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Texas Democrats are in the process of trying to draw an inside straight. If successful, they will elect the first Democratic governor since Ann Richards, who was defeated by George W. Bush in 1994. This is not as crazy as you might think.
In poker, a player will try to draw one card that will complete a straight (five cards in a row). If the player holds a six, a seven, a nine and a 10, he will try to draw an eight, which would give him a straight (which beats three of a kind). The odds of drawing that particular card are not high, but it could happen.
In the gubernatorial race, incumbent Rick Perry will square off against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2010 Republican primary. Perry, who won with less than 40 percent in a four-way general election field in 2006, is not popular with the general voting public in Texas. He is, however, the darling of the far-right wing that dominates the Republican primary electorate. Chances are that he may defeat Hutchison in a mean, ugly, down-and-dirty primary next March. If he does, his victory could rip apart the Republican Party and open the door for a moderate Democratic to achieve a clean win in November.
Perry enhanced his appeal with the far-right base last week with his bizarre comments that he could understand why some people in Texas might want to secede from the union. These comments also made the candidacy of a credible Democrat even more appealing.
Democrats may have just that type of candidate: Tom Schieffer, the younger brother of CBS newsman Bob Schieffer. The younger Schieffer grew up in Fort Worth, which he represented in the Texas Legislature as a Democratic state House member in the 1970s. Later, Schieffer was the person who actually ran the Texas Rangers baseball team while Bush served as the figurehead.
Following Bush’s election as president, Schieffer served eight years as the United States ambassador to Australia and then Japan. He had supported the candidacy of his friend George W. Bush for president, but during that time he remained a Democrat and voted consistently in Democratic primaries. He also contributed to a number of Democratic candidates for Congress.
Now he’s back in Texas and campaigning for
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