Rep. Will Hartnett on Tom Craddick's Fall

Amusing... (5.00 / 1)

...that Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) was standing behind Hartnett. Hughes wasn't on Craddick's team in 2007, and switched sides a couple of months ago to become one of his people. Now, he's again without a candidate and is probably wondering why he risked his chance to move up into the leadership by jumping on that sinking ship.  

Vince Leibowitz

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by: Vince Leibowitz @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 02:12:21 AM UTC

Hysterical ... (0.00 / 0)

Thanks for pointing this out. Hughes looks decidedly uncomfortable.

I have long felt that Hughes is an East Texas Republican whom Democrats should target. He had no opponent in 2006 or 2008. He narrowly defeated Democratic incumbent Bob Glaze in 2002, but shellacked Glaze in a rematch in 2004.

"The eyes of the people are fast opening! Fight on!"--Andrew Jackson

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by: Al Stanley @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 04:03:35 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Is there a Part 2 (0.00 / 0)

to that video...she asked him what he thought of Smithee and the tape ran out. Rep. Hartnett is just all smiles. :)

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by: Elsbeth @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 02:22:39 AM UTC

The Craddick D's (0.00 / 0)

made him the speaker in 2007 and were the ones that took him out in 2009.  Interesting how such a small group was the key.

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by: tamsterbath @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 02:24:11 AM UTC

Too much credit (3.00 / 2)

I think you're giving too much credit to the Craddick Ds. Personally I think it was a bunch of core Ds that worked with the ABCs to put this thing together. The Craddick Ds appeared to just go along with the flow of things. People like Rep. McClendon come to mind as someone who was looking for a winner and finally realized Craddick didn't have the votes. That's not guts. That's just covering their odds.

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by: RBearSAT @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 02:51:57 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

It would have happened without them (0.00 / 0)

but their move to Straus was the last catalyst in Craddick giving up.  Once they were gone, it was done.

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by: tamsterbath @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 04:48:30 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

well, without them, it was probably done, anyways. (0.00 / 0)

Without them, Straus's original list that we saw at 85 still would have been over the 75 bump.

"Let us tenderly and kindly cherish therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write."  -  John Adams

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by: Michael Hurta @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 20:10:56 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Bipartisanship? (0.00 / 0)

Straus owes his election to the 64 ABC Dems who came on board as a bloc, as much if not more than to the Gang of 11. It'll be interesting to see how much he repays that support with committee assignments and management of the House.

This is especially important for the 2011 redistricting session. If Straus does a decent job in 2009 and there isn't a huge swing in House membership in 2010, he'll still be Speaker in 2011. We can expect the next redistricting to generally favor the R's, but hopefully it won't be a travesty like last time.  

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by: LSadun @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 03:06:09 AM UTC

Short memory (0.00 / 0)

Anybody remember how this guy acted in 2007 when others were trying to oust Craddick. I remember being in Austin that day for the  "proceedings."  

It will be interesting to see who becomes Chair of the various committees and who gets back-benched.

Mike Davis
Dallas Progress

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by: Dallas Progress @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 13:20:56 PM UTC

As Dick Cheney might put it... (0.00 / 0)

Dead Ender

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by: Bigfoot @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 16:46:05 PM UTC