As Travis County Dems rally to ask and answer the question "
What Would Ann Do?" I'm stuck icing my knee after an unexpected fall and phonebanking this afternoon.
But a poster at TK scored some good news for the Chris Bell Campaign this morning, and it follows some other endorsements that show the momentum is shifting Bell's way.
And that's good news for Texans that I couldn't wait to share with y'all.
Texas major media skews conservative (I know, try to contain your shock and surprise) so the expected course for most editorial boards is that they'll endorse Perry in the Governor's race.
But a few are bucking the trends. This morning brought not just an endorsement from the Ft Worth Star-Telegram for Chris Bell in the Governor's race, but an extended justification of just why it's important for the Democrat to win this race:
None of the elected branches includes a power strong enough to pause the steamrolling effect of the most extreme ideas from the GOP's conservative wing. Even Republicans who might not fully agree with those extremes feel compelled to conform. The message has become clear that if they don't, their own party's big-money contributors stand ready to bankroll opponents in the next election who will play along.
A solution is available, one that acknowledges the legitimacy of the current legislative conservatism but also recognizes the need for balance in crafting public policy.
Texans should elect a new governor: Democrat Chris Bell.
Bell, 46, is a seasoned public servant, with five years on the Houston City Council before his election to Congress in 2002. The 2003 redistricting spearheaded by Tom DeLay, then U.S. House majority leader, targeted Bell and other Texas Democrats by placing them in new GOP-dominated districts. Bell lost his bid for re-election.
The governor of Texas does not have much power -- just enough to make the Legislature think twice about what it is doing. That's exactly what today's monopolized state government needs.
Electing Bell would give Texas a taste of two-party government again, although this time dominated by Republicans instead of Democrats, as was long the case.
What power the governor has derives from the bully pulpit that the office provides, the ability to veto legislation and the power to make appointments -- with the approval of the Senate. Used judiciously, these can be great powers. If overused, they can become inadequate and ineffective. Even a speech from the governor can be ignored, and a veto can be overridden -- but each still makes the Legislature think just a bit harder before it acts.
This follows endorsements from the Austin Chronicle (an alt-weekly that does trend left) that endorsed Bell and our other downticket Dems for much the same reasons the Ft Worth paper did:
In the interest of supporting the return of the two-party (at least) system in Texas - and a more than usual necessity to "throw the bums out" - we briefly considered endorsing a straight-ticket Democratic vote, something we generally avoid. The overwhelming dominance of the Republican Party in Texas politics over the last several years, like its overwhelmingly Democratic predecessors, has been largely a disaster for public policy.
Upon reflection, however, in service to our readers we decided to address individually all the competitive races, to give a fuller sense of the relevant issues, as well as our logic in making these endorsements.
Honestly, we almost always endorse Democrats, so that's not exactly an innovation. Never in the past, however, have we been so tempted to make a blanket-ticket endorsement as we were this time - which reflects far more on the fanatical partisan rigidity of the current dominant party than on us. Traditionally, we have had as many concerns over Democrats as Republicans, including any number of lesser-of-two-evils election endorsements. But the current GOP wrongheadedness and destructiveness to the very structures of our country - Constitutional, social, economic, and diplomatic - demands a redress, if only for the good of the country.
The Constitution is such an inspired document that, without directly prescribing, it offers an antidote to the megalomaniacal dominance of our government by any one group. The long-time pattern in American politics has been that midterm elections serve to center whatever course government is taking. Aggressively tying the Republican Party to God, country, and security, the GOP pundits have stayed on point, offering simplistic analysis and one-sentence solutions to complex problems. Unfortunately, they have been unusually good at selling, to the point that the party has begun to perceive itself as a divinely mandated dynasty rather than an elected government. This is a horrible situation for this country, its people, and the world - as well as to possibility of the United States continuing as a Constitutional Republic based on the declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
This is not an election to sit back thinking that 12 guys smoking cigars in three-piece suits control the world, so why bother? This is not an election to claim that both parties are the same, and voting just endorses the system.
Also, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times came out for Chris Bell as well:
The Caller-Times Editorial Board met with three of the four gubernatorial candidates: Democrat Chris Bell and independents Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman. (Incumbent Gov. Rick Perry did not respond to the board's invitation.)
The board, after weighing the candidates' credentials and proposals, believes Democrat Chris Bell is best equipped to take on the challenges facing Texas.
The case for a new direction in the Governor's Mansion is a strong one. Should Perry win re-election and serve out a full term, he will become Texas' longest-serving governor. That would not bode well for Texas.
They elaborate further:
Though the governor touts his job creation funds, the real bedrock for job creation and new industry is a well-funded public school and university system. Yet Perry has never been a champion of education; instead, he has asked for budget cuts from universities again and again.
Fortunately, Texans have a way out. Democrat Chris Bell, a Houston attorney and former congressman, is at once understated and focused.
Bell spent five years on the Houston City Council, certainly a good training ground for a newcomer to the world of hardball politics. As chairman of the council's Ethics Committee, he played a key role in promoting much-needed campaign finance and ethics reform. Later, during his tenure in Congress, he was singled out as a "rising star" by the Capitol Hill journal Roll Call. He also founded and led the Port Security Caucus. And, not least, he saw at first hand the toxic impact of blind partisanship on the legislative process.
It cannot have been a coincidence that, in his appearance before the Editorial Board, one of the first points he made was the need for outreach and coalition-building.
Even in Abilene, while they can't quite bring themselves to endorse anyone, they recommend not voting for Bouffant Rick:
For the governor's race, the editorial board declines to endorse but recommends voters reject another term for the incumbent governor and look seriously at the views and records of two of the candidates. Our first responsibility is to our children, and the current state administration has failed them. Texas cannot afford to continue to have the highest rate of uninsured children in the country; or one in four children living in poverty. It is shameful that we rank last in the nation in percent of adults who have a high school diploma and 41st in state education funding per student.
Here's what they say about Chris Bell's qualifications:
Mr. Bell, the true outsider, is a Houston attorney and former congressman. He can be credited with starting the fall of Tom DeLay, the Houston-area congressman who was behind the mid-decade congressional redistricting that led to our current gerrymandered district and pitted two sitting congressman against each other. Like Mrs. Strayhorn, Mr. Bell champions the causes of children, raising the minimum wage and bringing more diversity to governance. In discussion of any number of subjects, he returns to the phrase ''real solutions and common ground,'' an indication of his style: thoughtful, focused and cognizant of the need for true bipartisan leadership.
There is no question that this is still an uphill battle-not just for the Bell campaign, but for all the downticket Dems fighting hard for every block of our neighborhoods.
But the blue tide is rising, even here in Texas. Better get in the boat, grab an oar, and start rowing.