One Wavering Grandma

Harvey Kronberg's The Quorum Report

Rumors are careening around Austin with increasing conviction that Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn has decided to run for Governor as an independent.

One rumor is that the Strayhorn Campaign had contacted the Secretary of State's office to verify that it would be open Monday to receive her notice that she intends to run as an independent. However, spokesman Scott Haywood says that they have received numerous inquiries about Monday, but most callers do not identify themselves.

For the record, the Secretary of State's office will be open Monday.

Media types tell us that she has done a modest TV buy on Fox News and CNN beginning January 5th, but the Strayhorn Campaign will not confirm any media buys. Some tell us that a light buy suggests March is not the target date. But political consultants tell us that it is the last four to six weeks of television that makes the difference in political campaigns.

Spokesman Mark Sanders' only comment was, "Carole Keeton Strayhorn is a candidate for governor. She is a Republican. She will be filing for that office on Monday."

You know it's a bad day when your campaign spokesfolk have to clarify which party the candidate intends to file for. Guess we'll all find out Monday.

Reading Carole is not the easiest thing in the world, but one thing has been consistent with the woman from her time as mayor through today: unbridled ambition. Ambition to the extent that she'd listen to folks who talked her into switching sides to run a hopeless campaign against Jake Pickle for Congress back in 1986.

If I were a betting man, I'd say she wants to go out of this line of work as Governor and that's that. And there's no way that any sane, logical person can see Carole making the ballot as a Republican in November. But words like sane and logical don't adequetely describe most of the folks in candidateland. So it doesn't matter how many people around Carole think she might be better served by running as an Independent ... it only matters what's going on inside the head of OTG, Carole Keeton Strayhorn. And it's the ability to guess what's going on in there that I think is heretofore an impossibility by the rest of the world.

So, it's not entirely out of the question that some kooky plan resides inside that bonnet of silver hair that has Carole riding high and proud on Election Day, 2006. So what if she's the only one that sees it happening ... she's the one calling the shots.

That said, I'll put a buck on her flipping to Indie-ville next week. Part of that's out of hope, though. A four-way race really puts the frappe cycle to good use for the political season. And watching all those Republicans who heretofore haven't found one good reason to re-elect Rick Perry can no longer say they don't have a real alternative for them in November. Whatever happens to that fractuous band of Dems that has given up all hope and engages in serious flirtation with Kinky, I think there's worthwhile odds of them coming home at some point in the race. All remains to be seen, of course. Wait and see ... wait and see.