Chris who?

While visiting relatives in Lubbock last week, the gubernatorial race came up during a dinner conversation. Gov. Perry is actually from that part of the state and my wife’s aunt and uncle know Perry’s parents. However, while they tend to be fairly conservative, they expressed disatisfaction with his performance in office and seemed open to the idea of voting for someone else. They talked about Carole Keeton Strayhorn for a few minutes and didn’t seem terribly happy with her either, and Kinky Friedman seemed out of the question. Then there was a lull in the conversation.
Finally, I spoke up and said “What about the Democrat in the race?”
“Who is that?” they asked in all sincerity.
“Chris Bell,” I said.
Blank stares.
“Yep,” I concluded. “He’s the one who’s going to come in fourth.”

It may simply be unrealistic for Democrats to elect a governor in this state any time soon - although if Massachussetts and New York can have Republican governors, I don’t see why Texas can’t elect a Democrat. But putting a one-term former Congressman and political unknown in place as our nominee is clearly NOT the way to make any headway in winning statewide elections.