Carole Keeton Strayhorn (I)?
DallasBlog.com - Tom Pauken - CAROLE STRAYHORN MAY RUN FOR GOVERNOR AS AN INDEPENDENT by Tom Pauken
Start the betting pool. DallasBlog's Tom Pauken piles onto a DMN tidbit.
UPDATE: Quick scan of Google News get the Wayne Slater story on the Denton R-C first.
Some Texans have received calls from a polling company asking whether they would support Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn for governor if she ran as an independent rather than as a Republican.Gov. Rick Perry's campaign denies it is sponsoring the poll. Mrs. Strayhorn's campaign won't say.
"We don't discuss our polls," said Strayhorn spokesman Mark Sanders. "We are regularly in the field testing voter attitudes."
...
In pursuit of the nomination, Mrs. Strayhorn has gotten a large number of campaign contributions from typically Democratic sources, such as trial lawyers.
She plans a fundraiser next week in Austin with a host committee that includes former Democratic Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes and Houston attorney Arthur Schecter, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas under President Bill Clinton.
...
According to a Strayhorn supporter from Houston, some backers have tried in recent weeks to encourage her to leave the GOP and run as an independent. One backer said she probably would lose a race against Mr. Perry in the GOP primary but would fare better as an independent on the November general election ballot.
As an independent, Mrs. Strayhorn would have to collect 45,000 signatures from registered voters who skipped the primaries to qualify for the ballot. Singer Kinky Friedman plans to try to get on the ballot as an independent.
Things just got real interesting here in the Lone Star State.
Perry, Strayhorn, Bell, and Friedman. Hmmm.
I'm not sure how, but this would seem to help Bell. :) Unfortunately, I don't think Strayhorn would just siphon Perry's numbers but Bell's as well. But, heck, it's way too early.
That'd be a lot of folks beating the crap out of Perry in the media, though.
Dunno, it gets into some interesting Game Theory once the reality sets in for a 4-way. But I've got to think that most of the Dems willing to bolt have already gone to Kinky. I don't think it'll be absolute zero votes that go from Chris' 25 to Strayhorn (I), but I suspect it'll be few.
If Carole takes about 10-15% points of her GOP vote along with her, that puts Perry at 25-30%, with Chris still at 25%, Carole at 10-15%, and Kinky at 15%. My suspicion has been that if and when Dems start to see a possible chance of Chris winning the thing, they'll come home. Unkown is whether any GOP voters go back to Perry if they see him in danger of losing.
So like I said, it makes for some interesting Game Theory scenarios. I think it could well help our side, but then again ... Carole will be aiming her pitch at Dems once she flies the coop. So put everything back in the blender and see what comes out later on in the game.
But I've got to think that most of the Dems willing to bolt have already gone to Kinky. I don't think it'll be absolute zero votes that go from Chris' 25 to Strayhorn (I), but I suspect it'll be few.
It just amazes me the way you talk about votes being locked in, as if the campaigns were already finished. They have barely begun.
For instance, I suspect that Kinky's strength comes primarily from folks' resignation that the choice will be between Perry and a not-ready-for-prime-time Democrat, which is certainly where we are headed without Gammage in the race. On that basis, even I would give Kinky a hard look.
However, in a four-way race, Strayhorn would have more heavyweight credentials than Bell and Friedman combined, due to her vast government experience -- Austin school board president, Austin Mayor, Insurance Commission, Railroad Commission, Comptroller. That's more experience than any gubernatorial candidate in memory, and she's not afraid to talk about it. She's also not a raving lunatic of a conservative. I think she would hurt Bell every bit as much as Perry. Whether she could pull off what Bill White pulled off -- winning with a squeeze play -- is still a big question.