Endorsement Season: CC Caller-Times for Bell

Via BOR:

Democrat Chris Bell is clear choice for governor

Bell spent five years on the Houston City Council, certainly a good training ground for a newcomer to the world of hardball politics. As chairman of the council's Ethics Committee, he played a key role in promoting much-needed campaign finance and ethics reform. Later, during his tenure in Congress, he was singled out as a "rising star" by the Capitol Hill journal Roll Call. He also founded and led the Port Security Caucus. And, not least, he saw at first hand the toxic impact of blind partisanship on the legislative process.

It cannot have been a coincidence that, in his appearance before the Editorial Board, one of the first points he made was the need for outreach and coalition-building.

Expressing special concern about public education, he called for creation of a bipartisan commission to generate imaginative, workable new strategies. On one in particular, he was right on point: Vouchers to enable students to attend private schools "would be dead." Rightly, Bell recognizes the havoc that diverting state resources to this over-hyped and deeply flawed nostrum could wreak in Texas schools.

Bell acknowledges the obvious: that the amount of power a Texas governor has depends directly on his success in building bridges. That would be especially critical for a Democratic governor establishing himself in the GOP-dominated political landscape. "I would probably start directly with (Lt. Gov. David) Dewhurst, and try to build a bridge to (Speaker) Craddick," he said.

He expressed reservations about Perry's dramatic and, in some circles, controversial Trans-Texas Corridor project, saying he would like to take the issue back to the Legislature, and would prefer to stick with existing corridors, by and large.

Bell - thoughtful, open-minded and determined - will face formidable challenges in Austin should he prevail. As noted, he would be a governor from the minority party, and would have to work hard to gain traction and credibility.

However, given Perry's lackluster record, and given the relative strengths and vulnerabilities of the four candidates, Bell seems the most likely to grow in office - and to address effectively the multiple challenges facing Texas.