Resolving the Draft ... Somewhat

So who loves a good mystery? With each passing day, we get a little bit more of the story on the whole super-duper-secret DraftJohnSharp.com situation. In a misplaced comment, Taylor County Democratic Chair David Haigler passes on the following link to clarify the confusion on his comment over there:

My comments there were:

A contested race for governor would help the Democratic Party. I'm tired of people telling me, "I'm a Democrat but had to vote Republican because (blah, blah, blah) contested race(s) over there."

However, I'm supporting Chris Bell for Governor. Chris had the cojones to stand up to Tom DeLay and that's the kind of leadership we need in Texas.

-Dave Haigler
Taylor County Democratic Chair

Fine and well, and I appreciate Mr. Haigler for clearing things up. Unfortunately, I've got a few more second/third/fourth-hand accounts of edited quotes still sitting in my overflowing inbox (amazing what a little original reporting gets you). Haigler's was merely the only one with something that could have gone public (even if it was proven to be an issue with formatting).

Secondly, I get another comment from a local good-guy, Adam:

Greg,

I love you, and I love the blog. I can't think of a higher compliment for your work than to say that I think you are 'part of the solution'.

Mark and Christian are two very good friends of mine. On the one hand, I feel like I am slow in coming to their defense. On the other hand, they don't need any help from me. Their stellar personal and professional records and a growing trail of dead Republicans speak for themselves.

Yes, it is a little cheesy that they set the site up this way. Yes, a Chris Bell supporter may be justified in his resentment of the Sharp campaign, or efforts on behalf of a Sharp campaign.

I think most people would have seen this as a 'trial balloon' and not as a genuine piece of campaigning. Kudos to you for catching it.

This kind of thing doesn't really provide a good reason for anyone to support John Sharp or for anyone to stop supporting him (ie, "I used to like that John Sharp fellow, until I found out that he has friends who use the internet in funny ways.")

I think the thing to do with this now is to put up your own linked site that has a clever play on what they did. (May I suggest: "Al Gore invented the internet, John Sharp figured out how to use it.", or "Did you here about the Aggie draft John Sharp site ...") Then declare victory and move on to the stuff you are really good at, giving people reasons to support great Democrats.

---Adam

Of course, part of my motivation for reprinting Adam's comment is that I may or may not take some minor degree of pleasure in inflating my own ego. Kidding. But one point that Adam raises bears some emphasis - even though Archer Nathan is at the heart of this story, my beef ultimately isn't with them. I've got more than a few mutual acquaintances of the two principals there, and obviously, A-N fights for the good guys. They just happen to be the group that has the answers we needed to get out into the public domain.

And, to be sure, there are ample reasons why I support Chris Bell that have everything to do with who Chris Bell is, what Chris Bell stands for, and what Chris Bell believes in. And that has nothing to do with Archer Nathan or even John Sharp. I've written more than my fair share of laudatory comments about Sharp over the years this blog has been around and I cast aside my first shot to work for a major Senate campaign due to my willingness to wait and see if Sharp got into the 1993/4 Senate race. Unfortunately, though, this ain't a perfect world and drawing contrasts will be a neccessity. Thus far, this site and others, have seen a growth in anonymous comments (fake names, fake emails, fake everything) that sought to pillory Chris. It's not gone unnoticed that the timing coincides with Kelly Fero leaving the TDP and DraftJohnSharp.com popping up. So when DJS.com loads up their "endorsements" with a bunch of anonymous supporters, there's a few dots that get connected. And it bears some emphasis that one of the principle reasons that many of us Bell-ringers stand with Chris is that he is the walking, talking, embodiment of the ethics reform that Austin is long overdue for ... that sentiment is hardly embodied by the actions that seem to be taken by Sharp's supporters.

Make no mistake, this is hardball. You rarely win such an event on style points. We're in this to win, after all. If Archer Nathan ends up consulting for Sharp (as I still expect they will), I'm sure they'll take some arrows as will I. I'd prefer those arrows be fired over ideas espoused by all sides. But that hasn't been the game that Team Sharp has played thus far. I've levelled a few shots at local candidates that I thought were waging a self-defeating (for Team Democrats) campaign and I'll likely never stop that. The ball is in their court to participate in a campaign of ideas. That's all Chris has been talking about in his campaign. Of course, that's also a big part of why I stand in that corner ... complete with some nifty blue boxing gloves.