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December 24, 2006
Christmas Comes Early To The Texas House
With the holiday season running at full throttle, politics is normally placed on the back burner for a few weeks. Now and again, however, something flares up worth mentioning.
On Saturday, word broke that the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, Republican Tom Craddick of Midland, has a challenge to his leadership. The challenge is not a futile effort by a Democrat (who are a 12-seat minority in the House), but a shot across the bough from Craddick's own party.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Brian McCall, Republican House member from Plano. A consensus builder who is liked on both sides of the aisle, McCall represents a real threat to Tom Craddick's speakership.
If McCall can get the votes of most of the 69 Democrats in the House, and peel off enough disgruntled Republicans, he will be the next Speaker of the Texas House. Whether he can is the million dollar question on the eve of the 2007 legislative session.
Tom Craddick has ruled the House with an iron fist since assuming power, and his leadership style has damaged him with members of his own party, not to mention Democrats. For the past two sessions it has been his way or the highway, and fellow GOPers who dared defy him faced the threat of a well-funded primary opponent (see Tommy Merritt of Longview.)
The 2006 elections, however, weakened the effectiveness of Mr. Craddick's threats. In both the primary and general elections, Craddick-backed candidates performed well below expectations. He lost numerous allies, from both parties this year, hence his current precarious position.
Mr. McCall's entry into the Speaker's race is an early Christmas present for Texans. This great state faces serious challenges in the upcoming legislative session, challenges that demand common-sense, practical solutions, not partisanship. Tom Craddick's leadership over the last several years has epitomized what is wrong with American politics today.
Here's hoping for a McCall speakership, and a positive new direction for the Texas House and the people it serves.
Posted by houtopia at December 24, 2006 01:38 AM