TX. Gov. mock election

[Joe Republic]

Just curious.

I vote Friedman.  Why not?

[TheresNoMoney]

I voted Friedman.

[Adlai Stevenson]

I have to be boringly partisan and go for Bell.  Where does Friedman stand on the issues?

[Jake]

Perry is the only normal running.

[Ben.]

Perry.

I kinda like Friedman but both he and Bell don't have the chops if you ask me.

Perry isn't great but he'll do

[Gustaf]

Candidate descirption?

[minionofmidas]

Perry - evil
Friedman - different
Bell - dull
Strayhorn - weird [/bias]

[Jake]

Candidate descirption?

Perry - Conservative former Democrat, Governor
Strayhorn - centrist former Democrat, Comptroller
Bell - stock Democrat, former Congressman
Friedman - independent outsider and musician

[riceowl]

If you think Strayhorn's not a normal, I'd hate to see who is.

Strayhorn.

[Speed of Sound]

I see no reason to vote for any of them, but I suppose if forced to I would go with Bell.

[© tweed]

Friedman

[Sam Spade]

Kinky. I think he's a lot like Ventura, except better with the press.

BTW, I think Gammage would stand a better chance in the election than Bell.

Gammage has skeletons in his closet, Bell is just an incompetant politician who inspires no one.  The Democrats best chance to win the race is probably old Felix Alvarado, who I know personally, and who couldn't win in local race in Fort Worth to save his life. 

I don't vote in Texas any more, but if I did, I would vote for Perry.  Let me give a few reasons:

First, Perry did an excellent job during the whole Rita/Katrina thing in 2005, which both sides have acknowledged (except for Strayhorn).  Leadership during crisis is something that is very important to me in a governor/president

Second, even though he hasn't been successful reforming the school budget (which must be done by June 2006), he's kept Texas in good fiscal condition on the whole, with balanced budgets the last couple of years and kept state spending under control.  He's not very charismatic, and he's slightly too conservative on social issues for me, but in my opinion he's competant and the same cannot be said for the other candidates.

As for the other candidates, let me lay out my qualms:

Bell is a boring politician, who has no appeal outside of the standard liberal Democrat white vote (not to minorities).  He was uninspiring as a Houston mayoral candidate in 2001, uninspiring when he ran for House in 2002, though the seat of Ken Bentsen fit him well and was really uninspiring when he got drawn out of his House seat in 2004.

Friedman is certainly entertaining, but way too liberal for me on social issues.  He has said that he will immediately issue a moratorium on death row and that's pretty much enough for him to lose my interest.

Strayhorn is also very entertaining, but has a history of doing pretty much anything to get elected.  As I had to point out before, she was in the late 1970s, early 1980s, a liberal Democrat mayor of Austin who supported the candidacy of Walter Mondale (for example). 

Then, in 1985, she was going to run in the primary against then-Gov. Mark White.  When she realized that she couldn't win in the Democrat primary, she switched parties and became a Republican, running against former Gov. Bill Clements, who won the primary and went on to beat White in the general election.  I simply don't trust her.

It's too familiar to what she's done this time around for me, personally. 

[Democratic Hawk]

I'd probably be partisan hack and vote for Bell - but I could easily switch to Strayhorn

Had Perry still been a conservative Democrat, he'd have my vote

Dave

[minionofmidas]

Yass! The asshole from El Paso is currently winning!

[Gustaf]

Considering that I would probably vote for Straythorn, just to shake things up.

[MasterJedi]

Probably Perry but that's barely.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Perry, though I'd happily support Strayhorn if she promises to go back to the GOP if elected.

[The Duke]

Perry.  Friedman is funny, but how exactly does that translate into being a good Governor?  How about Larry the Cable Guy for Governor of Nebraska?

[Bdub]

Perry.  None of them are great candidates.

[Beet]

I'm afraid these three candidates are going to split the anti-incumbent vote and hand the GOP a landslide, and the Democrats a total meltdown. The problem is that Friedman and Strayhorn don't have the long-term party organizations to make their victory meaningful. Their candidacies are only meaningful in the sense that they rob Bell of more votes than Perry.

Personally, I'd prefer a united opposition.

[Sam Spade]

I'm afraid these three candidates are going to split the anti-incumbent vote and hand the GOP a landslide, and the Democrats a total meltdown. The problem is that Friedman and Strayhorn don't have the long-term party organizations to make their victory meaningful. Their candidacies are only meaningful in the sense that they rob Bell of more votes than Perry.

Personally, I'd prefer a united opposition.

^^^^^^^^

This is the correct political answer, though as I've said before, Friedman leaving and Strayhorn staying will help the Democrat (whoever it is).  Vice versa helps Perry immensely and if both leave, you'll see a Perry 55%-45% win, because that's just where the state is right now on a base level.

Of course, the Democrats in Texas are already in total meltdown and have been for a while, so I don't know how a loss in the governor's race leaves them in greater meltdown. 

The Democrats' greatest potential victory in the state right now is defeating Tom DeLay, which would be a huge one (imo).  Another big one would be if the SC would overrule the redistricting map.  Strangely enough, if the SC overrules the redistricting map, Tom DeLay will win, since he would be in a much safer GOP district (by about 7%-8%), so I guess you can't have both.

However, if Lampson wins in the present (new) district, his chances of winning in 2008 are not going to be that great, because most likely there will be excellent Republican opposition (Fort Bend County has a strong Republican "backbench") in a Presidential election, with a CD that's still about 60%-40% Rep. on the whole.

Anyway, I'm getting off-topic here.  I agree with your comments. 

[Beet]

Thanks Sam Spade. Of course, in a four-candidate race, winning anything over 40% is going to look like a landslide. And if Friedman or Strayhorn could actually pull it off and win the governorship that would be amazing... but of course they don't have the polling numbers to do it.

[Alcon]

Perry.  Friedman is funny, but how exactly does that translate into being a good Governor?  How about Larry the Cable Guy for Governor of Nebraska?

We're talking about funny candidates, John.  Larry the Cable Guy does not qualify.

[The Man From G.O.P.]

Perry by a mile, he is certainly not my favourite man, far from its, but he has the best make-up job of all the clowns in this race.

[CARLHAYDEN]

I decided to try to encapsulate the four announced candidates in on word.

Perry - Competent

Friedman - Colorful

Bell - Dull

Strayhorn- Slimebag