Democratic Candidate {Chris} Bell Fires Criticism at {Governor Rick} Perry

IRVING (AP) - Democrat Chris Bell, the lone candidate for governor campaigning on Labor Day, didn't mince words in taking aim at Republican incumbent Rick Perry.

"On issue after issue, category after category - education, health care, stem cell research, the environment, our state parks system - Rick Perry is an absolute miserable failure as governor," Bell said at the Dallas AFL-CIO Labor Day Breakfast.

Bell made other stops Monday in Tyler, Galveston and Waco, each time stressing the need for the state to revamp a weak education system.

"The fact is, for six years, Gov. Perry has put forward common sense solutions for the challenges that face Texas," said Perry campaign spokesman Robert Black. "Issue after issue, problem after problem, Chris Bell has not. Opposition is not a plan; criticism is not a solution for anything."

Bell also took exception to the changing political stripes of independent candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn, a one-time Democrat who was a Republican when she entered the governor's race as an independent earlier this year.

"I can call my dog a horse. Well, at the end of the day, it's still going to be a dog, and she's still going to be a Republican," Bell said.

Strayhorn, who canceled an appearance in Abilene to attend a funeral, said in a news release that she at least agreed with Bell on one thing: the need to improve Texas public schools.

"Our public schools are underfunded, and have no long-term source of reliable funding," she said. "I am the only candidate who has outlined a comprehensive plan to improve our public schools, promote an educated workforce, retain good teachers and provide reliable funding for our schools."

Bell was easier on independent candidate Kinky Friedman, simply saying the author and musician is not the answer.

Before people write off Kinky Friedman as no more than a joke, they need to read his immigration policy, which Kinky recently discussed in a report by the El Paso Times:

Kinky Friedman has said that if he was elected governor of Texas, he would make the Mexican government pay for the costs of illegal immigration in Texas or face what he called the "Israeli discount." "We should be as ruthless as they are with the southern border," said the independent gubernatorial candidate, author and musician. The heated national debate over border security and immigration is also a major issue among Texas candidates for the state's top job as they rev up their campaigns in the 60 days remaining before the Nov. 7 election. During the past several months, GOP Gov. Rick Perry has implemented several border security initiatives and extolled their success side by side with border county sheriffs and state security officials. But each of his three main opponents -- Friedman, Democrat Chris Bell and independent Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn -- said Perry's measures were too little too late and were all done in the name of political expediency. "The situation is not getting better, and it shouldn't, because it's been neglected for political reasons," Friedman said. He said he supports groups such as the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps because they draw attention to problems on the border. Asked about his own strategy for securing the border, Friedman said, "I'm not sure. I don't have a plan." He said he would appoint people who care about the state to develop a plan based on his motto: "Remember the Alamo." Border safety has deteriorated, Friedman said, because politicians are too afraid to offend Hispanics and get tough on the Mexican government. "I would tell them (Mexican government officials) to step up to the plate and pay their fair share of the cost illegals are costing the state of Texas," he said. "If they don't do that, then I want the border on the nightly news every night."... Responding to Friedman's suggestion that Texas should treat its border as Israel does, (Perry spokesman Robert) Black said: "Wow. That kind of rhetoric is irresponsible. It's not real. It's cartoon rhetoric."

Kinky has also said he supported "the construction of 700 miles of security fence along the U.S.-Mexico border and which would make illegal immigration a felony."

In a really great interview with Bill O'Reilly, Kinky advocated for a border fence and Kinky acknowledged that we cannot trust Mexico's President to assist with immigration enforcement:

FRIEDMAN: And I want them to help. I mean, good fences... O'REILLY: Absolutely. That's what they're there for. FRIEDMAN: ...Good fences make good neighbors, and, Mr. Fox, help us build that fence. O'REILLY: Well, don't count on help from Mr. Fox because he's getting so much money from this illegal immigration back there. FRIEDMAN: That's true.

Kinky has consistently promised to take "a harder line on immigration" than any of the other candidates and has made the excellent point that half the Mexican "protesters" are really just "playing hooky"?

Kinky is the only candidate with the guts to admit "Mexico is not a poor country."

Kinky has also said that "all of these politicians are afraid of offending Hispanics ... I want the border off the evening news until we get something resolved."

Perry is a good man, but he's let us down on immigration, the TTC and, especially, the small business income tax.

I may yet vote for Perry, and I'm still leaning that way, but if you cannot vote for Perry because of some of his missteps, please consider Kinky as your only alternative.

Any candidate who will stand shoulder-toshoulder with our Minutemen Civil Defense Corps deserves respect and not scorn. Perry's spokesman Robert Black shoudl be disciplined for calling Kinky "irresponsible" merely for demanding that Texas treat its border as important as Israel treats its own borders.

Perry's foes good for him

AUSTIN - A homeless man stood in front of the state Capitol the other day with a crude, hand-printed sign that had even cruder messages directed at Gov. Rick Perry and Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn before concluding, "Vote the Kinckster (sic)."
Chris Bell was ignored, the ultimate affront for a political candidate.
The Democratic nominee for governor can't find enough traction to even earn a vulgarity from the societal fringe, or so it would seem, in this most unconventional of Texas gubernatorial races.
More importantly, he also will be missing from the TV air war, which debuts this week and which will focus the attention of most voters on the race for the first time.
Perry and Strayhorn, the Republican-turned-independent, are prepared to spend the $1 million per week apiece that it will take between now and Election Day for full-market, statewide television advertising.
Bell and independent candidate Kinky Friedman, meanwhile, continue to struggle with fundraising.

Positive start
Campaigns are reluctant to tip their hands, but Perry and Strayhorn both are expected to start with "positive" ads focusing on their respective talents. That approach is traditional, so as not to risk turning off the voters too soon, but the feel-good atmosphere won't last.

Before long, expect the mud to start flying from your TV sets, much as it did four years ago, when Perry deep-sixed Democratic challenger Tony Sanchez.
Perry has his same ad man, David Weeks of Austin, while Strayhorn employs Alex Castellanos of Virginia, who handled some of her previous races and whose other clients have included both Presidents Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Today, nine weeks before Election Day, this race still is Perry's to lose, and that seems unlikely, barring an economic catastrophe, another Republican ethics scandal in Texas or Washington or the governor doing something exceptionally stupid.

Perry successes
Perry has subpar job approval ratings and has been dogged, off and on, by controversy. But he is blessed with four opponents, including Libertarian James Werner, more than enough to enable him to slip into another four-year term with fewer than half the votes (perhaps the low to mid-40s).

Among his successes, Perry convinced the Legislature to change the school finance law enough to avoid a funding crisis. He won cuts in school property rates and enactment of a new, fairer state business tax.
He solidified his conservative support by signing new abortion restrictions for minors and winning approval of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages.
But many conservatives are angry over the business tax, and other Texans will be upset to soon learn that the size of their property tax "cuts" won't live up to the governor's claims.
There also are controversies over toll roads, cuts in health care and increases in university tuition, each potentially problematic for an incumbent governor, but not fatal if voter anger is diffused among several opponents.
Strayhorn, as a longtime officeholder, continues to reach out to old donors and, to Bell's detriment, new friends as well.
Some prominent Democrats, including Sanchez and former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, are backing her. As are some high-dollar plaintiffs lawyers, whom Democratic candidates used to count on for big bucks.
To beat Perry, one challenger has to break out of the pack, and Strayhorn is betting her TV ad campaign will let her do that.
Not only is he underfunded, Bell also isn't as well known statewide as Perry or Strayhorn. But Strayhorn, like Perry, has some baggage, including accusations that she has favored big political donors in disputed tax cases and a reputation for flip-flopping on issues.
Some observers think that Bell will finish ahead of Strayhorn because the Democratic Party, although it hasn't won a statewide election since 1994, still has enough of an organization to keep most base voters (perhaps 20 to 25 percent) supporting the party's nominee.
The Election Day scenario that works best for Perry is for Strayhorn and Bell to be competitive (with each other) — and share a significant number of votes with Friedman.
Many political experts expect Friedman to finish fourth, but he could spoil the race for either Strayhorn or Bell. If so, that would make Kinky, the ultimate "protest candidate," the best insurance policy that Perry has.
You can write to Clay Robison 1005 Congress, Suite 1060, Austin, TX 78701, or e-mail him at clay.robison@chron.com.

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