Texas Political Hardball
The conservative American Prowler has noticed the Texas GOP's recent political hardball. Rick Perry, who is not nearly so accommodating as his gubernatorial predecessor, recently appointed former maverick Democratic Attorney General (and failed Democratic gubernatorial challenger) Dan Morales to a state crime commission. Morales is apparently still bitter over the primary campaign against Tony Sanchez, and it's hard to blame him entirely: the Democratic establishment in Texas decided Sanchez was a better bet than Morales (who has a bit of an unpredictable streak), and Morales really had no chance at the nomination as a result. At that point, Morales could have buried the hatchet and sucked up to Sanchez in the name of party unity (much as Chris Bell did with Mayor Pothole, in exchange for party support for his Congressional run), or he could have taken his current tack, which means he's probably finished as a Democrat and may well endorse Perry.
It's not good news for Sanchez, whose poll numbers among Hispanics thus far are (surprisingly) not strong enough for him to win this fall.
Even worse news for the Dems is that Ron Kirk is having to spend so much time out of state to raise money. Often, campaign contributions are a lot like betting at the track -- when a lot of money starts to go one way, it tends to mean the other campaign is in a bit of trouble. I keep seeing reference to close poll numbers between Cornyn and Kirk, but the money seems to be favoring Cornyn. We shall see.
Finally, Ginger's comments here and here on the Perry/Morales/Sanchez affair are worthwhile reading, and definitely a change of pace. :) If I were a Dem, I'd probably be writing about the same sort of stuff. I did write that sort of stuff when Bill Clinton (the modern master) used to play political hardball, and even more recently when Mayor Pothole REALLY played political hardball (with the race card). Looking back, Mayor Pothole did what he had to do. He had to energize his base and get them to the polls, and he pulled it off. Not pretty, but effective -- and exasperating to many of us. Afterward, the Freeper bitching about poll fraud was a bit over the top -- I worked a poll station, and saw some minor irregularities, but nothing that affected the integrity of the vote. The GOP was really pissed because they got outmaneuvered: Mayor Pothole employed racial scare tactics and then scoured the city with vans and got his vote out; Orlando Sanchez thought a flood of targeted mailing would be as effective in getting his vote out (it wasn't).
Nasty business. Rough and tumble politics. And no one side has a monopoly on it.
[Posted at 23:26 CST on 06/21/02] [Link]
