Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Schieffer is getting out of the race this afternoon, sources said Monday morning. "He just couldn't put it together," said one.
"I can't comment," said Clay Robison, Schieffer's spokesman. Schieffer didn't immediately return calls. A short time later, they called a press conference for 3 p.m. this afternoon.
Schieffer is the self-styled establishment candidate in a Democratic primary where no one has really gained traction. Kinky Friedman had more support in the University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll earlier this month, but 55 percent of Democratic primary voters said they hadn't yet chosen a candidate.
The Houston Chronicle reports that Bill White is now shifting to the Gov race.
White has been firm as recently as last week that he would not switch from the U.S. Senate race to the governor's race. But when Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison announced that she would not resign to run for governor, it made the prospects of a race switch more likely for White because no special election was immediately available.
Also, because Hutchison has said she will resign in March, it gives White two bites at the apple. He can run for governor, and even if he gets the nomination, he could still run in a Senate special election. If he won the Senate seat, then the State Democratic Executive Committee could name his replacement in the governor's race.
That scenario delineated in the Chron entry-with White gaming the system to be able to run for Gov AND run for Senate is a bit troubling to me-though I like Bill White's approach in the nascent Senate race.
Because if there's an argument to be made that Democrats are out for the main chance, it's made by a top of the ticket that is just marking time till he gets a chance at the job he really wants.
If Democrats don't act differently from Republicans, why should anyone care which party runs Texas?
So, IOW, in or out. Pick the job you want, and make your case, Bill.
This Sunday, all across Texas, Hank's supporters will have the chance to hear him on several different radio shows and one television show to cap off his 13-media market Road to Prosperity Tour in which Hank unveiled his Pledging Allegiance To Texas Public Schools k-12 public education plan and announced his run for governor.
First, Hank will be headlining Inside Texas Politics on WFAA-TV Channel 8 in Dallas-Fort Worth. The show will air this Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. CST on WFAA Channel 8 in Dallas/Fort Worth.
Hank will also appear as a guest on the Texas State Network's This Week In Austin. The show airs on dozens of TSN radio stations across the state. Check TSN's website (link: http://www.tsnradio.com/statio... for the name of your local station, and contact your local station for the airtime in your area.
Finally, Hank will appear on the public affairs show ACCESS on five radio stations along the Texas Gulf Coast. The call letters for stations and their local broadcast times for ACCESS are as follows:
KLVI ( klvi.com ) 10am
KYKR ( kykr.com) 10pm
KKMY (mix1045.com) 6pm
KCOL ( cool925.com) 9pm
KIOC (bigdog106.com) 7am
It's gonna be a long road till the primary, and then on through to the general.
I must say, I'm really liking the active and assertive way the Gilbert campaign started out.
If you get a chance to check out one of Hank's appearances this weekend-let us know what you think.
When Hank Gilbert announced he was going to run for Governor, I thought it would change the fundamentals of the race. That even if he doesn't prevail in his admittedly uphill battle, that he would make whoever did come out as the Dem nominee a better candidate.
I didn't expect it to play out as Tom Schieffer wholesale lifting the Gilbert platform.
Hank being Hank, the campaign didn't waste any time calling Time Warp Tommy out:
"While Hank is flattered that Tom Schieffer thinks enough of his 'Pledging Allegiance to Texas Public Schools' comprehensive pre-K - 12 education reform plan in order to adopt parts of it as his own, the larger issue remains that Schieffer is copycatting Hank in an effort to breathe oxygen into a moribund campaign.
I'm sure it's not as bad as all that for Schieffer. Somebody in that campaign must have a pulse.
But according to multiple sources that have confirmed this to Burnt Orange Report, Hank Gilbert, our 2006 Agriculture Commissioner candidate is gearing up to run statewide in the Governor's race. Gilbert was one of the first three TexRoots endorsed candidates, which included soon to be Assistant Secretary of the Navy Juan Garcia.
If the Dallas Morning News is reporting correctly that Rick Perry is headed toward victory, why is Perry resorting to negative advertising against Chris Bell?
Is he afraid that some internal polls show Bell moving up quickly and could win if not enough of the GOP base turns out?
I wonder about that when I see Perry's latest mail piece linking Chris Bell with John Kerry.
Perhaps the real question that should be raised-- which politician would one be rather linked with? John Kerry or George W. Bush?
(Remember Perry was Bush's Texas chairman in 2004 as John McCain was Bush's Arizona chairman during the same year)
More below.
If you believed in polls, you may think that all Rick Perry had to do was to take the high road, run on his record, and cruise to victory.
If the mailer I got from his campaign is any indication, it's clear Perry doesn't feel so confident.
In fact, he's willing to stoop as low as possible to scare Texas into voting for him.
More below:
Well, even if Kinky Supporter don't think they are wasting their votes, Kinky believes it. Kinky was in New York and admited it'd take a Texas Miracle to win and that he'd probably end up last.
So, he's going to finish last. So what's it all about, then? To stick it to the man? If Kinky is not winning and knows he doesn't stand a snowball's chance in Texas to win, then he knows that he's only a spoiler. And did you catch that? Kinky is in New York to campaign for a job in Texas. Make sense?
So Kinky knows he's just helping Rick Perry keep Bell away. A real shame. But given that Kinky called for a Republican straight-ticket, maybe that's what he wants - if he even knows what that is.
I know it's hopeless to think that Kinky will do the right thing and quit for the sake of Texas. To his credit, Chris Bell once again asked Kinky to do just that: put the interest of the people of Texas over his own.
"I just hope his supporters take notice and realize a vote is a terrible thing to waste. I mean if he's ready to throw in the towel, don't punish the state with four more years of Rick Perry," ," Bell said."
Last month, Bell reached out to Kinky in good faith and asked Kinky to help him change Texas. Not just quit - but join Bell's campaign. If Kinky really wanted to make a difference, he would've had the ear of the next governor of Texas.
Instead Kinky said "he doesn't negotiate with terrorists." What a truly despicable thing to say about a decent man. Even if you disagree with him, at least have the class to simply say no. Bell has young children for godsakes!
Perhaps Kinky really does have a massive ego or perhaps he's just a man who wants change like the rest of us and is doing it in his own albeit destructive way. I don't know.
But Kinky if you do hear this, just ask yourself something: Why are you running? Maybe you have the answer, because I don't.
A few revisions to a post first written back in February
Given the latest and greatest poll numbers I think it's worthwhile to review the meaning of "stalking horse".
Someone who puts himself or herself forward or who is put forward as a candidate for a post, especially a political one, in order to deflect votes from the candidate who is likely to win and so pave the way for some other candidate who has a good chance of winning at a subsequent ballot stage, at which point the stalking-horse will withdraw from the action
For Kinky, being a stalking horse would be like being a political candidate - he might accidentally pull it off, but it would be despite his best efforts to discredit himself. Voters are deserting Kinky faster than Rice fans in the fourth quarter.
Poll: "The survey shows Texans disapprove of Perry's job performance...but 38% say they will vote for him anyway...Perry leads the poll, followed by Democrat Chris Bell. He comes in with 22 percent."[LINK] Reports: A review finds health care premiums in Texas rose nearly seven and a-half times faster than working families incomes over the past six years....The Associated Press reports about five and a-half (M) million Texans _ or one in four residents _ lack health insurance. That's the highest rate in the nation. [LINK] Report:"Significant budget cuts at BP PLC's (BP) Texas City refinery may have contributed to a major fatal explosion at the refinery in 2005, according to the chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB)..."[LINK]
Question: What is wrong with this picture?
It's so nice to hear that Sen. John Kerry (whose presidential election win in 2004 was stolen by Kenneth Blackwell's shenanigans in Ohio) came to our state to campaign for Chris Bell.
Rick Perry's campaign responded the way Republicans typically respond, but what right does Rick Perry have to call himself a conservative when he so liberally called special sessions of the Texas Legislature to push through Tom DeLay's anti-democracy gerrymandering scheme at the expense of the rest of us?
Here's the link to the story: http://www.wfaa.com/... .
More below.
Chris Bell has sent out a message to the people and Democrats of Texas and he makes a compelling and honest statement to Democrats: We've got to learn how to win again.
There is no denying the state of the Democratic Party in Texas has slipped dramatically from the days of Ann Richards. And it's gotten to the point that we don't even believe we can win.
I know some of you think Chris Bell ain't sexy but maybe you should look again and see why so many of us are getting excited about him. Why are even conservatives impressed with Bell? Because, as he proved in the Governor's debate, Bell has the ideas, experience and passion for Texas that we haven't seen since Ann Richards was Governor. Chris Bell is the real deal, folks.
Chris recently got $1 Million which will allow him to match Perry's $10 million - but only if you get out there and tell your neighbors and friends and and community to go listen to the ONLY man experienced and passionate enough to lead Texas.
Don't tell me - or Chris - we can't win. Maybe YOU need to starting telling yourself that we can win in Texas. Maybe you need to tell your stupid apathetic "Thar all tha same!" brother-in-law to wake the hell up and go vote!
Are things perfect? Hell no! But that's what November 8th is for. This election cycle Democrats have put forth some great, FIGHTING candidates. David Van Os, David Harris, John Courage, Shane Sklar, Barbara Radnofsky, Ted Ankrum - the list can go on and on and on.
And David Van Os - what can you say about that man? He's put his life and family on the line for Texas and is making people believe that public servants really can serve the people and not themselves.
So, yeah. Democrats are learning to win. And it's time you started believing that.
Kossack stop kinky had such a great response to a pro-Kinky post on yesterday's DKos version of the "Chris Bell Ain't Sexy" diary that I just had to share it with you guys.
The pro-Kinky post claimed that Kinky has a great public service record. Though he said that politely and well, the poster did not offer any proof.
I'm not familiar with Kinky's public record - hell, I never heard it! It seemed strange that the poster who was from Oregon heard it but many of us Texans did not. I don't believe the poster is a troll by the way - but I do believe he's misinformed.
Thanks to stop kinky, you should not be. His response on the flip.
As Travis County Dems rally to ask and answer the question "What Would Ann Do?" I'm stuck icing my knee after an unexpected fall and phonebanking this afternoon.
But alaprst scored some good news for the Chris Bell Campaign this morning, and it follows some other endorsements that show the momentum is shifting Bell's way.
And that's good news for Texans that I couldn't wait to share with y'all.
At least there is one major newspaper in the DFW area that has shown a bit of capacity to make sense-- the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
True, the Star-Telegram showed a complete lack of judgment (as did the DMN) two years ago when it endorsed the evil George W. Bush, but sometimes, a good decision DOES come out of its editorial board.
Here's the link to the S-T endorsement: http://www.dfw.com/m...
More below.
This year we've been a little more selective than usual. Rather than endorsing in all contested races – since many of these are frankly walkovers without major party opposition – we've endorsed only in those races that either appear actually competitive, or that we believe have sufficient local interest to merit specific attention.
In the interest of supporting the return of the two-party (at least) system in Texas – and a more than usual necessity to "throw the bums out" – we briefly considered endorsing a straight-ticket Democratic vote, something we generally avoid. The overwhelming dominance of the Republican Party in Texas politics over the last several years, like its overwhelmingly Democratic predecessors, has been largely a disaster for public policy.
Upon reflection, however, in service to our readers we decided to address individually all the competitive races, to give a fuller sense of the relevant issues, as well as our logic in making these endorsements.
Honestly, we almost always endorse Democrats, so that's not exactly an innovation. Never in the past, however, have we been so tempted to make a blanket-ticket endorsement as we were this time – which reflects far more on the fanatical partisan rigidity of the current dominant party than on us. Traditionally, we have had as many concerns over Democrats as Republicans, including any number of lesser-of-two-evils election endorsements. But the current GOP wrongheadedness and destructiveness to the very structures of our country – Constitutional, social, economic, and diplomatic – demands a redress, if only for the good of the country.
I find it especially refreshing for an editorial board to tell folks upfront that they are naturally slanted to one side. Instead most present very slanted endorsements and pretend to be unbiased!
Attorney General: David Van Os
The race for attorney general's office hasn't garnered one-umpteenth the attention of the tragi-comic governor's draw, despite the Texas-sized personality fighting for the public interest. With an omnipresent Stetson and bolo tie, Van Os is a striking figure, even before he opens his mouth. A specialist in constitutional and labor law, Van Os has targeted Texas oil barons and insurance and pharmaceutical giants, in his populist, anti-corporate, whistlestop campaign. The implicit contrast is that incumbent Greg Abbott has let such corporate wrongdoers run roughshod over the state – as indeed he has. Despite several splashy "cyber crime" initiatives (remember getting tough on MySpace?), Abbott has done little to make Texans safer, especially from the pollutant-spewing, scofflaw conglomerations drawing Van Os' ire. Abbott has also been a complicit servant to Tom Delay and Gov. Perry in the disastrous redistricting saga, never hesitant to defend another gerrymandered map on behalf of his bosses. Partisanship and hoary headline-hogging have defined Abbott's tenure, and we'd be happy to see him go; we're even happier his challenger is as strongly spined as David Van Os.
At Van Os's Tarrant County Whistle Stop Monday, Oct. 16th, truckers passing the venue and seeing the Van Os signs (and him on the court house steps) honked their horns in agreement with this endorsement. Aproximately 65 supporters from all spectrums of the usually divided Tarrant County Democratic party joined Van Os on the steps. It was incredible to see arch rivals (even enemies) standing together in unity with David Van Os and enjoying it! About every five or ten minutes another trucker would turn the corner, see the gathering, recognize Van Os's "BIG OIL I'M COMING AFTER YOU" and honk their horns. This message, is splattered all over the state on billboards financied by local contributors. Sometimes candidates spend money on polls. This year the entire budget has gone to reaching the people. In Tarrant County, at Van Os's Whistle Stop, we were able to tell that the message has reached folks who aren't just activists. His other bill board message is: "Insurance Gougers, I'm Coming After You!"
Over at BOR, there's a great report on coverage of the Bell Rally in Ft Worth on Sunday.
It's a great read, and another sign that Bell is on the rise in the Gov. race:
Rain couldn't put out fires that Bell lit
By Bob Ray Sanders
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
At a campaign event in Fort Worth on Sunday afternoon, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell was all wet -- from the beginning of his speech to the end.
