo Rebelo said the plant is still set for a March completion and should begin its next round of hiring by February.

Richard Phillips, president of Hirschfeld Industries, says plans would have gone forward for the plant regardless of the [$3.5 million in] stimulus funds

"Our long-term plans were to get into this industry anyway," he said.

The results of the stimulus bill.

Posted by Evan @ 01/11/10 05:45 PM | Comments (0)

Burka thinks Perry is running to be POTUS

I didn't find it that convincing, and the timing is strange in my opinion.

Posted by Evan @ 01/11/10 05:34 PM | Comments (0)

er, what?

Paul Burka writes:

So [Craig James] wants to run for KBH's Senate seat. Here is the first question he will be asked when he announces for office: What did you know and when did you know it? "It" is SMU's pay-for-play scandal, when the university leadership, including then-Governor (and SMU board chairman) Bill Clements, was paying football players in the 1980s. James himself has never been implicated in the scandal that led to SMU's receiving the NCAA's "death penalty." Still, I find it hard to believe that James (or anybody else on that team, including the coaches) was in the locker room and didn't know what was going on. Kids brag. Or they show up with gold (or diamond) jewelry. Or they are suddenly driving fancy cars. If James knew, he is complicit in the destruction of SMU's football program, just as the members of the Black Sox who knew that the 1919 World Series was fixed and didn't report it were complicit in the dishonoring of baseball. And he shouldn't have a position of public trust.

In the last year that I was away from blogging, the thing I missed most was a forum to comment on some of Burka's posts. Apparently unlike much of the blogosphere, I think very highly of Burka. But this post just makes me want to yell: WHAT? Really?

James may or may not have known/suspected that there were issues. I don't know much about the scandal. But Burka in this post suggests that any 19 year old kid who suspects wrongdoing is unfit to ever hold public office? I use the example gingerly, but if I understand correctly, our current president admitted to snorting cocaine at an age less tender than that. It didn't disqualify him in Burka's eyes, but James' needs to answer for a 30 year old scandal when he was 20?

I just can't buy that. I'm generally in favor of treating teenages more like adults in most instances, but the idea that we are going to parse James' three-decades-old memories from when he was 19 to see if he is fit to run for public office? Ludicrous.

Posted by Evan @ 01/11/10 03:09 PM | Comments (0)

08 January 2010

I wondered, Cory Crow answers.

Will the InterLeft stand for Shami? Evan thinks so. Me? I'm not so sure. Vince Leibowitz is a good blogger, but a majority of the Progressive blogosphere has already signed on for White, who has his own member of the InterLeft (Greg Whythe of gregsopinion) signed on for the duration. Since most of the InterLeft seemingly takes their lead from The Texas Progressive Alliance (More here, here, here, here, here and well..you get the picture), and the Alliance is all in for White....well, I don't see there being much written by the InterLeft that casts White in a negative light, certainly not when you consider the InterLeft considers White to be their best shot at the Governor's mansion since Tony Sanchez.

Just for the record, I re-read my post, and I don't think I expressed an opinion, just a question. Anyway, I appreciate Cory's summary on the predilections of the liberal Texas bloggers.

Posted by Evan @ 01/08/10 05:42 PM | Comments (1)

"I didn't do it"

Cornyn denies that he asked KBH to withdraw from the gubernatorial race.

Posted by Evan @ 01/08/10 05:29 PM | Comments (0)

12....?

Senator Hutchison was in San Angelo:

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison spoke on education and transportation reform during a brief stop at Mathis Field Monday afternoon on a campaign tour.

...

More than a dozen people attended the news conference.

ouch. KBH's campaign is not doing too well at getting out to her campaign rallies. At least this wasn't her announcement...which had a similar number.

Posted by Evan @ 01/08/10 02:52 AM | Comments (0)

Clearing out the links

- Wayne Slater looks at Perry's break from Bush.

- The Statesman editorial board makes fun of Dewhurst 35-25 prediction for Alabama-Texas. I'm not gonna lie, when I originally watched the video of Dewhurst making his prediction, I laughed too. Dewhurst definitely appears distracted, and probably not a football fan.

In the end though, Dewhurst's prediction was pretty close.

- Aggie Perry roots for the T-sips?

"When they're playing in the Rose Bowl for the national championship you better believe I'm gonna be in the stands with my Horns (hand gesture) up, wearing orange," Perry said, before stepping off stage, away from the microphone to add, "That's going to be a tough game."

The things candidates have to do...or perhaps Perry has gone Austin? heh.

- Perry says that the Obama administration is targeting Texas on an EPA regulation. Elizabeth Souder at DMN:

"Since 2000, Texas clean air efforts have helped slash levels of NOx gases, a precursor to ozone, by 46 percent, and overall ozone by 22 percent. We've done this during a time of economic prosperity unrivaled in the nation.

"From cap and tax legislation to regulating CO2 to moving ozone targets, the Obama administration seems intent upon following flawed science down a road that will lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of Texas jobs, while doing nothing more to protect human health."

- Perry makes a trip to the Dallas suburb of Frisco to speak at the anniversary of a megachurch.

- In a potentially important move, Debra Medina will be in at least one debate with Perry and Hutchison.

- DMN's Rodger Jones wants to know if KBH supports the LBJ freeway project in Dallas. It's a bit of a catch-22 for her.

-- Alabama Gov Bob Riley apparently didn't want to do the customary bet $30 of state goods on the national championship game with Perry. Lame? Yes.

Kay and Sen. Shelby bet a smoked turkey. Guess it's time for Kay to pay up. Since it should be her campaign that pays, that's just one more break for Perry.

Posted by Evan @ 01/08/10 02:48 AM | Comments (0)

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