(note: I will go back soon and provide hyperlinks for all of this)
Texas is a solidly Red state, often annoyingly so as Texans are want to pretend to have a conscience in offseason polls only to lurch back hard-right behind the voting curtain.
In my assessment, Texas' Republican Governor Rick Perry, running for re-election in 2006, is a frightening psychopath. Unlike George Bush, who is in it ultimately, for the money, Perry will go beyond the dollars for the ultimate prize- "Whitelandia."
Beating Rick Perry should be a national goal, although the burden for doing this should fall squarely on Texans. With Perry, there is no mystery and there are no excuses for voting for him- if you vote for Perry, a cretin who builds his political empire on open hatred of Blacks and Browns and Women and Gays, as Hitler did with Jews, then you are decrepid and you are not welcome in my home.
Last Fall, there was a glimmer of hope.
Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, relatively harmless, at least as cretins go, was
testing the waters for a primary challenge of Perry. Despite a muddied message, Hutchinson's challenge would have been from the left. Texas being as it is, the un-triangle, Perry's response to the challenge was to lurch even harder to the right, to unleash a vicious attack on women and gays that was so chilling he shed some of his appeasers among Republicans and DLC-ers. There was nothing subtle about it- Perry
told gays to leave Texas, and
said they would be arrested for having sex if they didn't.
We haven't heard a word from Hutchinson since.
Now, however, the Season of Miracles may offer one for Texas. Republican Comptroller Carol Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn, a spineless opportunist who has changed political parties almost as often as husbands, is now pursuing not only challenging Perry in the Republican primary, but running as an Independent or changing parties, again, to run as a Democrat.
Oh, yes, that's right- "McClellan." You've heard the name before
As in son Mark McClellan, the decrepid FDA Commissioner who caused the deaths of many patients by covering up drug safety issues and who bilked the Treasury of billions of dollars by lying about the Medicare prescription drug benefit and bilked Americans of billions of dollars by fighting Canadian prescription drug reimportation.
As in son Scott McClellan, key player in Bush's gay cabal, the public face of the White House's lying campaign.
Yes, in other words, this race could resemble Bush versus Perry, or Money versus God. In my opinion, Perry scares even Bush shitless.
On our side, most prominent is former Congressman Chris Bell, he of DeLay redistricting- Ethics complaint fame, with a heavyweight perhaps lurking, Houston Mayor Bill White. We also have our own "Jesse Ventura," musician Kinky Friedman. Strayhorn is now trying to talk Chris Bell out of the race, as a prelude to her changing parties again and running as a Democrat.
Now, here is the most interesting part of all of this: in Texas, there is not a runoff for Governor- you can win by plurality. And, so, here is my wildest dream for 2006: Strayhorn runs as an Independent, White is pulled into the race, and White wins with 40% of the votes.
Rick Perry mocks the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Constitution and the separation of church and state. He is truly "Damien Thorne" personified, for those of you who saw the last Omen movie. If Strayhorn wants to prove herself a Democrat again, then she needs to be our "Ross Perot" and run as an Independent and help the Democrats prevail. Then we can talk about what plum she would be entitled to for her service.
I'm going to offer Strayhorn financial support, but ONLY if she runs as an Independent.