A Texas Sized Conundrum

For those of you that do not know in November Texans will go to the polls to elect a new governor. The incumbent, Rick Perry, is disliked by and large and as long as Diebold doesn't have anything to do with the election he will most likely not survive. That leaves us with Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the tough talking Texas grannie who turned Independent so as to be assured a spot in the race. The Democrat, Chris Bell who spoke at a Stonewall Democrats gathering last year in Dallas and refused to utter the words "gay" and "marriage" in succession but was very keen on saying "civil unions" over an over again. And finally, the other independent with Jesse Ventura's campaign manager at his side, Kinky Friedman, the ex country western signer turned mystery novelist who has gone on record saying he supports gay marriage but also supports prayer in school.

Here's the rundown.

Strayhorn is not really an Independent. She makes no effort to hide that she is a Republican and that she changed parties so as to avoid losing to Perry in the primaries. I think she might be trying to play the Ann Richards card by presenting herself as a straight talking Texas grannie but I'm concerned her politics are no different than the usual song and dance of Rick Perry. The last thing we need is to see more sessions of the state legislature wasted on issues like redistricting and gay marriage while the state budget, education, and state infrastructure go ignored. However it is early and we'll see what she has to say in the coming months.

FYI: the Texas legislature does not meet year round. They meet for only a portion of the year and attempt to tackle all the issues during that time. Sometimes perverts get distracted by things like rigid cock going up supple ass and nothing gets accomplished.

Bell is a Democrat...err strike that. Pansycrat. He is your typical run of the mill slippery pete who likes to say all the right things so as to not offend anyone. How I feel about that kind of political posturing was put very eloquently in an article by Molly Ivans this past weekend on CommonDreams.org. Her atricle, I Will Not Support Hillary Clinton for President, highlights everything thats wrong with the populist politically correct failure factory that is called the Democratic Party, or as she calls it "Republican-lite." I refuse to get whisked up in the anyone but (insert Republican nemesis of Democratic candidate name here) frenzy ever again. I want some real leadership with definitive stances on every issue that cannot be labeled as centrist. Again, its early and we'll see if Bell can present himself as a strong leader.

Finally we have Kinky Friedman. He certainly is different. He speaks his mind and is not an insider to politics. He says he supports gay marriage but that topic is moot now in Texas after the passing of Proposition 2, but at least he said it and that counts for something in my book. My reservations with him are: He supports non-demoninational prayer in public schools and can he really deliver or is he just hoping that everyone is so disgusted by the other candidates that the public will chose him?

I'll be watching the candidates in the coming months and its going to be difficult to make up my mind. Texas has a very colorful history in the realm of state politics and I think this race is truly up for grabs. Texans have been unpredictable in the past and I think the recent indictments of Delay may have opened the flood gates of a free political system in Texas again. It may come down to stances on a handful of issues or the overall package, I don't know. One thing I know is that I will vote my conscience this election year and avoid the pull of the party line.