Texas Gubernatorial Debate

Photo by Smiley N. Pool, AP

I watched the debate last night and I'm still not really sure of who to vote for. Many of the questions asked by the panel seemed to be of the "gotcha" variety (especially the trivia questions), and didn't really leave me feeling informed about the candidates.

My critique of the candidates:

Chris Bell reminded me of a Baptist preacher - very neat in appearance, but essentially uninteresting in what he had to say. All of his comments and answers were standard lines from the politicians' handbook, designed to placate the voters, but just vague enough to protect him from criticism about his views.

His style of rhetoric seems, in my opinion, to be typical of the Democrats nowadays. They just don't seem to have any concrete solutions for the problems we face today. They say they will solve the problems, but they don't say how.

Kinky Friedman should concentrate on standing still when he's speaking from behind a podium instead of shifting his weight and rocking from side to side. He didn't seem to have the self-assurance of the other candidates, but he was the only one who would speak honestly about his views.

The other candidates are long-time politicians and are careful to follow the rules of Political Correctness. That bothers me.

Rick Perry came across as very slick. He is probably the most accomplished of the group when it comes to speaking before an audience, but I got the impression that the answers he gave were intended to simply impress the voters and calculated to be unverifiable - in other words, safe political rhetoric. Still, his demeanor was impressive and consistent with someone with strong leadership skills.

A different hair style might be a good idea.


Carole Strayhorn needs to avoid gesticulating with her hands so much - it's distractive. She was more convincing in her answers than the other candidates and demonstrated a superior knowledge of financial issues. She obviously did her homework on most of the other issues that were discussed, too.

She was prepared to challenge Perry on topics such as the Trans-Texas Corridor with a well-reasoned criticism of the project.


At this point, I'm inclined to think that Perry will win, and Strayhorn will come in as a fairly close second. Kinky will get a surprising number of votes that will put him in third place, and Bell will be a distant fourth. I'm not making any predictions, though. There's still time for the candidates to change a lot of minds.

Kinky, in my opinion, would make a big difference as Governor, mainly because he is not beholden to any special interest groups. I also like his flamboyant style and his irreverence for sacred cows. I just haven't decided yet if that would be good or bad for Texas. I guess it would all depend on how he applied himself in office.

Strayhorn, also in my opinion, would also make a big difference as Governor by promoting a no-nonsense fiscal policy and opposing special interests that are contrary to the interests of the people of Texas.

The Republican and Democrat candidates offer politics-as-usual, which may not be all that bad as far as I know, but I tend to think that we could do better.