State of Confusion in the State of Texas

BeLogical.com ^ | 10/15/2009 | Lynn Woolley

[BuckeyeTexan]

It is becoming apparent that there is a possibility that neither Rick Perry nor Kay Bailey Hutchison may be the Republican nominee for governor of Texas. Both of them have issues that must be cleared up – and soon, or other big names are going to enter the race.

Gov. Perry is smack in the middle of a developing controversy over the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham – indeed a very bad man, but a man who may not have started the fire that killed his three children. The strange thing is that the question of Willingham’s guilt is not central to the Governor’s problem. Of course, if Willingham did not set the fire – that’s huge. But if Rick Perry interfered with the Texas Forensic Science Commission’s investigation into the case – that’s monumental.

There will be an investigation, so imagine this: what if the Commission concludes that Willingham was innocent – and the voting public concludes that Perry’s move to replace the chairman and three other members of the Commission might have been a blocking tactic? The Hutchison campaign is already saying, “…it gives the appearance of a cover-up...”

This sordid affair might prove very useful to Sen. Hutchison in her campaign to unseat the Governor except for the fact that she seems to have no fire in the belly to pursue the race. In a radio interview with WBAP’s Mark Davis, she said she isn’t sure when she will leave the Senate to pursue the governor’s race fulltime. She isn’t certain about what Congress will do with healthcare and she wants to “…stay and fight with every bone in my body against a government takeover…”

And we all thought she wanted to be governor.

Previously, Sen. Hutchison had said that she would resign the Senate by December. But she also had stated that she wanted to remain in the Senate to fight “cap-and-trade” legislation.

So she’s going to resign unless she doesn’t and she’s going stay in the Senate to fight Obama’s healthcare and energy bills unless she returns to Texas fulltime to run for governor. Are we confused yet?

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and Attorney General Greg Abbott are waiting and watching. They know that if Gov. Perry’s problem with the Willingham case blows up on him that Sen. Hutchison could easily take the nomination. Well, unless she doesn’t want it.

Musical chairs in Texas is a game played every few years; someone at the tops retires and everybody moves up. The scenario was all fitting together until now. The 2010 filing period opens on December 3rd and closes on January 4th. What if Mr. Perry is still immersed in the Willingham case and Ms. Hutchison still hasn’t resigned? Remember, there are other Republicans who’d like to be governor and a ton of them who’d like Ms. Hutchison’s senate seat.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is likely planning to file for the senate seat in a special election to replace Hutchison. If Dewhurst follows through, then Attorney General Greg Abbott would almost certainly want to move up to lieutenant governor. That would open the way for State Comptroller Susan Combs to file for the AG spot.

But for all this to happen in the usual way, Gov. Perry needs to clean up his Willingham mess and Sen. Hutchison needs to make up her mind. The governor should stop talking about what a monster Willingham was and support a full investigation. And it had better prove Willingham was guilty. Ms. Hutchison should resign soon, and trust Mr. Dewhurst or someone else to take up the healthcare fight. If not, the governor’s race could go to the Democrats for lack of a Republican candidate.

Lynn Woolley is a Texas-based talk show host streaming from www.BeLogical.com. He may be heard live in Dallas-Fort Worth on KVCE AM 1160 at 9 a.m.

[BuckeyeTexan]

Ping

Freepmail me or ping me from the original thread to get on/off the 2010 Texas Governor's Race ping list.

[pissant]

Get Ted Poe to run.

[smokingfrog]

Dewhurst, Abbott or Combs would probably be better than either Perry or KBH, don’t you think?

Flame away.

[barb-tex]

I vote none of the above Isee Kinky has joined the dems.
barbra ann

[pissant]

So would Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe.

[deport]

Even Medina is getting on him about the Willingham execution.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/2009/10/15/1015govrace.html
snip
Wharton businesswoman Debra Medina, who is also seeking the Republican nomination for governor, said this week that the death penalty should be used in some cases, but she too criticized Perry’s approach to the Willingham investigation.

“This constant changing of the guard when he doesn’t like the findings is more evidence that the governor behaves more and more like a tyrant” when people don’t agree with him, Medina said.
end snip

************

Bring on the Oklahoma cash.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2009/10/19/former_ou_coach_switzer_to_hos.html
snip
Former Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys coach Barry Switzer will host a fundraiser for Gov. Rick Perry the weekend of Nov. 14 at Switzer’s home in Norman.

That same weekend, the Sooners are hosting Texas A&M in football. Presumably the coach and the governor, who is a former Aggie yell leader, will take different sides in that one.
————end snip

*************

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/2009/10/15/1015selby.html

Hutchison causing political heartache
Voters unlikely to react unless she keeps changing her resignation stance.

If you’re not a Texan yearning for a statewide office you don’t currently hold, there’s nothing troubling about Kay Bailey Hutchison’s waffling over leaving the U.S. Senate to focus on running for governor.

But if you’re angling for her could-be-available seat or another possible opening, it’s all right to cry.
.....end snips

**********

Pig in Texas

snip
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/10/perry-tweaks-hutchison-for-por.html

Perry tweaks Hutchison for “porker of the month” award, a day late

A day late - I guess they were hoping to keep this alive beyond a single news cycle - the Perry campaign has just offered its congratulations to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchisonfor winning “Porker of the Month” for October. The anti-earmark group Citizens Against Government Waste announced the dubious honor Monday, marking the third time for Hutchison in her 16-year Senate career.
....end snip

[BuckeyeTexan]

Ping post #7 from deport with links to several more articles about the race.

[DRey]

Rick Perry will not only be the nominee, he will continue to be our governor, thank God. Every anti-Republican in this country (yes, including Kay Bailout Hutchinson) is going after him with every piece of garbage they can possibly invent. Though I cannot stand this man personally, he has served Texas very, very well. The proof is in the puddin’. This state is on solid ground relative to the rest and weathered the recession nicely. Throw what you can. It won’t be enough. Go Rick!!!

[TWfromTEXAS]

The proof is in the puddin’.

Just what does that mean? Your statement is as dumb as Perry. The quote is "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." Then again you think doing nothing, NOTHING for ten years makes one a very good Governor, so why not a meaningless quote.

[GWMcClintock]

Doing nothing is somewhat better than doing like New York’s governor, et. al.

[DRey]

The quote is "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

Lol. Well thank you, Einstein, for clearing that one up. Gee, I did not know the quote was "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." Does everything have to be spelled out for you, or are you just being obtuse?

By the way, if "doing nothing" for ten years is what Perry did, then it was obviously the right call. I'm delighted with Texas positioning in this country. People are moving here in droves because we're doing it right.

[TheZMan]

I personally think it’s pathetic that Perry is the best this state can produce for the office of governor.

[TWfromTEXAS]

Obtuse? Says the fool who thinks Perry is a very, very good governor. Is it the toll roads you like? His buddies who work for Spanish firms that get our tolls? Interstate 69 to speed illegals to the mid west? All that border help? Forced vaccinations? Just what has he done in TEN years?

I suspect that something in your puddin' is vicodin.

[TWfromTEXAS]

Well if doing nothing is what we are after, Perry is your guy. I say let's pay someone else to do nothing and see if their nothing is any better than this.

[beanshirts]

Okay fellow Texans, let me tell you why I’m a Republican and why I have little reason to vote for Perry or Hutchinson.

I’ve always voted for Republicans because I was under the misunderstanding that the GOP was supposed to champion the opposite of the Democrats’ unconstitutional socialist agenda... not just less of it. Apparently, however, I was wrong, as long periods of GOP control of the executive and legislative branches of government both in Washington DC AND in Austin has produced absolutely nothing in terms of even trying (much less actual accomplishments) to dismantle the institutions that comprise our (state and federal) welfare/regulatory states.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect a few years or even a decade’s worth of GOP majorities to be able to roll back a whole century’s worth of progressivism and creeping socialism. But I do expect them to BEGIN the process when they are in charge so that SOMEDAY we may have our freedom restored, and I expect them to unashamedly (in terms of their rhetoric) champion the ideas of liberty and limited government rather than call for new and better government programs to “fix” things.

Having said all of this, here’s my list of the three things I’m looking for in a governor.

1) Someone who will resist the temptation to continue using government power (especially in terms of creating new government programs, agencies, and initiatives) to try and “fix” whatever they think is wrong with Texas.

2) Someone who will make it his/her #1 priority as governor to ceaselessly call for the abolition and/or dismantling of sizable chunks of the state government, especially those elements of state power which most unnecessarily infringe upon people’s liberty/property rights.

3) Someone who will aggressively stand up to the federal government when it violates Texas’ sovereignty based upon a strict constructionist interpretation of the 10th Amendment.

After years of Perry in Austin and years of KBH in Washington DC, I see little evidence based upon their long governing histories that either would govern in any way close to #1-3. For you Perry supporters, and I’m not just trying to play “gotcha” here, please give me some examples over the last 8 years of Governor Perry ACTUALLY shrinking government or standing up for Texas sovereignty against the federal government that’s more than just worthless rhetoric.

[DRey]

"Says the fool" blah, blah, blah

You need to wipe the froth from your mouth and calm down. You have resorted to name-caling twice now, in two posts to me. My advice to you: grow your vocabulary, read a book now and then, and grow up. Good luck voting Perry out. You'll need it.