Kinky & Bell Campaigns Trade Barbs

You can tell it's after Labor Day in an election year, because the campaign rhetoric and attacks are starting to pick up. In the last few days, the campaigns of Kinky Friedman and Chris Bell have started sniping at each other. I suppose it was inevitable, but I was hoping they could get Perry's numbers down before they started attacking each other. Perry's been sitting on a solid 35% for the last few months, and so far, no one has been able to put a dent in it. In a five-way race for governor, that 35% is very probably a winning percentage.

Last week in Dallas, Chris Bell made fun of Kinky's candidacy by saying, "A vote is a terrible thing to waste." Kinky answered the barb yesterday, saying, "We're taking Democratic votes away from him. It's becoming a source of irritation."

But that wasn't all. Yesterday in Houston, Kinky pledged to give Houston more money to deal with the rise in crime since Katrina. Kinky referred to the imported criminals as "crackheads and thugs". This led the spokeswoman from Bell's campaign, Heather Guntert, to remark, "I would think that a former cokehead would have more sympathy for a crackhead." She was referring to Kinky's admitted drug use in the past.

Kinky's campaign couldn't let that one pass without comment. Laura Stromberg, Kinky's spokeswoman, said, "He shows plenty of empathy. The issue in Houston is that crime has gone through the roof. Kinky is a little less politically correct. The Bell campaign, like the candidate himself, is irrelevant."

OK. Now we know both sides can make smart-aleck responses. Hopefully, now we can get back to attacking Perry while there is still time. To ignore Perry and continue attacking each other, is a sure way to make sure Perry is re-elected. Otherwise, they are just arguing to see who winds up in second place.