TX. Gov. mock election

[Alcon]

So, the Forum results are:

Perry 31%
Friedman 27%
Bell 24%
Strayhorn 18%

Amusing.

[M]

Kinky. I think he's a lot like Ventura, except better with the press.

BTW, I think Gammage would stand a better chance in the election than Bell.

Gammage has skeletons in his closet, Bell is just an incompetant politician who inspires no one.  The Democrats best chance to win the race is probably old Felix Alvarado, who I know personally, and who couldn't win in local race in Fort Worth to save his life. 

I don't vote in Texas any more, but if I did, I would vote for Perry.  Let me give a few reasons:

First, Perry did an excellent job during the whole Rita/Katrina thing in 2005, which both sides have acknowledged (except for Strayhorn).  Leadership during crisis is something that is very important to me in a governor/president

Second, even though he hasn't been successful reforming the school budget (which must be done by June 2006), he's kept Texas in good fiscal condition on the whole, with balanced budgets the last couple of years and kept state spending under control.  He's not very charismatic, and he's slightly too conservative on social issues for me, but in my opinion he's competant and the same cannot be said for the other candidates.

As for the other candidates, let me lay out my qualms:

Bell is a boring politician, who has no appeal outside of the standard liberal Democrat white vote (not to minorities).  He was uninspiring as a Houston mayoral candidate in 2001, uninspiring when he ran for House in 2002, though the seat of Ken Bentsen fit him well and was really uninspiring when he got drawn out of his House seat in 2004.

Friedman is certainly entertaining, but way too liberal for me on social issues.  He has said that he will immediately issue a moratorium on death row and that's pretty much enough for him to lose my interest.

Strayhorn is also very entertaining, but has a history of doing pretty much anything to get elected.  As I had to point out before, she was in the late 1970s, early 1980s, a liberal Democrat mayor of Austin who supported the candidacy of Walter Mondale (for example). 

Then, in 1985, she was going to run in the primary against then-Gov. Mark White.  When she realized that she couldn't win in the Democrat primary, she switched parties and became a Republican, running against former Gov. Bill Clements, who won the primary and went on to beat White in the general election.  I simply don't trust her.

It's too familiar to what she's done this time around for me, personally. 

Sam, what's the dirt on Gammage?

Strayhorn at this point, unless she promises to raise or hints at raising taxes. That is, if Perry's reelection chances are either uncomfortable or impossible. But if at the finish line it looks like Bell or even Friedman might pull it off and only Perry could stop them, I'd have to vote for the loser.

BTW, his management of the hurricane crisis was competent only compared to the banana republic under Blanco. The largest traffic jam in national history is not a ringing endorsement- my parents were in the car for 19 hours, and I've heard of 27 and higher. My Florida friends tell me this would never happen in their state. Barbour was the one truly impressive governor in the crisis- but then, he has friends in high places. And I was pleasantly surprised with Riley.

[nini2287]

Friedman, especially given his views on the death penalty.

[Sam Spade]

Sam, what's the dirt on Gammage?

Strayhorn at this point, unless she promises to raise or hints at raising taxes. That is, if Perry's reelection chances are either uncomfortable or impossible. But if at the finish line it looks like Bell or even Friedman might pull it off and only Perry could stop them, I'd have to vote for the loser.

BTW, his management of the hurricane crisis was competent only compared to the banana republic under Blanco. The largest traffic jam in national history is not a ringing endorsement- my parents were in the car for 19 hours, and I've heard of 27 and higher. My Florida friends tell me this would never happen in their state. Barbour was the one truly impressive governor in the crisis- but then, he has friends in high places. And I was pleasantly surprised with Riley.

Let me address the second comment first. 

In my opinion of Perry handling the crisis, I was also referring to how Texas helped Louisiana with the whole Katrina thing.  Without Texas coming to bat and giving a place for the refugees to come to during the first few days.  That actually means a good bit to me and it defines why I gave higher marks to all officials in general (both state and local). 

About the only one who didn't receive good marks from me was Strayhorn, who used the opportunity to open her extremely large and candid mouth to play politics against the governor about using funds towards Katrina victims that the state might not be reimbursed by the feds and would lead to a state fiscal crisis.  You know how I feel about people who play politics on this forum with tragedies, so this should come as no surprise.

Anyway, with regards to the mass exodus, knowing Houston as well as I do, I am still and was then absolutely shocked that about half of the Region's population of 5 million people (plus probably about another 1 million illegals) was able to get out in about 72 hours time. 

There's basically no mass transportation, so roads are about the only way to go.  And considering rush hour in a good day on a Houston freeway is a pain in the ass, imagining it with ten times as much traffic on there is nearly impossible.  What happened there was obviously going to happen, regardless.

I know the whole Miami area is a crowded place also, but most of the time (esp. in summer) a lot of the Yankee transplants aren't there and I really don't think Miami has had to deal with a full-scale Cat 5 evacuation since Andrew.  Besides the population is still half of Houston metro.

Also, that area of Florida is helped by the fact that it is spread out all along the peninsula.  If a hurricane hits south of Miami proper, like Andrew did, Fort Lauderdale, etc. isn't going to get it too badly.  In Houston, if a hurricane hits at San Luis Pass or any point about 50 miles to east, the whole metro area is going to get it, badly.

Simply put, your Florida friends aren't giving you the correct comparison. 

Now to the first comment:

On Gammage, please look up materials in reference to the tobacco-settlement scandal that ensnagged Dan Morales back in the late 1990s when Gammage was on the Texas State Supreme Court.  There's a couple of good articles you can easily google up quickly.

[minionofmidas]

Sigh...Illegals are overwhelmingly included in Census Bureau figures...

[Sam Spade]

Sigh...Illegals are overwhelmingly included in Census Bureau figures...

Well, of course.  I was calculating the 5 million that 2000 census reports, plus the other 1 million that have come here since that census was done. 

[minionofmidas]

Sigh...Illegals are overwhelmingly included in Census Bureau figures...

Well if Houston has grown between 2000 and 2004 at all, it must have been entirely in illegals. The number of votes cast in the area didn't increase by nearly as much as in the DFW area.

Well, of course.  I was calculating the 5 million that 2000 census reports, plus the other 1 million that have come here since that census was done. 

[jimrtex]

About the only one who didn't receive good marks from me was Strayhorn, who used the opportunity to open her extremely large and candid mouth to play politics against the governor about using funds towards Katrina victims that the state might not be reimbursed by the feds and would lead to a state fiscal crisis.  You know how I feel about people who play politics on this forum with tragedies, so this should come as no surprise.

Even worse was that Strayhorn had "suspended" political campaigning when Katrina hit.  On the Wednesday following while Parry was working on handling the refugees from Louisiana, Strayhorn issued a release criticizing Perry's inaction against child molestors.

[jimrtex]

Sam, what's the dirt on Gammage?

The state of Texas hired private lawyers to handle the state's case in the state tobacco settlement cases.  It has been alleged that then Texas AG Dan Morales demanded campaign contributions from lawyers in order to be selected as counsel.

The "settlement" between the tobacco companies and the states produced a huge windfall ($3.3 billion) for these lawyers.  Bob Gammage was on an arbitration committee selected by Morales that awarded one lawyer, Marc Murr, $260 million for his "work" on the case.  This was later reduced to $1 million, and that was eventually returned to Texas.

Morales is now in federal prison for his role in the case, and Murr served 6 months, after Morales' succesor as AG, John Cornyn, challenged the legal fees.

Gammage now claims that he was given false information by Morales and Murr about the amount of work performed by Murr, and is heartbroken that Morales had deceived him.

I'm not sure that Gammage's problem will simply be one of name recognition, and not his role in the legal settlement.  He was a Texas Supreme Court Justice from 1991-1995, and like Chris Bell a one term congressman.  He was defeated by Ron Paul, when Paul was first elected to Congress.

[© tweed]

Friedman is funny, but how exactly does that translate into being a good Governor?

How hard could it be?