Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Still seeking the motive for Kay's run...
What's this thing about, then, the senator's bid to oust Perry, who became governor when George W. Bush resigned to seek the White House?
She sees the coming four years as her turn to be governor: that's what it appears to be about. I'm sorry, to tell the truth, that she sees it that way, because, under other circumstances, she might be an effective and efficient governor. We don't live under those circumstances. The Hutchison candidacy -- let me put it this way -- has potential to rip the Republican Party in twain and restore Texas to at least partial Democratic control. Anyway the Democrats sure hope so.
I think this might be overstating it somewhat... just look at the party switching from D to R... just look at the energy on the Republican side...
I think a lot of people are looking at this race and wondering why we need the blood shed... do we need the blood shed? Is this race going to accomplish anything of meaning?
This is very unscientific, but the latest numbers in the Texas on the Potomac blog show that there is not a whole lot of energy behind her campaign (link)...

Kay's spokesman first out of the gate post Ft. Hood with attacks...
Kay votes opposite Big John Cornyn yet again...
Sen. John Cornyn, R-San Antonio, chairman of the GOP campaign committee working to win control of the Senate in 2010, voted against the spending.
Cornyn backs full funding for NASA, spokesman Kevin McLaughlin said.
But the overall $65.1 billion measure to provide funds for the Departments of Commerce, Justice and scientific agencies such as NASA increases federal funding by nearly 13 percent over last year.
That kind of increase "at this time is not fiscally responsible," McLaughlin says.
About those Bill White rumors... is he dropping senate race to run for governor?
billwhitefortx @rickvskay Well, the rumors aren't true. Billfrom TweetDeck in reply to rickvskay
The noise lets Perry raise questions about whether Hutchison is serious about the governor's race. The spin from his friends is that White wouldn't do this if he thought Kay was still in the running; if White was making a switch, or even thinking about it, that would be evidence that Hutchison is out.
From the Sharp camp, it simply would remove the most serious Democratic competitor from the race to replace Hutchison in a special election. And the rumor — even without confirmation — is the sort of thing that can be played back for potential supporters to raise questions about whether White is serious about the Senate race.
[update] Sharp says this didn't start with his folks, that he heard it out of Houston — and from another of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates — and made some inquiries, but didn't try to spread the story.
With Kay Bailey Hutchison appearing to once again be waffling on her decision to resign from the Senate, some have thought White would rather jump to the governor's race than wait until 2012.[SNIP]In this race without an election date, not much has changed since August, although White's financial advantage over Sharp has only widened.
Sharp came extremely close to defeating Rick Perry in 1998. Since then Perry has gone form being George W. Bush's Lt. Gov. to becoming one of the most unpopular governors in Texas history. Despite Perry and Sharp's past collaboration on school finance, if he decided to switch to the governor's race, he would probably be the favorite versus Perry. Democrats would have a strong candidate for governor and Bill White's huge fundraising lead would stay in the Senate race, where he gives Texas Democrats their best chance to win a Senate seat in years.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Texas Tribune profiles Matt Mackowiak...
Matt Mackowiak left his job as press secretary for U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison on April Fool's Day. That means he can call a do-over, right?
“I wanted to take a risk,” he says. “In the downturned economy, I saw an opportunity to build a business and become a political consultant. I also wanted to get involved in the pundit side of things. Op-eds with my own name on them and TV and radio.”
Matt has seen a lot of backlash for his over eager tactics and methods of getting face time. As a self promoter he seems like he is doing a good job, but the question remains about how he is earning a living by providing so much free content for newspapers, radio stations, and television programs.
The Texas Tribune article brings up some interesting points. Matt has ruffled some feathers and annoyed some people quite a bit, including Michael Quinn Sullivan, the Grover Norquist of Texas... Kay's campaign has to be looking at that and wondering why he is antagonizing would be and should be allies... people Kay would want on her team.
What can they really do other than hire him and get him under control, disown him publicly and prominently, or just let him continue. I think the benefits of having Mackowiak constantly out there touting Kay over Rick may outweigh the negatives, but in all reality the negatives are a lot higher than they should be.