New Name For Tx Governor Race

The 2010 race for governor of Texas is already heating up -- at least on the Republican side. Two big-name politicians (Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison) have already tossed their hat in the ring, and it looks like it's shaping up to be an expensive and nasty primary fight between the two. But so far, no one has declared for the Democratic nomination.

So far, there have only been two names tossed about. Kinky Friedman said he may run as a Democrat, and friends of Henry Cisneros are touting him as a possible candidate -- but neither has so far declared his intention to run. But now it looks like there is a third possibility -- Tom Schieffer, brother of newsman Bob Schieffer.

Schieffer is a resident of Fort Worth, but for the last eight years he has served as an ambassador for the Bush administration. He served the first four years as ambassador to Australia, and the last four as ambassador to Japan. He and Bush became firends when he was general manager for the Texas Rangers while Bush was part-owner.

But don't let that fool you. Schieffer claims he is definitely a Democrat, and says he voted for President Obama in both the primary and the general election. He was also elected to three terms in the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat (1972, 1974, and 1976).

Schieffer told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he's been thinking of running for governor for a while, but has not yet made the final decision. I don't know yet whether I could support Schieffer, but I have to admit his candidacy is an interesting idea. And his high-profile job with the Texas Rangers has given him some name-recognition.

He certainly couldn't be as bad as the two Republicans running.