Does Kinky Friedman hurt us or help us? Can he win?

[billbuckhead]

Kinky editorial in SA Express News
Written by Kinky Friedman News
Tuesday, 10 January 2006
"Friedman a serious poliltician? Why not?" is the title of a new editorial in Sunday's San Antonio Express-News. The piece centers on the question of whether or not the Kinkster's getting "more serious" (when was he not serious?), and it ends up basically answering the question itself:
If Friedman is getting more serious, the reason is simple: The race itself is getting more serious. A Zogby Poll, released in November, indicated 21 percent of likely voters would cast their ballots for Friedman, compared to 41 percent for Perry. It is still an uphill climb, but Friedman and his supporters can see the mountaintop.
Sure, we're getting serious. It just might be a different kind of serious than the kind politicians and political pundits are used to looking for.
<http://kinkyfriedman.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=201&Itemid=26>

[Tom Rinaldo]

1. He can draw some critical votes away from Bob Gammage

And Bob Gammage is a Texan who can actually win the Govornor's race for the Democratic Party. He's a real fighter with a strong record and broad state wide appeal. Really, this guy can both make us proud AND win:

“Today there is a corrupt political machine which stretches from Washington, D.C. all the way to Austin,” Gammage said. “DeLay and his cronies are at one end, and Rick Perry and his pals are at the other. The money flows both ways. It has corrupted our politics, corrupted our government and, more importantly, corrupted public policy and betrayed the public trust.”

In contrast to Perry's agenda for the elite special interests, Gammage laid out an historic progressive agenda for Texas, pledging to:


Raise the state minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.50 an hour.

Pass a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing every Texan the right to clean air and clean water.

Pass an Ethics Reform Act to make it illegal for any state legislator or high agency official to become a lobbyist for at least two years after leaving state service.

Pass a Corporate Responsibility Act to strengthen Texas regulatory and consumer protection agencies to stop price gouging in gas and utility prices and protect our citizens from corporate fraud.

Pass a Texas Tax Reform Act. No more state taxes on the middle class unless we close the special corporate loopholes that save Rick Perry's yachting friends billions while ordinary families have to pay and pay.

Work for a Prescription Drug Price Relief Act to regulate prescription drug costs and stop the gouging of consumers.

Work for Affordable Health Insurance for all families in times of catastrophic illness and injury.

Pass a Texas Excellence in Education Act to guarantee fair funding for every school district in Texas-with the standard set at “excellence” for all, not just an elite few."

Some information about Bob Gammage's personal history:

Lawyer, teacher, and veteran of both Army and Navy service, including a tour of duty in Korea; Captain (Ret.) in the U. S. Naval Reserve

Elected statewide to the Supreme Court of Texas

Elected to the Texas Court of Appeals, 24-county Austin/Central Texas district

Elected to the U. S. Congress, representing a Houston/Gulf Coast district

Elected to the Texas Senate, Harris and Fort Bend Counties

Elected to the Texas House of Representatives, Harris County
Outstanding Legislator and member of the corruption-fighting Dirty Thirty



Check Gammage out:
http://www.gammageforgovernor.com/

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. Brief note to all you Texans and those who follow politics there

I made the post that I did above before this thread got moved out of DU General Discussion: Politics Forum, over here into the Texas Forum by the moderators. I'm not quite sure why they did that since what happens in Statewide Texas is important stuff for everyone in the country. Had I known this thread would get moved here to this forum, I would not have written it the way I did. I was assuming that most readers in the General Forum might not know who Bob Gammage is, since he only recently announced.

[crispini]

7. That's weird, I wonder why it got moved.

Perhaps the OP put it there by mistake and requested it.

[johncoby2]

3. Are any kinky supporters doing any damn work?

They seem to talk alot, but are they doing anything?

[crispini]

8. The ones I know are.

They're holding houseparties and fundraisers and going to dog parks giving out dog biscuits with "Kinky" on them. I shit you not.

Edited to add: And these were Kerry voters in 04, too.

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. So perhaps he'll get the Border Collie vote?

[sonias]

4. Who in the hell is voting that Kinky can win

Kinky can hurt us and can win? What kind of crack are you smoking tonight, folks?

Kinky has no chance in hell of winning. He's going to have enough trouble getting signatures to get on the ballot, now that he has to compete for those signatures with Carole 4Names. Getting 45,000 signatures in 60 days is no piece of cake. Nader can attest to that and he sued Texas for ballot access and lost that case. Now you have two republicans Kinky and Carole Strayhorn running as Independents, plus the official republican Rick Perry, in a potential 4 way race. No way in hell Kinky comes out on top.

The poll that the Kinksters are putting out there, doesn't give you Carole's numbers or the Democrat that wins the primary either. It doesn't surprise me that Kinky gets 21% to Perry. Perry sucks. Chris Bell had a better number of 26% percent I think.

Sonia

[johncoby2]

5. You go girl!!!!

[merci_me]

6. Don't forget the primary runoffs

and there are sure to be runoffs in many districts and possibly a Bell/Gammage runoff, which would be statewide. That's just what I'm seeing in Democratic races. There are sure to be Repuke runoffs in those districts that have contested Repuke challenges.

If there is one statewide runoff in either party, it cuts the time for collecting signatures down from two months to one month. Does anyone know if that will hold true statewide, when there are only runoffs in some districts? It seems it would be a nightmare to not have the same dates used statewide.

[billbuckhead]

9. I'm not from Texas so I didn't put in the Texas forum

Not being from Texas doesn't prevent me from getting a bunch of e-mails from kinksters. I think Kinky hurts us but maybe we can use his base to push to do away with Black Box voting and other voting problems.

[Czolgosz]

15. The prospect for a primary runoff seems slim at best. I don't think

Rashad Jafer or Felix Alvarado will get enough votes to preclude either Bell or Gammage from a majority.

[merci_me]

18. Not so slim

Let's just look at the purely ethnic vote and ballot placement for that matter. Let's give Jafer 3% (for instance, in Houston, he has position #1). Now let's give the Hispanic vote that might supporting Alvarado and the Hispanic vote that doesn't decide til they get to the polls, plus the non-Hispanic Alvarado vote. I'd give Alvarado at least 8%. That leaves 89%. If Bell and Gammage are running close and one gets even 40%, the other gets 49%. RUNOFF!!

Now let's also remember, there are many contested statewide, congressional, state senate, state reps and even county clerks and all the judges, running in BOTH parties. Not only people who voted in the primary, but those who didn't are still able to come back to the polls and vote the various runoffs. You may also see people who didn't vote in the primary, suddenly get interested, when they see how close various races turned out and decide they want a say. They have an extra month, to become ineligible to sign a petition.

[Zen Democrat]

10. I don't think Kinky helps or hurts.

Kinky's targets are non-voters. I think Strayhorn definitely helps. She'll draw the traditional Republicans fed up with the Fundie Freaks and split the Republican vote. Democrats will vote for Bell or Gammage (Bell, I predict). In a 4-way race, with 2 avowed Republicans, 1 avowed Democrat, and a Wild Card it could be close all the way around, but better for the Democrats.

Gammage's problem will be his conservative voting record in Congress. He voted against raising the minimum wage, for one thing. However, he's made raising the minimum wage a plank in his platform for governor so that may mitigate his 25-year old record.

Chris Bell should get a lot of credit among Dems for standing up to Tom DeLay before anyone else. For that alone he gets my support. I want Democrats with courage.

But I'm not afraid of Kinky. Kinky will get redneck votes that would otherwise go to Republicans. His agenda is a mix of left and right, yes to prayer in school, yes to gay marriage, yes to alternative fuels, yes to restrained use of the death penalty, yes to teacher pay raise, no to "teaching the tests", etc. There's enough in his platform to both attract and repel both Democrats and Republicans. That's why he's a wild card and will draw votes on the strength of his personality, but not from people committed to a political agenda.

I have one question: Does the law in Texas prohibit signing petitions for more than one independent candidate? Could people sign petitions for both Friedman and Strayhorn? If so, that would enhance their chances of getting on the ballot.

[sonias]

11. TX law prohibits the signing of two petitions for the same race

So you can not sign for both Kinky and Carole 4Names. And most importantly you can not sign either petition, if you vote in the primaries in March. I sincerely hope that all good Democrats will be voting in the March primaries and not be worried about helping other fringe candidates get on the ballot in November.

I imagine that checking these petitions is going to be a nightmare. I can envision a lot of people signing these for both, and even after voting in the primaries. In fact if you wanted to get mean and screw up their petition drives you could vote in the primary and sign both petitions. Although that is technically a crime. Not sure what the penalty is. The person who distributes the petition has to read you the statement that says you can not sign a petition for another candidate in this race. You could always claim the person who got you to sign didn't read that portion to you.

I'm sure the Perry camp will be reviewing this signatures after they are filed to catch them in a few of these duplicates.

Sonia

[Czolgosz]

13. You say "Kinky's targets are non-voters," but everyone I know with a

Kinky bumper-sticker or sign voted for Kerry in '04. When you say "Kinky will get redneck votes" I'm having a hard time thinking that those voters are going to vote for a flamboyant Jewish singer/novelist and not to Perry.

Also, Gammage was more-liberal-than-average when compared against other Texas Democratic office holders back in his days in Congress, and he was a very progressive pro-consumer judge for years after that. Gammage is running on a more progressive agenda than Bell so I don't think his voting record from the '70s will be a big issue.

[crispini]

14. I agree with you, everyone I know who is supporting

Kinky was a Kerry voter. :(

[merci_me]

16. The question is......were they Kerry supporters

from the get-go or by default. Not that I see the logic anyway, just wondering.

The other thing is, if most people we talk politics with voted for Kerry, then it stands to reason, those would be the people we know about. I truly don't know (except to discuss the weather with) Bush voters, nor Perry voters. At least not anyone who admits to it.

[Zen Democrat]

17. Lucky you. I work with a schmuck who has a picture of Bush on his desk.

[merci_me]

19. I know them that way too

but not that I'd have any interest in discussing if they plan to vote for Perry, Strayhorn or Kinky.

Heck, I was at the grocery this afternoon, with my old "Draft Clark" bumper sticker proudly displayed and pulled up next a car with a Bush/Cheney bumpersticker and my thought was "OMG, I'd be sooooooo embarrassed!!"