Posted on 06/29/2004 11:53:06 AM PDT by Dog Gone
AUSTIN -- Secretary of Commerce Don Evans, a former Texas oilman and longtime friend of President Bush, is being encouraged to return home and run for governor, a Republican insider said Monday.
The source, a longtime political player in Austin and Washington, said Evans hasn't dismissed the idea but doesn't plan to seriously consider it until after the November presidential election.
Evans was out of the country Monday. But Ron Bonjean, a Commerce Department spokesman, said Evans isn't planning to run for governor.
"Secretary Evans is 100 percent committed to serving President Bush as secretary of commerce," Bonjean said. But he couldn't confirm or deny whether Evans has been asked to consider a gubernatorial race.
"He has had some people approach him, and he is thinking about it," said the Republican source, who spoke on condition he not be identified. He wouldn't say who was encouraging Evans but said a gubernatorial race in either 2006 or 2010 was a possibility.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry plans to seek a second full term in 2006. But his job approval ratings have been falling , and two other Republican officeholders -- U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn -- are believed to be considering primary races against the governor.
My bet is on Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to take on Perry. Carole multi name (what-ever-it-is-today) doesn't have a chance if Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison runs.
I voted for Perry in '02 and have come to regret that. Whether it be Kay Baily, Carole Keeton, or Don Evans, I hope someone challenges him. If he is going to be beaten, it will be in March rather than November.
Can you explain to me the apparent animus against Perry by Republicans in Texas. From the outside looking in, I thought he was rock solid during the redistricting fight as opposed to many other name-brand Republicans who might have folded when the media started come after them as they went after Perry when he kept the Texas legislature in session. Has he raised taxes or just generally rubbed some Texans the wrong way?
I couldn't bring myself to vote for Perry or the RAT, so I skipped that portion of the ballot. I have long known Perry was a mistake, but no one ran against him.
He took the lead on tort reform, and he showed some steel in the redistricting battle. And he's more conservative than either of two women who are considering challenging him in 2006.
There may be a little school rivalry involved, also. Perry is an A&M grad, and U of Texas grads are always looking for some reason to complain about an Aggie. No question, though, which school is liberal and which one is conservative.
He has folded on a couple of key issues, and absolutely failed to show leaderhip on a couple more. Republicans in the legislature have really, really been damaging Perry by ignoring him in favor of the lobbyists lining their pockets.
The republican legislature's cupidity may be the one thing that revives the democratic party in Texas.
My bet is Perry doesn't even run in '06.
Don Evans looks appealling, but I'd like to see Tony Garza who was GW Bush's Texas Sec of State and personel advisor, who is now Ambassodor to Mexico come home and run. That would set him up to run for the US Senate in 8 years or so and help the Texas GOP with hispanics who we will need to win in a decade or so.
I don't understand the animus against Perry myself. He is rock solid on most issues, even those not politically palitable like calling multiple special sessions for redistricting and vetoing a bill that would ban executing the mentally retarted. Sure he signed the hate crimes bill, but his deviations from the party line are nothing compared to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Strayhorn, or even George Bush.
Perry has annoyed his conservative base with his incessant push for a massive expansion of gambling.
I'm just wondering what Perry's done so badly that people here would consider voting for RINOs like KBH and Carole?
Actually, we're doing a pretty good job with black conservative politicians getting elected, but the press will never admit it, and the black voters are in denial of it.
I like Don Evans a lot, and I'd certainly support him over Hutchinson or Strayhorn. I don't know how credible this story is. The "reporter" for this story is also a political columnist for the Chronicle, and he is a rabid liberal. A story based on an "unnamed source" to him could be something he made up to cause dissension in the GOP ranks.
What would be his reasoning for not running, in your opinion?
I've never met the guy, but by observing his career so far, it seems he has a taste for higher office someday. If that is the case, running for re-election seems the sensible thing to do.
You think there's something about his personal life that opponents are getting too close to or something? Questions about his marriage and things even more ominous?
Perhaps word is swirling that he's a few skeletons in the closet, hence this firestorm of interest on the part of other GOPers to challenge a sitting Governor from their own party who'd almost certainly win re-election against whomever the Dems dig up.
"Perhaps word is swirling that he's a few skeletons in the closet, hence this firestorm of interest on the part of other GOPers to challenge a sitting Governor from their own party who'd almost certainly win re-election against whomever the Dems dig up."
In fact there was some stuff in the papers a few months ago that suggested something to that effect.
I can't stand Carrol Strayhorn. Talk about an egomaniac.
You are right, the writer of this story is flaming liberal that hates the GOP. His opinion pieces are published in our local rag down here from time to time and I have never seen him say a nice thing about a Republican. Again, a case of no liberal bias in the media when you have a paper's political reporter that is also a columnsts.
We need to run her back into the Rat party where she came from.
For once you're wrong. UT grads leave college behind them nery quickly; but Aggies never get over their rivalry with UT.
How many people over the age of 25 have you seen wearing a UT ring, except x-football players who live in the past?
As much as those things irritate me, I would still vote Perry over Carole Keeton Whatever, the grand[ma]standing witch who attacked redistricting, as well as Kay Bailey who supports the Roe v. Wade decision.
Would that make him a Faggie? Just kidding, just kidding, just kidding.
But I agree on Carol Rylanderkeetonstrayhornbitch. She has made a disaster out of the Comptrollers' office. Janet Reno in drag.
I'm not a graduate of either school, so I find the rivalry merely amusing. And don't tell me that UT grads don't put down Aggies at every opportunity. I hear the jokes all the time.
ROFL
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