Burnt Orange Report

Oh what will we do with that lady. That's lady with two L's.

"lightning-quick conversion"???

Mark White might disagree about his State Board of Insurance member. Anyone remember the Governor sitting on the front row of ratemaking hearings to emphasis his point?

In my adult life I have evolved from Liberal Democrat, to Republican, to Libertarian and now a Centrist. Things change: circumstances, philosophy, party leadership. I believe this is true for Carole. She is basically a pragmatist not an ideologue. She is looking for what works without regard for the label or the source. As with most Centrists she may believe that Vouchers can play a role in some chroncially underperforming schools but are not a reasonable solution to the overwhelming majority of well run school districts. This is the way many of us in the middle think about these issues. Not as black or white, but in shades of grey. And we favor candidates that can do likewise.

Well said, Paul.

My father was once a Goldwater Republican, but is now a centrist Democrat. Does that make him a hypocrite just because his political views have evolved? I would argue that we all grow wiser with time.

Several folks on this blog quickly forgave Bob Gammage despite his bad votes on abortion and minimum wage. Why not give the same benefit of the doubt to Carole? After all, the teachers (who are directly affected by this voucher issue) seemed to have moved on.

FYI. She's dropped the word "Republican" from her TV ads, too.

I noticed after this post that she had dropped the word "Republican" from all but one of her ads that are still running in this market.

Anyway, I don't dispute that people evolve. BUT, I don't think Strayhorn just "evolved." She's a little bit of a different character. Just look at her past. That first switch just about says it all.

Maybe her current husband is all over the map ideologically and she is merely adhering to the Republican dictum of "husband first, party second" like Kay Bailey Hutchison, who probably should register as a lobbyist for Vinson & Elkins.

One thing about Strayhorn is she makes Bell look good. At least he knows what day it is. I think.

"As with most Centrists she may believe that Vouchers can play a role in some chroncially underperforming schools but are not a reasonable solution to the overwhelming majority of well run school districts."

That is true, and that may indeed be her position, but then Perry is not too far from that either. Modest school choice proposals that targetted only failed schools were shot down in the last session by anti-school-choice legislators fearing even a
small amount of choice. As the linked article mentions ... "Perry has long said he favors a pilot program dedicating some taxpayer money for private school vouchers for children in failing public schools."

So it is demagoguery to talk in apocalyptic terms of Perry's position on school choice when, as noted, she's not be too far from Perry's view.
Now Carole's got the teacher's union endorsement, she is sounding more like their PR agent than an independent, and is giving a raw meat speech to the IAF crowd.

Being pro-school-choice is not anti-public-school, they can thrive together, unless you believe our public schools are so awful they couldnt stand competition and require captive student populations to survive.

Ian:

I think if Goldwater were still alive he'd now be a centrist Democrat.

People change; people make mistakes. It's admitting them, correcting them and moving forward that shows a persons true character.

I don't have a problem with Carole for changing a position as long as it's genuine. However, she still has the same problem as all the R's at the top... they're peevish and petty little people with a 'gotcha last' attitude that does nothing to fix the problems in this state.

Memory pills..and the pot calling the kettle black...speaking of which, Vince, didn't Texas have a Democratic gubernatorial candidate (Tony Sanchez) who was a Bush Pioneer (donated more than $200,000 to Bush's presidential campaign) and was appointed by Bush to the UT Board of Regents, then ran for governor as a Democrat when the opportunity presented itself?

Trey says: Memory pills..and the pot calling the kettle black...speaking of which, Vince, didn't Texas have a Democratic gubernatorial candidate (Tony Sanchez) who was a Bush Pioneer (donated more than $200,000 to Bush's presidential campaign) and was appointed by Bush to the UT Board of Regents, then ran for governor as a Democrat when the opportunity presented itself?

I say: You are correct. Although I don't think Tony Sanchez is the hypoctite Carole Strayhorn is, I wasn't saying that Strayhorn is the only person out for her own personal political gain.

Also, remember that Sanchez was recruited to the ticket by others who actually thought that he'd been a Bush Pioneer would be appealing, I guess.

If the Democratic nominee can't crack 30%, and one of the independents has truly connected with the voting public, then what? If we have a chance of dethroning Perry with an independent, then will we be realistic or stubborn?

My view is that anybody is better than Rick Perry, including Carole or Kinky. I'm hoping that 2006 is the year that Democrats finally stop the bleeding and re-take the Governor's Mansion, but I'm keeping an open mind.

Ian:

Don't too much faith in early polls, especially Zogby. I'm suprised anyone still listens to Zogby given their performance in 2004.

"I think if Goldwater were still alive he'd now be a centrist Democrat."

Goldwater voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act beacuse he thought it infringed on people's private property rights.

Say what you will about Barry Goldwater, but the man was a conservative Republican.