| This weekend -- most likely unaware of the other -- two excellent writers posted their thoughts on the state of the Governor's race in Texas. Craigg Hines, former Washington bureau chief for the Houston Chronicle, wrote a piece for the Washington Examiner titled, "The War of the Roses." And Charles Kuffner -- also known lovingly as "The Texas Blogfather" -- wrote a piece for Off the Kuff titled, "The state of the Governor's race." Hines' piece focuses largely on the Republican side of the Governor's race, capturing the universally recognized dismal start of the Hutchison campaign for the national audience. He contextualizes the back-and-forth between Hutchison and Perry in a dramatic setting -- one that reinforces their failed leadership by exposing how petty and diminutive the two really are (and throws in a quote from BOR, for good measure): The Hutchison-Perry race already resembles the plot line of the 1989 vicious-divorce flick "The War of the Roses." A report by KHOU-TV in Houston on the increasing venom of the contest did a quick cut to Kathleen Turner's character in the movie screaming, "I simply want to smash your face in." [Ed. note: watch the actual video from KHOU] This is a strange, uphill landscape for Hutchison, whom many Texans over the last decade had assumed could waltz into Austin about anytime she liked and claim the governorship. Think "coronation"; Hutchison was. Now it seems it will take a miracle. Think "parting the Red Sea." Republican angst aside, it will be a great show, if only because you have a former University of Texas cheerleader, Hutchison, challenging a former Texas A&M yell leader, Perry. So, for some Texans, this is serious stuff, verging on blood sport. (The historically minded will recall that the last president from Texas, George W. Bush, who came to the White House from the Governor's Mansion, had been a cheerleader at both Andover and Yale.) That leaves, observed Burnt Orange Report, a center-left Texas political blog, two cheerleaders "running against each other to see who can get the right-wing of the Republican Party to shout the loudest." [Ed. note: read the origial post here]
Kuffner, meanwhile, looks more closely at the Democratic primary for the Texas Governor's race, reflecting on last week's endorsement from House Democrats of Tom Schieffer and the recent entry of Hank GIlbert into the Governor's race. Kuff takes his a fair look at the whole field -- namely, Schieffer and Gilbert: I think we’ll have a pretty good idea soon if the fundraising will exists to make one of these people a serious challenger for the Governor’s mansion. I was on a conference call with Gilbert and a number of my blogging colleagues yesterday morning, and one of the things he said was that he’s set a goal of raising $100K online between now and his official launch on September 21. I don’t know if he can do this, but I do agree that if he does, he’ll establish himself as a viable contender, and that it will make it easier for him to attract support from the conventional donors. (Though it must be noted that this doesn’t necessarily follow. Just ask Rick Noriega about that.) Schieffer’s recent announcement about receiving endorsements from House Democratic leaders may be an indication that the establishment has decided to coalesce around him; if so, expect him to post better fundraising numbers for the third and fourth quarters.
Two articles definitely worth a read. |
