Schieffer Comes To Amarillo

Last night, Amarillo got its first political visit from a candidate in the 2010 Democratic primary. It was Tom Schieffer, who is running for governor. Schieffer is the only Democrat who has declared his candidacy so far, and he got a very good turnout from Amarillo Democrats (who are thirsting for a Democratic victory next year).

It might be good for other candidates to go ahead and declare their candidacy if they are serious about running. Because Schieffer is making the most of his candidacy, traveling around Texas and trying to tie up support before anyone else can do it. He seemed to have a very successful rally in Amarillo, as all the leading Democrats seemed to have turned out.

Schieffer was introduced by former House Speaker Bob Laney, and got standing ovations from the crowd both before and after his speech. He jokingly told the crowd, "You know it's been a long dry spell when you get a standing ovation before you speak."

Before he spoke, Schieffer was gracious enough to give this blogger an interview. I wasn't trying to be rude, but I did ask him why we should vote for him as a Democrat after his support for Bush, both as governor and as president, and his service as ambassador to Australia and then Japan for the Bush administration. He admitted it was a question he needs to address.

He did not apologize for supporting Bush, but he did say he's never voted in a Republican primary. He stressed that he has always voted in the Democratic primary. He also said that when Bush asked him to serve as an ambassador, he told Bush he had no intention of becoming a Republican, and that Bush told him he wanted him to serve his country -- not any specific party.

I also asked him if he supported enlarging the CHIPS program to include all poor children in need of health insurance. His answer was an enthusiastic yes. He said it was immoral for Texas to force children to go to an emergency room just to get any medical care.

Just out of curiosity, I asked him where he stood on establishment of a public health insurance option on the national level. He was opposed to it. He liked the idea of private insurance co-ops, although he did say that everyone deserved to be covered with health insurance.

When I asked what were the primary issues his campaign would focus on, he replied education. That was also the only topic he covered in his speech to the crowd. He said he wanted Texas to have a good business climate just like his Republican opponents do (and pointed out that he had more business experience than both Perry and Hutchison combined), but said a good business climate needed more than just low taxes. He said it also needed "a good education system".

Schieffer told the crowd that we must not "lose faith in public education", since that is where the vast majority of Texas students are educated. He also said if we didn't take action to improve public education, we would find Texas becoming like a "third-world state", and we would be unable to compete twenty years from now.

In answer to an audience members question, Schieffer revealed himself as a die-hard "free trader". He extolled the virtues of free trade, but never mentioned protecting workers rights when establishing trade agreements.

I left the event with a firm belief that Schieffer is a conservative "blue dog" Democrat, who would find himself agreeing with Republicans as much as Democrats. If you're looking for a "blue dog" Democrat, then Schieffer is your candidate.

Personally, I think Texas needs more change than Schieffer can offer.