Carole Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn [YOUR LAST NAME HERE], Texas Comptroller, wants to be Governor of Texas in the worst way. If she ever gets there, I have no doubt she will be governor in the worst way. But to get the office in 2006, the loopy mother of White House Spokesman Scott McClellan will have to knock off incumbent Governor Rick Perry, who succeeded our previous governor, George W. Bush, when he went on to bigger and better things.

Perry is popular with the generally conservative base of the GOP, and is likely to win the nomination . But Strayhorn has a plan -- get Democrats and Independents to vote in the GOP primary.

he call came from a listener telling Carole Keeton Strayhorn he'd eagerly vote for her for governor in November 2006.

Strayhorn shot back Tuesday on Austin radio station KVET-FM: "November is great, but first I need you to vote on March 7. I want Republicans, Democrats, independents. All are welcome," Strayhorn said.

"And bring all your friends with you."

Strayhorn, the Republican state comptroller who is challenging GOP Gov. Rick Perry, has made few campaign forays since announcing her candidacy June 18, a tack that her office attributes to lawmakers remaining in special session to deal with school funding and tax issues.

But the former Austin mayor is well along in testing an unusual message: The March Republican primary is voters' only real chance to choose the next governor.

Her pitch asks voters to assume that the Democratic nominee will not prove to be a serious fall contender. Neither of the only announced Democratic candidates, former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell of Houston and educator Felix Alvarado of Fort Worth, has run statewide. And no Democrat has won statewide since 1994.

Strayhorn, like Perry, was once a Democrat. She also has won GOP primaries in the past.

Yet, her hunt for voters outside the party's base appears to recognize that the incumbent has the edge among Republican loyalists, who are often more conservative than the general electorate.

Let me tell you, speaking as Republican precinct chair here in Harris County, which is the largest county in Texas, that this strategy does not sit well with most Republicans I know. We have this crazy idea that if you want to use the votes of Democrats to get the nomination for governor, you need to run in the Democrat primary. Given the current candidates for the Democrat nomination, I suspect that the nomination would be hers for the taking. It is time for her to go back to that party and seek the Democrat nomination (which she might not get, having abandoned that party once) so she can face Perry in the fall -- and lose.

I'll make you a prediction right now. I'm sure that the Perry campaign and the GOP on both the state and national levels will make sure that every signature on every Democrat nominating petition (and those for Kinky Friedman) in the state is broken down by local precinct and distributed to the precinct chairs for purposes of challenging cross-over voters. After all, Strayhorn and her supporters are correct in noting that a voter can vote in either primary on election day. However, what needs to be considered is that the same law has a limitation on that choice -- if you have signed a nominating petition for an independent or a candidate for particular party, you forfeit the option of voting in the primary of a different party. Those of us serving as election judges will have some idea of who the outsiders are, and we will be ready for them.

Posted by: Greg at 02:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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