Fill me in on why Ben Barnes, TX, is for Strayhorn instead of Bell?

[madfloridian]

I read it, he is a Democrat, a Washington lobbyist, an Democratic fundraiser. Isn't Strayhorn related to Scott McClellan? Why would he do this to Chris Bell.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:384121

"Today, Barnes remains a visible force in politics, both as a Washington lobbyist and Democratic fundraiser. (This election year, Barnes is putting his money on Carole Keeton Strayhorn, a Republican-turned independent candidate for governor, instead of Democratic nominee Chris Bell.) A consummate insider who knows how to spin a good yarn, Barnes is currently on the book-tour circuit with his latest work – Barn Burning, Barn Building, a Texas tale of the rise and fall of the Democratic Party."

AC: You offer some pointers on what Democrats need to do to rebuild the party. How does your support of Carole Strayhorn for governor help the Democrats?

BB: I'm supporting an independent to get rid of a person who gets an "F" on his report card for what he has done as governor of Texas.I don't want to make it personal, but where Texas is today is back with Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. We're No. 1 in public education dropouts, we're No. 1 in prisons, we're No. 1 in children's deaths. We're getting statistics that just make us almost a Third World country. And if Texans really understood that, I don't think they'd be willing to accept that."

...."Jack Kennedy said that sometimes party loyalty asks too much. And man, I like Chris Bell. I think he's a great candidate and a good guy, but he's not going to have the money to have an impact when Perry pulls in the money from the Jim Leiningers and Bob Perrys."

Well, Ben Barnes, maybe if you used your fundraising skills for Bell instead of for a Republican turned Independent, and I don't know what else she has been....maybe Bell might have more money. You think?

:shrug:

[TomInTib]

1. "Grandma" Strayhorn is Snottie's mother

and Barnes is a sellout.

[madfloridian]

2. And look at the rhetoric used against Lamont supporters....

because of a primary race. This Democratic lobbyist and fundraiser supports Scott's mom over a Democratic.

This makes me mad. :mad:

[jobycom]

3. Three things happening here. First, Barnes is a very conservative Dem

from the days before the Southern Dems became Republicans. Second, he doesn't believe Bell, who's mostly a liberal and rather inexperienced, can win in Texas and is supporting the person with the best chance to beat Perry (In his mind, anyway--I'm not writing Bell off, but it's a longshot). Third, Strayhorn used to be a Democrat, is still a moderate, and is probably not much to the right of Bell. She and Barnes are probably friends, since they both are from Austin, and she is probably closer to his moderate Dem beliefs than Bell.

Not defending him, just explaining. Frankly, though, if it comes down to it, and Strayhorn and Perry are neck and neck, and Bell is way out of it... I don't know what I'll do for sure, but I hate voting my conscience when I can compromise just a little and win big. I won't rule it out, yet. Though I wouldn't campaign for her.

[madfloridian]

4. My daughter in TX sent me this.

It really confused the heck out of her. Her only political involvement has been during the Dean Campaign. She does not like this at all. She says she will vote for Kinky instead, if a Democrat can't support a Democrat.

[jobycom]

5. I've never met Barnes, but some of my political buddies know him

They don't really think a lot of him as a Democrat.

In case you don't remember, Barnes is the one who pulled strings for W to get into the National Guard. He also admitted back in 2000 that he had done it, and that he suspected HW Bush was behind it, but that another mutual friend has asked him to. He was Lt Gov at the time.

As for your daughter, tell her Kinky is way more conservative than Strayhorn. When she was mayor of Austin she was a Democrat. She never really changed her ideology much, but she became a Republican because she had statewide ambitions. So we have here a case of a man who's barely a Democrat supporting a woman who's barely a Republican. Both of them are to the left of Kinky.

[NoPasaran]

10. Please send her this link

http://stopkinky.blogspot.com/

Friedman is a republican just like Carole FournamesThreeparties and Goodhair. Voting for any one of them because of the actions of a discredited DINO is just silly. Chris Bell wasn't my choice in the primary but he has my whole support for November. See his new campaign ad here.

[NativeTexan]

6. You are, of course, right on the history!!! But just think............

.....there's always KINKY!!!

[jobycom]

7. yaknow

With names like Strayhorn and Kinky and Dick Perry...

[Sooner75]

8. my take

It's disappointing to hear that Ben Barnes is going with Strayhorn, but it's not all that surprising given the state of the Texas Democratic Party. Democrats here in Texas are shouting into the hurricane of the Republican noise machine trying to be heard...so far without much success.

I heard a few months ago that Strayhorn couldn't win the gubernatorial race, but she could pull support away from Perry. I hope that that's true. She's a textbook political hack in my view. An ambitious climber without any other agenda.

To me, Kinky is just a sideshow. I don't think he can really win, but he can throw a monkeywrench into the works...which is a good thing sort of.

Rick Perry seems to be held in low regard with just about everyone I've talked to. He's leading now in the polls and he may win just because he's on the Republican ticket and voters have been conditioned to vote straight Republican like Pavlov's dogs salivating at the sound of a bell. If Perry wins, Texas will essentially be stuck right where it is now for four more years.

As for Chris Bell, the average Bubba out there doesn't know anything about him and recently it looked like Bell could come in 4th in a very lackluster field of gubernatorial candidates. However, I saw his new TV ad, and I was VERY impressed. It's the one of him towering over various Texas scenes and talking about what he wants to accomplish. Since his funds are limited, he's kept his powder dry 'til now, but he's started to make his move. I hope Texas starts to pay attention, because I think that most Texans are ready for a young fresh face with some fresh ideas. Hopefully, they'll lose interest in Good Hair, Grandma, and Kinky and make a REAL bid for a better future for Texas.

[NoPasaran]

9. Because he's a scumbag n/t