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4 warring Republicans meet for routine bond approvals

A key difference between a prizefight and politics is that in boxing, the contestants shake hands before they start trying to flatten each other. In politics, they shake hands in the middle, too.

On Monday, four statewide leaders who have been publicly bashing one another for months came together in the same small room, greeted one another nicely and then all agreed for the first time in a long time.

Meeting as a committee to manage the state's money, Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, House Speaker Tom Craddick and Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn unanimously decided to issue short-term bonds to keep the state running. It took 10 minutes, and then the officers, Republicans all, retreated to their own corners.

Off The Kuff Has A Great Post On...
Strayhorn's strategy

Any casual glance at polling data would have suggested that this would be Carole Keeton Strayhorn's strategy for winning the Governorship.

The call came from a listener telling Carole Keeton Strayhorn he'd eagerly vote for her for governor in November 2006.

Strayhorn shot back Tuesday on Austin radio station KVET-FM: "November is great, but first I need you to vote on March 7. I want Republicans, Democrats, independents. All are welcome," Strayhorn said.

"And bring all your friends with you."

Strayhorn, the Republican state comptroller who is challenging GOP Gov. Rick Perry, has made few campaign forays since announcing her candidacy June 18, a tack that her office attributes to lawmakers remaining in special session to deal with school finance and tax issues.

But the former Austin mayor is well along in testing an unusual message: The March Republican primary is voters' only real chance to choose the next governor.

Her pitch asks voters to assume that the Democratic nominee will not prove to be a serious fall contender. Neither of the only announced Democratic candidates, former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell of Houston and educator Felix Alvarado of Fort Worth, has run statewide. And no Democrat has won statewide since 1994.

There's many reasons why this is an unlikely strategy, starting with the fact that "bringing new voters into the process" has a pretty unblemished record for being a loser. Another one is that most Democrats I know think that their best shot at winning next November will be against Rick Perry. Finally, as the article notes, there will be some high profile Democratic primaries on the ballot, in places like Travis County and CD28 in the Valley, all of which will contribute to keeping the flock in the fold.

It's not like Strayhorn has many options, of course. Given the lengths the State GOP went through to keep KBH out of the Governor's race, CKS can count on one hand the number of endorsements she's likely to get, and she'll have fingers to spare. Her policy positions, from toll roads to CHIP to gambling, are generally at odds with standard GOP dogma. What else is she gonna do?

Republican Legislators Are Struggling To Explain Back Home
Excuses don't fly with constituents

Rep. Bob Hunter, with a perpetual smile on his doughboy face, is known as an eternal optimist. But there was little sugarcoating when he talked to his own Abilene Rotary Club recently about school finance