Burnt Orange Report

Vince, I'm sorry, I don't see the hypocrisy. Is it that she helped draw the maps that elected the Legislature that passed the law? That's like accusing her of swallowing a cat to catch a bird to catch a spider to catch a fly. Unless she killed the fly herself -- or at least hired someone to, a la Abramoff -- I'm not sure what's wrong.

And Bob Perry gave her lots of money in the past. Bob Perry gave every Republican money in the past. But Strayhorn has gotten lots of money, lately, from Democrats. Ben Barnes, a longtime Democrat and former Lite Gov, donated $10,000 and that lawyer Walter Umphrey gave her $100,000.

I'm all about defeating Strayhorn in November and putting a Democrat in the Governor's mansion. But we've got to do it with some substance. I just don't see the hypocrisy here.

Hypocrisy. That's a little vague and a little common.
Holy Jeebus, Rick Perry is running commercials about how he made health care more affordable. Although I guess he did make it more affordable for the big insurance companies. (don't get me started about education.)

Like Phillip, I'm hoping that the Democratic message will be heard loud and clear. I sincerely believe that if these pissed off voters actually heard the Democratic message, then we could finally start to turn the corner. Voters shouldn't be pissed off at the "two-party system" because in all reality we have a Republican monopoly that's screwed everything up. But my fear is that Carole is sucking up the big Democratic donor money, and that Kinky is sucking up the free media. We can't ingore this reality, and it's going to be a real challenge to get the Democratic message hear loud and clear.

This is whole Texas independence idea is tough thing to digest for straight ticket voters. But independence is a real concept...especially in Texas. By definition, the two independents in the race are not constrained by party ideology and are thus now liberated to speak their mind. My high school friends who hate Perry but would never vote for a Democrat all loved the Kinky 60 minutes interview. And I've always seen Carole as a political misfit, and maybe now she's finally expressing her true beliefs because she's got nothing to lose?

I can tell you honestly that, in my early support of Kinky, I was shocked to meet so many voters who were sick and tired of the two party system. There's a massive pissed off electorate that the status quo politicians have underestimated. Is it enough to actually turn Texas politics upside down? No one knows. But one thing is certain: If an independent does win in 2006, then that means that the down ballot races will favor Democrats because there will be a huge anti-incumbent sentiment. Let's not forget that Tom Craddick is the root of all evil. That's why I strongly feel that Democrats should invest their limited resources in taking back the House.

Best case scenario: If Carole and Kinky have already peaked, and 2006 is indeed the year of the Democrats, then the Dean Rindys and Jason Stanfords will look like geniuses. Let's hope.

Honestly, it may be fun to bitch and scream about Republicans, and Carole Strayhorn does fall into that column, but if Dems are planning to win they need to do it without sounding so damn shrill. Vince, you seem very proud of your 2 OTG posts...don't be. I'm for a Dem in the Governor's mansion in '06 as much as the next guy, but your whining diatribes on the comptroller come off as nothing more than that. Please do a substantive post...even if Jason Stanford bought you off by posting a link to you on the Bell blog, please do something real.

You heard it here first: CKMRS is an IINO. Yes, that's right, an Independent In Name Only. In reality, she longs to be a Democrat again, but you can only change parties once. She can't go back! Who would trust her? Plus, a Democrat for governor can't be elected in Texas this year. So she's doing the one thing she can do.

But Democrats would do well to keep the shrieking to a minimum, because as Ian says above, below
the Governor level it's all good for Democrats. An Independent Governor will have to work with both sides to get anything done -- or be a total blowhard failure, as Jesse Ventura was.

By the way, Democrats accusing someone of hypocrisy when their only crime was seeing the light, is foolish and itself hypocritical. How many Democrats still go after Robert Byrd for his Klan history? Is he a hypocrite, or did he get wiser? I favor giving CKMRS the benefit of the doubt in these regards, because her recent criticisms are right on the money. We need the reform-oriented advocacy she is providing us.

In Response To The Comments:

1.) "Vince, I'm sorry, I don't see the hypocrisy."

To me, the hypocrisy is that, as a Republican, she either believed in all the things she is now damning or she kept her mouth shut to please party regulars and is now damning those things to get votes. I'm not saying no Democrat has ever done this, etc., I'm just saying that it is hypocritical when any politician does such a "flip-flop" without giving a reason for his/her change.

Was Byrd in the Klan? Sure. Did he explain all that? Sure. Was John Kerry for the war and then against the war? Did he explain the reason for his shift? Yes. Did Carole Strayhorn? NO.

2.) Please do a substantive post...even if Jason Stanford bought you off by posting a link to you on the Bell blog, please do something real.

Nobody buys me off. And, speaking of doing something real, I plan to call up Carole Strayhorn's people after the primary and get an interview with her, so I can ask her about her shifting views. That's far more fun that just following press clips, don't you think?

I don't think any mainstream journalist will ask her about them. I think someone should.

The TRCC is a joke -- but it was not a part of the tort reform package.