Voice in the Wilderness

One Tough Spasmodic Grandma Decides to Gig Gov. Perry for an Additional Eight Months

Texas Comptroller and Gubernatorial Candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn officially filed to run for Governor as an independent today. Says Mrs. Strayhorn in her announcement speech:

"... the job of our elected officials in Austin is not to divide us with partisan politics, but to bring all Texans together to get things done.

But in Austin these days, our Governor and many of our leaders seem more interested in scoring political points, pointing fingers and assigning blame than in fixing our problems."

Mrs. Strayhorn then goes on to assign blame to Governor Perry:

"Governor Perry may be doing the best he can, but after five years we have learned that he is not the strong leader we need to put Texas above politics.

He has made the politics of division worse in Austin, not better.

He is not the strong leader Texas needs to bring us together to fix our problems."

I think Mrs. Strayhorn would have a better shot at the Governor's Mansion by running in the Republican primary. Gov. Perry could be vulnerable from the Right in the primary, which features very conservative Republican primary voters, because

• The school finance issue is not yet resolved (he may receive more blame for this than he deserves)
• The large increase in state spending last session (he may deserve some blame for this)
• This perceived coziness with various toll road special interests (he definitely deserves blame for this)

When the General Election rolls around , she'll have to turn a few Dems, scrounge for non-Kinky independents and new voters, and siphon off lots of Republicans. This will be hard in a general election where lots of straight ticket voting can be expected.

Though running as an independent could also have some benefits. Mrs. Strayhorn garners an additional 8 months to drive up Mr. Perry's negatives with attack ads. Plus, the school finance special session is expected this spring and must finish by the court-imposed June 1 deadline. If this special session bombs like the others, it would make a ripe target for the Tough Granny. Furthermore, as State Comptroller, she is in charge of reporting sales tax revenue collected and projecting future revenue. The opportunity exists to spin and manipulate these otherwise mundane reports for political advantage. Not that she'd be opportunistic or anything.....

What will be interesting is to see how this plays at White House press conferences, with Mrs. Strayhorn's son and Press Secretary, Scott McClellan, having to field questions about the race with Bush ally Rick Perry. Just the distraction the White House needs during a contentious mid-term election cycle.