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"A collaborative political resource." |
"The Mauro Effect" - March 17, 2001
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| Contributor | Texas Democrat 06 |
| Last Edited | Texas Democrat 06 Jan 12, 2004 09:57pm |
| Category | Commentary |
| News Date | Jan 12, 2004 12:00am |
| Description | The Mauro Effect
Editorial by Nate Blakeslee
The primary season has become a wistful time for Texas Democrats. Back in the Yellow Dog era, before the Republicans got a foothold, only the Democratic primary mattered. That was before the dawn of the dynasty called Bush. The twenty-year rise of the Texas Republican Party -- culminating in the sweep of every single statewide office and control of the state Senate for the first time since Reconstruction - has coincided with the ascendancy of the Bush clan, father and son.
Ever since Ronald Reagan selected Bush the Elder as his 1980 running mate, it's hard to recall a time when Democrats weren't dealing with the down-ballot effects of a popular Bush at the top of the ticket: from Bush senior on the presidential tickets from 1980-'92, to George W.'s gubernatorial candidacies in '94 and '98. It's no coincidence that the Democrats' best years during that span were years with rare Bush-free ballots: 1982, when Mark White, Jim Hightower, Ann Richards, and Garry Mauro first took office; and 1990, when Ann Richards became Governor and Dan Morales Attorney General. Asked to assess the future of the party this primary season, Democrats Garry Mauro and John Sharp agree that the best way - the only way - to bring the Democrats back is to end the Bush dynasty. Not surprisingly, the two men disagree on how to do that: Mauro is managing the Texas campaign of Al Gore; Sharp has taken the helm for Bill Bradley.
Sharp, the former comptroller, and Mauro, former land commissioner, have a history of butting heads that goes back to their days as politically ambitious classmates at Texas A&M. Sharp blames Mauro for the circumstances that led to Sharp's narrow loss to Rick Perry in the 1998 lieutenant governor's race. Against the advice of many in his own party (who felt the governor's race should have been uncontested), Mauro took on a well-funded and well-liked Bush, producing what Sharp has come to call "The Mauro Effect": beca |
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