Chronicle Endorsements: And In a Timely Manner, Too!
Credit where credit is due for once: hats off to the Houston Chronicle for actually running endorsments BEFORE early voting begins. Way to keep it relevant folks!
The biggest bit of good news is their endorsement of Borris Miles for State Rep. District 146.
State House District 146, Borris Miles ? An insurance company owner, Miles is challenging incumbent state Rep. Al Edwards. Miles believes the district has not been well-represented in recent years and needs a change. While respecting Edwards' long experience as a civil rights leader, the Chronicle agrees.
It's a shame that the Chron ran with these too-brief writeups, as there's easily a few of these that deserve more ink. Making the case for ousting a quarter-century incumbent who's placed himself on the shelf of irrelevancy the past several years probably deserves more than "needs a change."
The race in 146, which I confess to taking an active and professional role in , may well be one for the ages here in Harris County. Once upon a time, Al Edwards was truly a great leader. Nobody has every tried to take that away from him. Not I. Not Borris Miles. And certainly not those voters with any sense of history.
But as the times change, Al Edwards made all the wrong moves to keep up with them. After years of the Democratic Party doing their darndest to stamp down African-American leaders, the modern Democratic Party is now no stranger to change. Ron Kirk, Garnet Coleman, & Rodney Ellis aren't encumbered by whatever petty sensibilities once held that such things as a Morris Overstreet being nominated for Attorney General might hurt the party. But instead of celebrating and sharing in such a victorious age, Al Edwards opted for a faustian bargain that allowed him to get a few slivers of figurative bacon if only he'll take direct orders from Speaker Craddick on a number of needed votes.
So what "bacon" does Al Edwards get for his votes to cut CHIPs funding, cut teacher pay, cut funds for hospital districts, privatize public health care and raise sales taxes to the highest in the nation? He gets to bring his prized possession of a bill up for a vote - the infamous cheerleading bill. He also gets a statue made of him. The good folks of District 146, though? They get nothing.
Borris Miles didn't start life with a silver spoon. Nor did he start with bootstraps to pull himself up by. But he managed to do just that and should he ever desire a silver spoon, I'm sure he can afford one. He's lived his life in District 146 even before it was the current District 146. He's worked his way through school in Meyerland while living in Sunnyside. He's flipped burgers, patrolled streets, sold insurance, and helped others along the way. He's quite literally a homegrown success story who exudes the very essence of the district he now wishes to represent. He's not running to get rich or because he needs the job. He'd do far better financially, I'm sure, if he just stuck to the insurance business.
There's a lot of pictures on the wall of Borris' insurance office. But as you leave, there's one unmistakable photo - small but hard to miss - of two hands reaching out to each other. One has clearly made it over a wall of some sort, but now reaches back to pull the other up. That's the Borris Miles I know. I see it almost every day. He's given to his community, from Little Leagues to libraries. He's given on a personal level, too. Borris Miles isn't in this race for Borris Miles. And by the time he's done with politics, he won't have to go selling out in order to get a statue made in his likeness. Chances are, though, he'll leave behind a better community than the one that he started off with.
Oh, and yeah ... it is time for a change. A change for the better, that is.
A few closing notes, kudos to the Chron for endorsing Barbara Radnofsky. Not like there's really a choice there, but at least they made the easy call here in a timely, responsible manner.
On the GOP side, the Jim Murphy endorsement is worth noting. Mike Schofield has gotten a slew of the more wingnut right endorsements - not the least of which was that of Dan Patrick. Guess we'll see which one gets the thrill of losing to a chick in November soon enough.