October 7, 2006

Friday Night Fights

Governor Avoids Costly Gaffes and Errors Despite
Taking a Beating as Democrat Shines at Debate

By MIKE HAILEY

Governor Rick Perry won the debate Friday night when he didn't lose it.

That doesn't mean that Perry was necessarily better than the other three candidates with whom he shared the stage in Dallas at the hour long event. Had objective professional experts been on hand to judge the competition, Democrat Chris Bell might well have scored the highest. The former one-term Houston congressman was much more effective on live TV without the prepared text or props than his commercials or speeches have been up to this point.

Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn spent more time on the defensive than she probably would have preferred but still managed to get in some punches about Perry's Trans-Texas Corridor, his property tax cuts and her own plan to clean up state politics. The race's other independent contender - Kinky Friedman - stuck to his game plan with comments that no other candidates would ever dream of saying in public much less on prime time television before midnight. Friedman intended to look completely out of his element - and he accomplished that mission. But he also served up canned lines from ads and speeches that belied the straight-shooting, uncensored spontaneity that's made him a hit with some Texans - and he got testy with a journalist who'd caught him in the act of being a politician.

While the debate was arguably Bell's finest hour so far in a campaign that's been trailing from the start, the spoils go to Perry because he entered the debate as the leader and committed no obvious errors or gaffes while holding his own with the information he commanded, keeping his cool when attacked and finishing with a solid closing statement that seemed more sincere than rehearsed.

Perry artfully dodged questions about his inflated promise of a $2,000 tax cut by claiming that taxes without dispute would go down a total of $15 billion over several years - a number that 's as whopping on the surface as it meaningless to the average taxpayer and impossible to substantiate or to disprove. Perry dropped the name of "old friend" John Sharp the way George W. Bush used to invoke the legend of Bob Bullock when attempting to establish bipartisan credentials with swing voters who may be undecided or still wavering.

Perry pointed to border security as an example of proactive leadership and teacher pay and business tax reform as the fruits of perseverance on an issue that had befuddled other governors before him without having to mention the predecessor who went on to become president. He didn't get flustered while taking his hits on toll roads and the highway design contract with a company in Spain - noting that the firm in question was working in tandem with a partner from Texas - and he countered criticism about education policy with a positive outlook and praise for the same educators who've been some of his biggest critics. While Strayhorn took aim at the governor time after time, Perry essentially ignored her throughout the debate and closed by framing the race as a choice between him and Bell.

Bell made a compelling argument against standardized student testing and business tax loopholes, wielding vague projections as if they were hard facts. Bell forced Strayhorn into a defensive posture with an accusation under the guise of a question that he posed to her in a way that made it sound like she'd traded tax breaks for contributions. The Democratic nominee got off to a good start when he referred to the others on the stage as his three Republican opponents in an opening remark that had nothing to do with the question that one of the journalists on the panel had posed to him. Before answering the specific question, Bell also reminded viewers that he'd filed an ethics complaint against Tom DeLay when he was still at the peak of his power.

Bell delivered his answers and observations with more conviction and confidence than he's shown - and he seemed more at ease and less contrived amid the bright lights and pressure of live television than he has in the staged settings of advertising shoots and when sticking too close to the text in stump speeches.

While Perry acted as though Strayhorn wasn't around, the comptroller reserved all of her fire for the governor. Strayhorn seemed to have more information in her arsenal, but she rarely completed a thought as a result of tight time restrictions and a panel that afforded the candidates little flexibility.

While the three experienced political players on the stage kept their emotions in check, Friedman appeared somewhat agitated in an exchange initiated by veteran Dallas Morning News reporter Wayne Slater, who pressed the entertainer on whether he'd approve the appointment of an education commissioner who smoked pot if elected to the state's top job. Despite a vow to tap Willie Nelson for the job as energy commissioner, Friedman indicated he would not give his blessings to a marijuana smoker as the head of the state's education agency.

But Friedman - when asked if he'd be a good role model for kids as a cigar smoker - said earlier in the debate that Sam Houston had been the state's greatest governor despite addictions to opium and alcohol - even if he hadn't been the ideal role model for children.

On the subject of tuition at state universities, Friedman vowed to "throw the old farts off" boards of regents. Asked about racial comments in interviews and comedy routines, Friedman said that he's never been a racist. But he added that people who are afraid of offending somebody can't ever get anything done. The other three candidates took that opportunity to chastise Friedman for such remarks. Friedman in closing called his three rivals politically correct while describing himself as morally correct.

One segment of the debate was devoted to questions that some of the candidates might find difficult to answer. Perry came close when asked about home mortgage interest rates - and Bell appeared to draw a momentary blank before providing the correct answer to a question about what year the Alamo had been fought. Strayhorn did a nice job playing Houdini when asked who'd won the presidential election in Mexico. A smile pinched the corner of her lips as she answered without hesitation that the candidate who'd won it had done so by a very close margin. The journalist who'd lobbed the question to her finally answered it for her.

In the final analysis, Bell needed some sort of a boost and he might have received one from his performance during the debate. Strayhorn scored a few direct hits on Perry - and Friedman basically reinforced the same themes and images that have made his campaign one of the most entertaining ever in Texas and certainly the most unique. But Perry, who had the most to lose, might have gained more from the debate than the other because he didn't unravel. Call it Perry - by a hair.

Mike Hailey's column appears regularly in Capitol Inside