Sharp, Schieffer Stump in Mid-Cities

by: Todd Hill

Fri Mar 27, 2009 at 11:24 AM CDT

On John Sharp, from the press release of the Mid-Cities Democrats:

Sharp went on to discuss his political accomplishments including the creation of the Lone Star Card and the Texas Tomorrow Fund. The former Railroad Commissioner and Comptroller explained the importance of having at least one Democratic senator with a Democratic controlled Congress and why he's the candidate to win in a special election for the seat currently held by Kay Bailey Hutchison - he's come the closest to beating a Republican than any other Democratic candidate for state wide office since 1998.

On Tom Schieffer, from the press release of the Mid-Cities Democrats:

Former Texas Rangers president and Ambassador Tom Schieffer told the group how he has melded good business with good ethics in his career since serving in the Texas Legislature. One guest asked how he would aid Texas' disabled population and Schieffer retold the creation of the first Americans with Disabilities Act compliant baseball park with the Ballpark at Arlington.

Schieffer told the gathering of North Texans that he is a hometown boy and that fact will help him beat out any other Democratic candidate in Tarrant County.

Regarding Schieffer, again I saw and I heard a passion for strengthening our public education system and investing in higher education.  Interesting enough, the discussion about Schieffers ability to compete in Tarrant County that was articulated by him during our interview together came up again last night.  From the Star-Telegram:

Schieffer, a Fort Worth native and brother of longtime TV newsman Bob Schieffer, was questioned about comments he made about believing he can win more votes in Tarrant County than any other Democratic candidate.

The reason? "I'm a hometown boy. My brother is a hometown boy," he said. "Some people are familiar with my name."

He said he ran for the Texas House from Tarrant County in the 1970s - and won with more than 60 percent of the vote.

"I recognize there's a lot of water under the bridge since then," he said.

"But I can get more Democratic votes in Tarrant County than any other Democratic candidate."

I have to admit to liking Schieffer the more I hear him.  I really think he has something to offer in a race for governor.  If you meet him and hear him you see far more than a former Ambassador to the Bush Administration, which interestingly enough never came up last night.  He received three distinct applause lines during his remarks while Sharp received sporadic applause.  Maybe not a fair measurement of how the audience received the remarks from the two candidates, but I can tell you the buzz in the room after both spoke was higher for Schieffer than it was for Sharp.

I can vote for John Sharp and I've always liked him.  The problem is that he is running in the same race as Bill White and I like him too.  That's a tougher choice to make, and of course, this all assumes Kay Baily vacates her senate seat.  Right now, in the gubernatorial race, we have one individual exploring versus no one else filing anything.  So far, I like my choices in the gubernatorial race because there is only one choice to be made, should Schieffer decide to move beyond exploring and actually declaring.  If the field vets fully than it's a whole new ballgame and it gets a lot tougher for us all to decide.  Having said that, what I'm hearing and seeing from Schieffer makes this yella-dawg Democrat feel awfully good.