If a Candidate Doesn't Show Up, is it still a Debate?

About a month ago the first debate in the Texas Governor's race was cancelled, but was eventually rescheduled.  This was after the debate was agreed to by both campaigns.

It seems to me that this particular election season has seen more than it's fair share of candidate scared to debate their opponents.  I see it coming more from the Republican side.  Maybe they're afraid to get fact checked on the air like Mitt Romney.  Hard to get away with a lie or two when you can't control the moderator.

In 2004, incumbent Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) failed to show up for a debate with his Democratic opponent, and the debate went on.

In Louisiana, the main Republican canidate, Bill Cassidy, skipped the first televised debate with incumbent Mary Landrieu (D-LA).  The debate went on.

This Friday in West Virginia there will be a U.S. Senate debate that the front runner, Republican Shelley Moore Capito, will be skipping.  The debate is scheduled to go on with the Democratic nominee, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, and several minor party candidates.

Kudos to the Kentucky, Louisiana, and West Virginia media.  I think more candidates would stop this last minute cancelling if they knew that the debate was going to happen whether they show up or not.

The station in Dallas should have just gone ahead with the debate even if Wendy Davis was the only participant.

Wendy or Greg? What Does History Say?

With the filing having concluded, we figured the good lot of you, like us, would find it interesting to know what steps our Governors took to become Governor. We looked at their political paths to see what road has been the most traveled to U-Haul it into the Governor’s Mansion.

In looking at the resumes under “Offices Held” for each governor before they won that seat, there was not one particular secret short-cut up the mountain to reach the summit, but there are some commonalities and patterns worth noting. (Of course, this doesn’t take into consideration other ginormous factors such as personal wealth and party affiliation.)

Most striking was the average number of elected positions held prior to their elections as governors. If you are advising your young protégé who you believe can become governor someday that they should run for a small local office first, then aim a little higher for Congress or the State Senate, then make a couple of pit-stops along the state-wide ballot, that path appears to be uncut—at least all the way to The Mansion. Take Carole-of-Many-Names, for instance, who served as President of the school board, Mayor of Austin, Railroad Commissioner and Comptroller—a successful career by all accounts, but not the trek to Governor.

Over Texas’s 166-year history, Texas Governors have held an average of only two elected posts (and we threw in Cabinet posts for good measure) before becoming Governor. With the advent of mass communications, that number has dwindled to 1.5 since John Connally. In fact, five governors never held a prior office. Too much time in the public eye may not be so helpful. Maybe a balance is needed. Voters and donors need to know your name, but you can out-stay your welcome with a slow ascent up the trail.

Which begs the question, which posts have these folks held? Predictably, Lt. Governor takes the cake with 11 governors moving from the number 2 slot on the ballot to number 1. Lite Gov is not so light with all that power to make and break laws, and when you run for office, you can practically say you have been Deputy Director of Vice Chair of the state—you’re ready.

In terms of the other non-lite-gov-offices that were the stepping stones right before the top we have a tie for second place: five men were Attorneys General and, to our surprise, five were state senators when they stepped up to the governor’s chair. After that, a couple held Cabinet posts, three were US Senators, a couple were members of Congress and a couple were Railroad Commissioners. Only one Mayor has ever been governor, John Ireland in 1883, and he served as a judge and in the State Legislature first. You are much more likely to be a governor if you have been a District Attorney—10 governors made that pit-stop along the way. 

In terms of professional backgrounds, 24 have been attorneys, 21 veterans and six ranchers, including Perry. After that, it’s a smattering.

Predictably, most (twenty-six to be exact) held a statewide office before they became Governor. But several statewide posts have never been a direct stepping stone to Governor: Agriculture Commissioner, Land Commissioner and Comptroller. While two have stepped up directly from Railroad Commissioner, it should be noted that the last was Beauford Jester in 1947 during the days that the Commission ultimately controlled worldwide oil production in the way OPEC does today.

In fact, nobody has ever held the positions of Land Commissioner nor Comptroller and been elected governor. The Railroad Commissioner position is a tricky one. Rick Perry is the only one who has been Agriculture Commissioner and, of course, he served as Lite Gov first.

But Good Hair may not be the last. There is something to be said about cutting a new path for others to follow. When you look at the governors’ histories, it’s interesting to note a possible pattern that we are coining as “consecutivity.” (Unlike Palin and Bush, we know we’re making this one up.)

While the paths do differ, there have been some whose paths have been identical or near-identical. There is the oh-so-popular Lt. Governor/Texas Senate path that four governors traversed. An equally popular and less predictable path that four more governors traveled is the Attorney General/District Attorney avenue. The fact that Jim Hogg and Charles Culberson both served in these positions before winning their races for governor is interesting. The fact they did it back-to-back as Governors #20 and #21 is even more interesting.

As new pathways are cut, “the group” may see only what is directly in front of them and decide this is the new path. With Big Hair in office right now, many may have decided that the path to the Mansion has several stops: a local office, the Legislature or Congress, then to a down-ballot office, to a higher statewide office then to Governor. An examination of history suggests, however, that this could be a tricky path.

What does not seem to matter is a lot of experience or “paying your dues.” If you’ve got what it takes, you’ve got what it takes. Of course, that could be a lot of things, such as money, charisma, luck, a little glamour, connections—but that’s a whole other recipe for us to cook up.

As for the two likely nominees:

Wendy Davis

         Professional background: Attorney

         Political background: Fort Worth City Council, State Senate

Greg Abbott

         Professional background: Attorney

         Political background: State District Judge, State Supreme Court Justice, Attorney General

Open Question: Has Greg Abbott admitted to being a lapdog?

Today State Sen. Wendy Davis (D) went after Greg Abbott (R) for defending the horrendous cuts to public education made by the Legislature.

Defending himself, Abbott made the claim that he is essentially handcuffed and must defend the laws passed by the Legislature.

Wrong.

There have been numerous instances when Attorneys General from across the country have declined to defend laws on the books in their states.  A recent example was from California.  Attorney General Kamala Harris refused to defend Prop 8.

Abbott is just trying to have his cake and eat it to.

In addition to playing Solomon, Abbott also admitted that he Rick Perry's lapdog. From the Dallas Morning News:

"If she were governor, would she ask her attorney general not to defend the laws passed by the Legislature?” Abbott asked. “That’s what Barack Obama asked Eric Holder to do. That’s the style of government she’s offering.”

I didn't realize that Abbott got his position through an appointment.  Oh wait...he didn't.  He was elected independent of Rick Perry.  He doesn't serve at the pleasure of the governor, he serves at the pleasure of Texans.

Question for Abbott: If Rick Perry and you were running for re-election and Perry lost to Wendy Davis, would you be her attorney general?

Followup: If she asked you to defend a law you didn't want to, would you?  And if she asked you not to defend a law you wanted to, would you?  I mean, in that scenario you would be her attorney general.  By your logic, you would have to do what she says.

Homophobic Republicans Love Government Intrusion

Once again Republicans have proven they love government intrusion and interference...as long as it's in relation to either abortion or gay rights.

From Burnt Orange Report:

Today, in a six-page opinion , Greg Abbott struck down advances in civil liberties for same sex couples in Texas, and answered Patrick's letter stating that it does.

Patrick had been upset that insurance benefits were offered to members of same-sex couples in Travis County, the City of Austin, Pflugerville ISD, El Paso, Fort Worth, the City of San Antonio, and El Paso County.

Thanks to Senator Dan Patrick from Houston, cities across Texas have to deal with government telling them what benefits they can offer their employees.

Why does it bother you Sen. Patrick?  And don't bring the Bible into this. To quote Pennsylvania State Rep. Brian Sims (D): Each of us put our hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. We did not place our hands on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible.

Early in the session Rep. Drew Springer (R) filed a bill that targeted Pflugerville ISD.  This brings me back to a point I brought up previously, are some of these homophobic Republicans actually closeted gay Republicans?