Down to the Wire

One Last Look at the Candidates for Texas Governor

Mark Williams

In just a few days, it will all be over -- except for the requisite shouting, of course -- and the race for the Texas Governor's Office will finally be decided. But, according to the latest polls, things will likely remain the same. It hasn't exactly been the wild and unconventional campaign that many expected, especially considering that there are two independent candidates in the mix -- well, if you can count Carole Keeton Strayhorn as an independent and not a Republican who didn't want to face the incumbent in the primary. Except for a minor controversy here and there, the race for the top job has pretty much been by the numbers.

Incumbent Rick Perry, like many Republicans running for re-election during the midterms, has forever been on the defensive regarding his somewhat soggy record, especially when it comes to education and major cuts to the Children's Health Insurance Program. Strayhorn has spent of much of her time attacking Perry and trying to get her nickname, "Grandma," onto the ballot; while she says she wants to "shake Austin up," it would seem that actually she is nothing more than a Republican looking for a back door into the Governor's mansion.

Independent candidate Kinky Friedman hasn't been as much fun to watch as predicted, especially in the final weeks of the campaign. It would seem that Friedman has went from not being serious enough to being too serious, while his sometimes controversial showbiz past has come back to haunt him. And much good can really be done from tonight's scheduled appearance with David Letterman? Well, at least the Kinkster still has Willie Nelson in the ever-darkening corner.

As for Democratic challenger Chris Bell, his campaign has been a bit financially anemic -- that is, until he found a patron in Houston trial lawyer John O'Quinn, who contributed one million dollars to Bell’s campaign after the candidates’ televised debate in early October. Bell’s campaign used a good portion of that money on TV advertising and, as of Monday, again found itself in the red. While O’Quinn reportedly kicked in another $300,000 to help Bell make it over the finish line, it just goes to prove that a million bucks doesn’t go nearly as far as it once did. 

It’s been a busy final week for the candidates: Perry and Strayhorn campaigned in West Texas early in the week, while Bell went to South Texas and Friedman went to New York for appearances with Letterman and the grumpy old man of the airwaves, Don Imus. In February 2005, Imus’ microphones were there when Friedman stood in front of the Alamo to throw his ten-gallon hat into the political ring.

In Lubbock, Perry -- flanked by Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, Attorney General Greg Abbott and Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett -- urged voters to "work like you've never worked before" to keep Republicans in office. He told the crowd that school standards and achievement are up, property taxes are on the way down and teacher salaries are going up. "I think the liberals are just mad because they didn't do it," sneered Perry.

Meantime, not-a-Republican Strayhorn told college students in Amarillo, Midland and Odessa that "you can't change Austin if you don't change the way you vote. It's time to set aside partisan politics and do what's best for Texas.” Strayhorn says that she wants all high school graduates to advance to a public community college or technical college with the state paying tuition, fees and book costs. The tough grandma says that she would pay for the $150 million a year program by abolishing the Texas Enterprise Fund, which she calls "the governor's taxpayer-funded corporate welfare slush fund."

Elsewhere, Chris Bell went to the Rio Grande Valley to knock Perry's record on higher education, with a little help from Cindy Gonzalez, Perry's higher education director until October 2002; she joined Bell to criticize Perry for allegedly abandoning his higher education goals and shifting priorities toward big business. Gonzalez says the "hurricane-force" speed of tuition deregulation, signed by Perry in 2003, has led to soaring education costs for families.

"Tuition deregulation and Rick Perry are two miserable failures that Texas can no longer afford," Bell said, adding that he would support legislation to impose a three-year suspension on tuition deregulation and limit annual increases to 5 percent after that. He also said he would do away with the Texas Enterprise Fund and support expanded gambling as a new revenue source.

It seems rather odd to go to New York to campaign for the Texas governor’s race, but Kinky Friedman has never shied away from oddness -- and he evidently hopes appearances on Letterman and the nationally-syndicated and cable-ready Imus morning show will help do the trick. Here at home, Friedman has found him on the business end of bad press of late. "I didn't expect the media to be so low," he told a Houston newspaper last week. "I thought they would go after the guy who's really stuffing money in his pants. That's Perry. Or they would go after the hypocrisy of Bell.”

Charges of racism emanating from his satirical stage show 25 years ago have left many voters with a poor opinion of the Kinkster, who scoffs at the idea that he should bow out of the race to give Bell a better chance at defeat Rick Perry. "I'm not taking votes away from the Democrats,” he says. Those aren't their votes."

Friedman's blunders may have turned some voters away, but many of his supporters remain loyal -- partly because they don’t really expect him to win; their support is just their way of saying that they are tired of politics as usual and would like to see a change. Despite of, or maybe because of, his rejection of political correctness, Friedman still counts on a lot of support from Texas liberals, especially in the state capital of Austin.

Another hot topic in the race for governor has been health care -- especially as it pertains to children: Cuts to the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and missteps by a private company hired by the state to screen applicants have seen its share of debate. Governor Perry has been on the defensive as opponents have criticized policies pushed through by the state's Republican leadership that have effectively reduced enrollment in the program from 500,000 in 2002-2003 to 300,000 this month. 

Most of the drop came as a result of stricter eligibility guidelines adopted in 2003 to help balance the state budget. The changes included an assets test that prevents coverage if a family has more than $5,000 in liquid assets, including savings accounts and vehicles. Families are allowed to exempt $15,000 in value of their first car and $4,650 of a second car. Any value above that is counted as an asset. 

"If someone thinks that their car is more important than their kids, we're going to try to teach them a little personal responsibility here," says Perry. Ah, there goes another Republican bandying about that word: responsibility. Like the G.O.P. actually still knows the meaning of the word -- except when it comes to everyone but themselves. 

The poorest children are covered by Medicaid, while CHIP is designed for working families. When CHIP began in 2000, there was no assets test. Advocates for low-income Texans say that families in rural areas and neighborhoods not served by public transportation need reliable vehicles to get to work. But private health insurance is so expensive that many working families could not afford the premiums even if they sold their vehicles. And why force low-income families to choose between paying for health insurance and owning a reliable car? 

Bell, Strayhorn and Friedman have said they would restore the less restrictive CHIP eligibility rules in effect prior to September 2003. "I would rather spend $105 a month insuring a child with access to preventive medical care than $6,700 for one emergency room visit picked up by the local taxpayers' property taxes," says Strayhorn. 

A drop of about 20,000 children since last December's takeover of CHIP eligibility screening by Accenture, a global consulting company, has raised concerns among state health care advocates and Perry's opponents. Bell has run a television ad criticizing Perry for giving the health insurance contract to Accenture, a company with ties to former Perry staffers. He said he would fire the company, which has an $899 million contract with the state to operate call centers that screen families for a variety of health and welfare programs. 

Problems were so great that in April the state asked 1,000 workers slated for layoffs to stay on the job and indefinitely suspended plans for a statewide rollout of the integrated eligibility call centers. The company continues to screen for CHIP statewide. 

Strayhorn, in her capacity as the Republican state comptroller, recently issued a report requested by three lawmakers that was highly critical of Accenture's performance. She said the company should be fired and the Health and Human Services Commission, an agency under Perry's control, should be removed from direct management of the privatization project. 

Perry's campaign staff questioned the timing of the report less than two weeks before the election and pointed to Strayhorn's previous support of privatizing some state social service duties. Accenture says it is making progress in handling CHIP applications and that the call centers ultimately will make it easier for Texans to apply for food stamps and other benefits over the phone instead of having to apply in person. 

One in four Texans is uninsured, the highest rate in the nation. A study released this week by Families USA, a Washington-based consumer health advocacy group, said that health care premiums in Texas rose nearly seven-and-a-half times faster than working families' incomes over the past six years. 

Friedman has laid out a detailed program to ensure every Texan has access to affordable health care. The TexasCare program would offer subsidized health care through a four-tier schedule of benefits and co-payments, based on an enrollees' income. Funding would partly come from a 1 percent tax on the gross revenues of health maintenance organizations, doctors, hospitals and wholesale drug distributors. He also wants a "modest annual fee" charged to medium and large businesses that do not provide health coverage to their employees. 

Strayhorn has a different approach, proposing purchasing pools that could allow small-business owners and working families to obtain affordable insurance. The plan would be funded with unspent federal CHIP funds, state dollars, and employee and employer contributions. 

Bell has been less specific about how he would get more Texans covered by health insurance. He says that he would work with other governors, federal officials, and business, consumer and health providers to "forge consensus on the best way forward towards a health care system that covers all Americans with adequate and affordable care." 

While health care is definitely on the minds of voters in Texas, immigration is yet another heated debate. The Rio Grande River, which separates Texas from Mexico, accounts for about half of the border between the United States and Mexico, and crime has been a particular problem in the border region.

"We’ve developed a plan, 'Operation Linebacker-Operation Rio Grande,' which has done a great job at stopping that illegal activity,” says Perry. “We will do everything we need to do and can do in this state until Washington understands that you cannot have national security and you cannot have an immigration program until you have border security."

But Perry's tough talk is somewhat at odds with the policy of the man he replaced as Texas governor -- President Bush, who favors what has become known as comprehensive immigration reform; that is, tougher enforcement of immigration laws coupled with a guest-worker program and a path towards citizenship for illegal immigrants who are already in the country.

That is the same approach favored by Perry's Democratic opponent, Chris Bell, who also wants to punish those who hire illegal workers. "I want to crack down on employers,” says Bell. “I think if we had not been turning and looking the other way for years and allowing employers to hire illegal aliens we probably would not be having this debate."

Meantime, Strayhorn says that she has attempted a run to the right of Perry on the border issue. "I want the Texas Rangers to be in charge and that will stop the illegal immigration and then we will implement a fair, legal immigration program.”

Finally, Kinky Friedman's approach to immigration involves sending 10,000 National Guard troops to the border. "There are crime syndicates, we are not talking about an illegal running through a field here. We are talking about dead bodies in the back of trucks and people trafficking weapons, people, and drugs. Whatever it takes, let us stop it."

Friedman also draws on Texas history, referring to the 1836 battle of the Alamo in which the Mexican army massacred Texas rebels led by Colonel William Travis. "Colonel Travis drew a line in the sand and the men who crossed it at the Alamo knew they were going to die. There is another line called the border. Let us honor and protect it and respect it."

The Libertarian candidate for governor, James Werner, has been overshadowed even more than Libertarian candidates usually are -- probably because of the presence of independent candidate Kinky Friedman. But Werner, who plans to sue Belo Communications over his exclusion from last month's debate, says that he is the "the only candidate who supports reducing the size of state government and favors dramatically increasing your personal freedom."

Werner, who has "extensive experience in business management, not-for-profit fund raising, and support for education," says that the Libertarian Party believes that government has become "far too big, too costly, and too intrusive. We believe that the government’s role should be limited to securing our rights to life, liberty and property, and that it should perform only those functions that are allowed it under the Constitutions of Texas and of the United States. We realize that there is no single path toward that goal. State government has spent decades growing in size, power, cost, and intrusiveness. That growth cannot be reversed overnight but it’s critical that we begin the process now."

So what will really change if someone other than incumbent Rick Perry is elected governor of Texas? Well, Kinky Friedman, for instance has suggested Willie Nelson for head of a new energy agency, Lance Armstrong as his head coach on public education and singer-songscribe Billie Joe Shaver as a spiritual adviser and poet laureate. He also has mentioned Jimmy Buffett as a tourism guru and Carole Keeton Strayhorn, a former schoolteacher, as a capable education commissioner.

And he says he will consult Jesse Ventura, the retired professional wrestler who won a term as Minnesota's governor as a third-party candidate. "I don't really think that I can run this state with Jesse Ventura, Lance Armstrong, Jimmy Buffett and Willie Nelson, okay? But I think there's a lot of great qualities in people that are being excluded from the government. And I think politics has been the reason."

Once Friedman settled on his leadership team, legalizing casino gambling would top his desired changes in state policy. Friedman wants Indian casinos in business and foresees Texas legalizing casinos around the state to generate billions of dollars for schools. Attorney General Greg Abbott has said lawmakers would have to act before casinos would be legal.

Other items on Friedman's to-do list include changes in law to make it easier for independents to run and harder for former state employees to lobby state agencies. He would usher in an energy agency focused on renewable energy sources including bio-diesel in school buses. And he would place 10,000 National Guard troops on the Texas-Mexico border, up from 1,500 -- even if the move requires him to declare martial law.

Friedman wants to decriminalize the possession of marijuana and put a moratorium on the death penalty while the state reviews its criminal justice system. He has said that both the revamped business tax and an increase in cigarette taxes adopted this year should be reversed and that the gasoline tax and oil and gas severance taxes merit small bumps. Half of the members of university boards of regents would be university students. But in most cases, whether he succeeds would depend on how the Legislature —- almost certainly consisting entirely of Republicans and Democrats —- takes his advice.

But here’s the cold hard facts: Friedman is running at around 14 percent in public-opinion polls, but even if all those votes went to Bell, the polls indicate Rick Perry would still win by a small margin. Perry won endorsements from several large Texas newspapers, but Chris Bell and Carole Keeton Strayhorn were favored by others.

Perry also got the endorsements of The Dallas Morning News, San Antonio Express-News, Austin American-Statesman and El Paso Times. The Houston Chronicle endorsed Strayhorn, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram favored Bell. Calling Perry a leader in creating jobs and trying to solve Texas' traffic problems, The Dallas Morning News said he is the best choice compared with challengers who don't offer many specifics or realistic solutions. "The job is too important to give over to a novice in state government or politician who could be an antagonizing -- rather than galvanizing -- force," the newspaper wrote.

Some editorials backing Perry were lukewarm in their support. "Incumbent Republican Governor Rick Perry stands out, only because with his experience and track record voters know what they'll be getting," the Amarillo-Globe News wrote. "Perry is the least of five evils."

The Houston Chronicle, the state's largest-circulation newspaper, bypassed hometown candidate Bell and wrote that Strayhorn is "best equipped to shake up the status quo in a way that balances the needs of both business and residents." The Chronicle also published a side editorial stating that Friedman has poor judgment, advising Friedman supporters to reconsider. But the Galveston County Daily News endorsed Friedman, saying Texans should vote for Friedman to send a protest message to Austin politicians that voters feel abused and ignored.

Some endorsements pointed out that the Texas governorship is a constitutionally weak office. Its main strengths lie in appointments to state commissions and the ability to call special legislative sessions. "The governor of Texas does not have much power -- just enough to make the Legislature think twice about what it is doing. That's exactly what today's monopolized state government needs," the Star-Telegram wrote in endorsing Bell. The newspaper began its endorsement of Bell by stating, "Texas government needs a change."

Strayhorn also received endorsements from the Waco Tribune-Herald and the Victoria Advocate. "Strayhorn has a long record of taking bold positions and standing up to members of her own political party who wanted her to back down and be a team player," the Tribune-Herald wrote. The Victoria Advocate praised Strayhorn and Bell, but said it gave the nod to Strayhorn because of her proven record in state government.

The El Paso Times enthusiastically endorsed Perry, saying he has been a staunch advocate for the city of El Paso, particularly when it came to funding a four-year medical school. "Although Perry's efforts were thwarted by intensely partisan politics, he assured [citizens of El Paso] during a recent visit to the El Paso Times editorial board that the money should be forthcoming shortly after the first of the year," the newspaper wrote. "Perry is easily the most qualified and experienced of the five candidates running for governor."

The Austin American-Statesman, in endorsing Perry, wrote that its editorial pages have often been critical of Perry's leadership, but that in the past 18 months he has used initiative and creativity to produce results. "Against a weak field of sometimes right but never uncertain opposition, moreover, the governor looks good by comparison. We would be more enthusiastic in recommending Perry's re-election if we were sure that the governor will follow the direction he set for himself the past 18 months," the Statesman wrote.

Perry also got the backing of the Beaumont Enterprise, while Bell was endorsed by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and the Lufkin Daily News.

Any guesses on which candidate The Courier endorses?

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