Friday Night Writes

Paul Burka has two terrific posts tonight on his BurkaBlog. Burka is the Senior Executive Editor of Texas Monthly and one of the best political reports in the state -- or, for my money, the nation.

The first is on Tom Craddick's name ID and favorable/unfavorable ratings. Burka shares some numbers he heard from a Republican political consultant, which I in turn share with you:

1. Craddick's name ID is "higher than any speaker of the modern era," which means starting with Billy Clayton. I'm a little surprised to know that anybody bothered to measure the speaker's name ID before Craddick.
2. Among Republican primary voters, Craddick's favorable/unfavorable is 2 to 1 negative.
3. Among independent voters, Craddick's favorable/unfavorable is 6 to 1 negative.
4. Among Democrats, Craddick's favorable/unfavorable is 10 to 1 negative.

The last number, while not that surprising, may be the most interesting. Among Democratic primary voters, Tom Craddick's name is toxic. I am sure each of the Craddick Ds (there are about 15 of them) has a sane, rational case for having supported Craddick in the past, but they may never get to make it. Any candidate contemplating a run against a Craddick D just has to send around a picture of Craddick and said Craddick D getting all kissy-face, and it may all be over but the crying.

As Harvey Kronberg said last March, "the Craddick Democrats have to come away from this session with something meaningful and it may boil down to a handful of issues. ... It's a fascinating political game. The Craddick Democrats need a significant win or some won't be coming back in two years. As go their fortunes, so go those of Craddick." Will the Craddick Ds be able to make the case that their district is better off for their having supported Craddick?

The second is a well-written, thoughtful analysis of Karl Rove's impact on our politics titled "Requiem for a Heavyweight." It is fascinating reading. Go to the BurkaBlog and scroll down.