Burnt Orange Report

The rest of the QR piece:

"Long time operative, consultant and press guy Kelly Fero is severing his ties with the Texas Democratic Party this month.

He says he will continue working to recruit and promote Democratic candidates and help to get them elected next year. However, this move will avoid any conflicts of interest with the party down the road.

The separation is amicable. And he adds, tea leaf watchers would be mistaken if they interpret his departure as the beginning of a new John Sharp campaign although one should never rule out the possibility.

ã Copyright July 11, 2005 by Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved"

Of course you never rule out the possibility... Though I'm trying to figure out who he'd consult with that would be a conflict of interest, unless it's a John Sharp Indepedent bid of something. Well, at least we aren't losing a great consultant to the dark side.

Karl-T, he's going "independent" in the sense of being self-employed, not in the partisan-alignment sense. It's no big deal.

No big deal, except that it likely *is* a sign of Sharp getting his ducks in a row for a run at Guv. Also, Kelly's already been all over StepUpTexas.com plugging his former (future?) boss.

I heard he's going to work for Strayhorn. Makes sense. She needs someone to jump start her campaign.

I really doubt Fero would work for a Republican, Strayhorn or anyone else. I suspect he has something else up his sleeve.

Strayhorn & Fero have always been pretty good friends. Fero might just work for her to beat up on Perry.

The REAL reason Fero has left the Texas Democratic Party is because the SDEC asked the Chairman to let him go, due to money concerns and his loyalty to Democratic candidates. It is my understanding that Fero has been working through savetexasreps.com to post attacks on Democrats while drawing a considerable check from the Demcoratic party. That is reason enough to sever ties with this consultant.

Kelly Fero's one of the good guys. Anyone who is working as hard as he does for his candidates is going to make some people mad in this business, but today is not a good day to form a circular firing squad. Kelly has worked a long time for Democrats for a lot smaller paychecks than he was getting from the Democratic Party, so let's not jump up and down on him today. Or, for that matter, any other.

Dear Annonymous:

Your information is as bad as your spelling.

Friend of Fero

Hey, "annonymous", why would Fero be let go because of "his loyalty to Democratic candidates." I thought Democrats were supposed to be loyal to Democratic candidates. As for www.savetexasreps.com, I happen to know that that web site belongs to an Austin consultant who is on retainer with Kinky Friedman. So you see, your theory doesn't wash, "annonymous".

Chairman Soechting and Kelly Fero go back 20 years. No one forced the Chair to do anything, least of all the worthless SDEC. The Chair and Fero are up to something. Guaranteed.

Obviously, you folks don't know what you are talking about. I was at the SDEC Finance Meeting when Dennis Teal told the Chairman to get rid of Kelly. TDP can't afford to pay for someone who is running down our Democratic candidates and officeholders while on the TDP payroll. Kelly has had derogatory things to say about Chris Bell (I assume because he is also on a constant retainer with Sharp, money or not). He has worked through Nathan Wilcox and savetexasreps.com to attack current officeholders. The Texas Democratic Party ought to be in the business of attacking Republicans, not Democrats. And that is a second reason for the Finance Committee to suggest to the Chairman to remove Fero from his contract.

you kids have too much time on your hands.

What derogatory things has Fero had to say about Bell? Not that I would disagree with him if he did, but I'm not aware that he has anything to say one way or the other. In fact, it was my impression that Fero worked with Bell on the DeLay deal. And, are you sure he has worked with savetexasreps.com or is this just more SDEC rumor mongering? If anyone needs to heed your advice to "be in the business of attacking Republicans, not Democrats," it is you and your cronies on the SDEC that wouldn't know how to win an election if your lives depended on it.

SaveTexasReps is my personal activism outlet. Kelly was a lot of help when I started it up in 2003 to oppose redistricting but no more than that. He still feeds me tips for stories to run on STR, as do many people with many agendas, but he certainly doesn't call the shots.
No one pulls my strings, thanks.

Nathan Wilcox
Save Texas Reps