Texas Politics Can Do Without Certain Kinks

Trying to be Texas’s reincarnated Abbie Hoffman during the packed 2006 gubernatorial race, Kinky instead came off looking like a hastily-concocted Alfred E. Neuman wannabe. They shared roughly the same amount of political savvy, too.

Interspersed between echoes for higher teacher pay and a greater reliance on renewable energy sources actually was the rollback of cigarette and cigar smoking bans in public places. This despite an ever-growing pile of evidence confirming second hand smoke is extremely toxic. Kinky was also the same ‘dude’ who genuinely proposed addressing reproductive politics by having Texans instead support the ‘pro-football’ line, and dealing with immigration by bribing Mexican generals.

A true revolutionary shows their political credibility by acknowledging the legitimacy of people’s ballot choices in a fair election. How will the revolution feasibly be implemented after all ballots are tallied and a Texas governor inaugurated? This “boring stuff” of public administration is precisely what gets any campaign promise effectively implemented by an administration.

I worked hard as a volunteer for Chris Bell during the last election, and I grew very politically and emotionally attached to the Bell campaign organization itself. While passing by the Governor’s mansion or catching up on current legislative headlines, I sporadically think about what could have been. Texas should not continue being first in the numbers of uninsured people. It is embarrassing that funding for community colleges gets cut while tuition rates at four-year institutions continue to skyrocket, thereby placing higher education out of the reach of millions. The emotions which I experienced during election night came from the realization that this and other opportunities would vanish for a majority of Texans.

Witnessing Chris’s subsequent concession speech truly was a cleansing and revitalizing experience. Of course he had wanted to be the one working in Austin. The Texas Governor has the power to appoint numerous agency heads. These state agency heads in turn report to the Legislature, subsequently influencing countless public policies.

But Chris himself remained pleased with all of the hard work which I and all the staff and volunteers contributed. More importantly, he continues personally raising the issues which Perry and his cronies still avoid touching with a ten-foot pole. Progressives know we have to stay in the trenches even without a spotlight. Not winning the election ironically allows Bell to continue being a rabble-rouser. And those are who really and effectively always shake up Texas politics!