| Tom Schieffer was named one of Texas Monthly's "Ten Worst Legislators" back in 1975. Schieffer, a former Ambassador to Australia and Japan who is now considering a run for Governor as a Democrat, was a state representative from Fort Worth at the time. Here is the excerpt from TM's original write up, via Evan Smith's State of Mine: Tom Schieffer, 27, Conservative Democrat, Fort Worth. What you get is even less than what you see. Arrogant and—what is worse—ambitious. Gained abundant notoriety early in the session as the sponsor of a patently unfair presidential primary bill designed to boost the chances of Senator Lloyd Bentsen. His garbled mishandling of that affair could put him on the Ten Worst by itself, but he wins his spot by conspicuous lack of merit in every field. “Actually he is furniture,” said one lobbyist. “His mistake was in trying to be anything else.” Said another: “He sits around and acts like he’s thinking. The worst type of person is someone who’s very ordinary and gets it into his head he’s some sort of big shot.” Said a high-ranking employee of a key state agency: “He’s just not very capable. All he can do is turn red in the face and scream at you.” As chairman of the Local and Consent Calendars Committee, he killed uncontroversial but important legislation sponsored by members he didn’t like. Said one person victimized by Schieffer’s maneuverings: “He really had big britches this session. Every time he let a bill out, he acted like he’d done you a big favor.” After a feud with Comptroller Bob Bullock over the fiscal implications of the presidential primary (capped by a letter from Bullock remarking, “I am sorry if you were offended by the cost of your own bill”), he killed two innocuous bills that were vital to the orderly operation of the comptroller’s office. The most appalling news of the 64th Legislature may be the fact that Tom Schieffer is soliciting pledges to be Speaker of the House.
Texas Monthly was so scathing that they even said that a state senator deserved, "the Tom Schieffer Award for the member whose ambition most outstrips his talent." Of course, a lot could have changed in 34 years. Although he was appointed by Bush, Scheiffer told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram he voted for Obama in both the primary and general election. Whether that is enough to win the approval of Texas Democrats remains to be seen. |
