Bell looks to unseat Perry

From today's WDL:
Bell looks to unseat Perry

By JONATHAN BLUNDELL Daily Light staff writer

Donning a dark sports coat, blue jeans and cowboy boots, Chris Bell looks right at home walking into the Ellis County Democratic Headquarters.
He’s not well known in the county but he’s hoping that will change in the next four months, in time for the Texas gubernatorial election in November.
Bell’s facing an uphill battle, in a state where no Democrat has won a statewide election since 1994.
His audience this night is a mixed group of Democratic supporters, filling the pews and chairs in the downtown Waxahachie office space.
The Ellis County Democratic Women and Bell say they’re pleased with the turnout in the predominately Republican County, where many Democrats only whisper their allegiance to the party.
There are only two Democrats currently elected to an Ellis County office and the party is only fielding two other candidates for local races.
Candidates for State District 10, Kerry Horn, and Texas Congressional District 6, David Harris, were also present for Bell’s visit.
Bell accepted his party’s nomination last week for the gubernatorial election after beating Bob Gammage and Rashad Jafer with 63.87 percent of the vote in the March primaries.
With the nomination, Bell assures himself at least nominal support from the straight line ticket voters in the Democratic Party.
And with three other candidates from outside the two mainline parties, including independents Kinky Friedman and Carole Strayhorn and Libertarian James Werner, Bell doesn’t need a majority of the vote to win.
According to Texas law, the governorship will go to the candidate with the highest number of votes – 38 to 42 percent could win the election.
In 2002, Democratic candidate Tony Sanchez received 40 percent of the vote against Perry’s 58 percent.
That may not be too hard to accomplish.
Recent polls across the state have placed Bell anywhere from first to third place in the race and during the recent legislative session, Bell’s fundraising saw an increase on par with Perry.
Bell reported collecting more than $333,000 from April 17 through May 16.
Perry reported raising just more than $375,000 and Strayhorn, the state comptroller, raised around $307,000 during the period.
“This report shows that Chris Bell is consolidating his support in the Democratic Party in a serious way,” campaign spokesman Jason Stanford said. “People are beginning to realize that he is the only guy who can beat Rick Perry.”
But regardless of polls or fundraising, less than 180 days from Election Day, Bell says he doesn’t mind playing the role of underdog and is ready to put an end to Rick Perry’s six-year term as governor.
“I know this county hasn’t been a Democratic stronghold,” Bell tells the Democrats gathered from around Ellis County and parts of the Metroplex. “But it means so much when we see so many people turn out for an event like this on a hot Saturday night in June.”
Since beginning his campaign for governor in 2005, Bell said he’s received a new education about Texas, worthy of a doctorate in Texas.
“The character of the people in our state is as strong as ever,” Bell said. “Texans carry a certain spirit in our hearts and people are crying out for a change all across our country and especially in Texas. We find ourselves in just about the bottom of every statistic you can think of. Rick Perry has been an absolute failure as a governor.”
Bell, a former Houston councilman and one-term U.S. Congressman, found himself on the losing end of the 2003 Republican state redistricting plan.
After losing his seat, Bell filed a formal ethics complaint against then House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in June 2004.
Four months later, the House Ethics Committee responded by unanimously admonishing DeLay on two of Bell’s charges.
The third charge was left to be considered, pending the criminal investigation in Texas by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle.
After ending his first and only congressional term, Bell took the advice of friends and political advisors and threw his hat into the race for governor.
In a moment of irony, Bell noted that the same day DeLay was leaving office, Bell was accepting his party’s nomination for governor.
“I know we can do better,” Bell tells the crowd. “If you give me the bully pulpit and veto pen I’ll be sure to work my hardest for all Texans.”
This night, Bell’s primary focus is Texas’ education system and the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test. The state-mandated exit test for high school students has come under sharp criticism since its inception in 2003.
The test takes the place of the former TAAS test and falls under the guidelines and requirements for President George W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind.”
“My wife told me not to be serious about running, unless I was serious about fixing public schools,” Bell said. “I have two sons going to public schools and if we’re going to be serious about preparing our youth, we have to teach them to be successful with something more than standardized tests. Are we teaching our students to think on their own, or simply regurgitate answers? People ask me, ‘Well how can we ensure accountability without the test?’ They’re called teachers.”
The 46-year-old candidate was born in Abilene and graduated from Dallas area public schools, before graduating with a journalism degree from the University of Texas.
He tells the crowd that he’s firmly against school vouchers and believes they signify surrender in the efforts to fix public schools.
“I have a big problem with school vouchers,” Bell said. “It’s throwing our hands up and saying we can’t fix them. It worries me that more and more people see education as a privilege and not a right. With voucher plans you punish rural areas where there are few or no private schools. It tricks people into thinking everyone will get to go to private schools.”
After college, Bell went on to work in radio and television and was named the “best radio reporter in the state” by the Texas Associated Press in 1990.
He received a law degree from South Texas College of Law in 1992 and began his own litigation practice before running for the Houston City Council.
Bell humbly admits he doesn’t have all the answers but hopes to work with both sides of the aisle in Austin.
He also accuses Perry of bringing Washington-style politics to Austin, a city that has historically been centered on bipartisan efforts.
“If there’s anything unforgivable that Perry has done, it’s the Washington style politics he’s brought to Austin,” Bell said. “I don’t think there’s just a Democratic solution to education and I don’t think there’s just a Democratic solution to health care. If you’re going to lead you have to build bridges and that’s what this campaign is about and what my administration will be about.
“I have some ideas but I’m not going to pretend I have all the answers,” Bell said. “I’m going to admit, there’s good ideas from people outside the Democratic Party. I don’t care if you’re from Mars if you have a good idea.”
If elected, one of Bell’s first goals is to start a bipartisan commission to study education and curriculum in the state. He’s also calling for a $6,000 pay raise across the board for Texas teachers, to bring the state to the national average.
“The good news is that public schools can work if the governor is willing to lead,” Bell said. “I’m calling for nothing short of a moon shot when it comes to our public education system.”
In order to attract more businesses and more high-tech jobs for the state, Bell insists that the school system must be improved.
“We haven’t had a bipartisan commission since 1984,” Bell explains. “All the ideas need to be put on the table. I think businesses are willing to help invest in the school system. It’s not a pie in the sky we can just keep talking about and hope it gets fixed. We cannot keep losing generations of young people. And we can’t fix the problem if we’re not willing to address the dropout rates across the state.”
Bell points to Dallas ISD and says districts across the state have been releasing incorrect dropout numbers for far too long.
According to the district, the dropout rate is only 5 percent district wide.
Bell believes that after looking at incoming freshman numbers and graduating senior numbers, the district is more inline with the state average of a 30 to 40 percent dropout rate.
“Are we going to try and pretend these students aren’t dropping out? We need to be honest and accountable. I want to fix these problems.”
Along with education, Bell is also pushing for more access to health care.
As part of the Carole Strayhorn Reality Tour, Bell said he’s spent the last week trying to set the record straight.
“Carole Strayhorn recommended privatizing the Medicaid eligibility processing,” Bell said. “This resulted in 100,000 new children losing health coverage. That’s in addition to the 170,000 kids already without insurance. We’re in great need of undoing the contract to privatize Medicaid. We have the highest number of uninsured people in the country and there’s no motivation on the federal level to fix that. Believe me, I’ve been there. Massachusetts and California are already working on plans and we need to do the same.”
Bell also shared his passion for Texas leading in the field of health care and curing diseases.
A long time supporter of stem-cell research, Bell said it was time for Texas to get serious about curing disease.
“I admit this is a personal issue,” Bell said. “I lost my mom in 1999 after fighting 10 years of Parkinson’s disease, my wife also just successfully fought breast cancer. I don’t like campaigning on personal matters, but what kind of son or husband would I be if I didn’t stand up and fight so that others didn’t have to go through this?”
An active member of Christ Church Cathedral Episcopal Church in Houston, Bell pulled from his religious beliefs to back his political stance on the issue.
“Jesus never said to heal the sick only if politics don’t get in the way,” Bell said. “And Jesus never called a pollster before healing the leaper. It’s time for us to get serious about healing the sick.”
It’s still an uphill battle for Bell but he’s pleased with his chances.
“I think the name identification is an interesting theme for the media but it’s a non-issue in the race for the governor,” Bell said after Saturday night’s event. “Because by November everyone will know who’s running for governor. I will have raised enough money to get my message out. The Democratic party, as I become better known and I do get my message out, will get behind my candidacy and make it very difficult for Strayhorn to go anywhere except back to the Republican column.”
If Bell’s campaign strategy holds true, Strayhorn will likely split the Republican vote and with strong support from the Democrats, Bell will become the first Democratic governor since Ann Richards in 1994.
“Given the size of our state there’s really two people in a position to compete for the governor’s race – the Republican nominee and the Democratic nominee,” Bell said. “And I think Perry’s campaign understands that as well. There’s a Democratic infrastructure in every part of the state and I don’t have to go to Ellis County, or the Valley, or the Texas Panhandle or Eastern Dallas to create a new infrastructure, it’s already there and it’s a huge advantage.”
As for the Democratic Party across Texas, Bell admits the party has been beaten up in recent years and is in a rebuilding stage but he also believes a win for his campaign will make huge steps towards rejuvenating the party.
“I’m excited about what I see as I travel around the state,” Bell said. “It’s a Saturday night in the heat of June and you have a packed house to come out and hear the gubernatorial candidate. That speaks well. I continue to see that in areas that are not traditionally Democratic strongholds. We think people are looking for a change. One reason this race is very important for Democrats is that it’s very hard to rebuild a state party when you don’t hold any statewide offices and it’s hard to build excitement or raise the money or create the kind of organization you really need. Winning the governor’s office would allow us to take giant strides in that direction.”
For now, Bell’s campaign must hope the anti-Perry movement is strong enough to push him from a former councilmember and congressman to the state’s highest leadership position.
“People should be concerned about who becomes governor because of the overall direction of the state,” Bell said. “If people really sit back and look at where we find ourselves right now, I think they’d be astonished, like I was, to find that we’re in last place in category after category – whether it’s the number of uninsured or the dropout rate or the teen pregnancy rate. A lot of that stems from a lack of leadership and not having a governor who’s looking for common sense solutions for a lot of the problems that we face.
“You’ve heard me talk about the vision of Texas that we carry in our hearts – and we’re a very proud state and I think if people want a brighter day in Texas they know that we need bold vision and new leadership. And that’s what I would bring to the governor’s office.”