2010-02-18
Bandera – Kinky’s first stop on South Texas tour
By Judith Pannebaker
The Bandera County Democratic Party hosted a get together Saturday, Feb. 13, and invited candidates running for state offices over for a “look see.”
Rebeca Martinez, candidate for the 4th Court of Appeals; Lainey Melnick, Texas 21st District for United States Congress; Scott Emery, who represented gubernatorial hopeful Farouk Shami, and, of course, everybody’s favorite politician, musician, author and raconteur, Richard “Kinky” Friedman, hopeful for the post of agriculture commissioner, popped in for some face time with their constituency.
Friedman came to the brunch galvanized by the University of Texas-Texas Tribune poll showing him slightly ahead of his Democratic Primary opponent, Hank Gilbert, by 32 percent to 27 percent. The winner faces incumbent Republican Todd Staples in November.
Friedman also received an unexpected endorsement from the Dallas Morning News. In part, the endorsement reads: “Picture cigar-chomping entertainer Kinky Friedman as state agriculture commissioner. It’s hard to see him in any statewide office, really, but his talent for folksy one-liners could at least be useful in the important role of promoting Texas farm and ranch products.
“Friedman, 65, of Austin … says he’d hire experts to hash out policy so he could concentrate on being a spokesman for family farms and kindness to animals. That's not a great model for the job, but a better one than Gilbert proposes.”
In an interview, Friedman described the Democrat Party as “asleep at the wheel in Texas.” He recommended, “We need to try a different game plan and, with our arms wide open, get the Independents back in the tent.”
Friedman also scoffed at Gilbert’s dismissal of him as “a mere promoter.” Echoing the Dallas Morning News endorsement, he noted, “Of course I promote my cigars, books and salsa – most of the money of which goes to charity, I’d like to point out. But what better person than me to promote the products of the State of Texas?” He added, “Everyone knows about ‘Omaha Beef,’ but no one seems to realize it’s produced in Texas. Now, how was that allowed to happen?”
Addressing the crowd, he described his concept of the job of agriculture commissioner as looking after the animals, protecting the land, listening to people and making wise decisions to help them.
Other planks of Friedman’s platform includes a no-kill animal facility in every county, farmer co-ops at truck stops that also sell alternative fuels, and battling toll roads that encroach on farmers’ land.
When he reaches the General Election in November, Friedman plans to pull a skeleton out of Staples’ closet that he hopes will serve as the incumbent’s death knell.
“Not many people are aware that Todd Staples wrote the original bill for the Trans-Texas Corridor in the Texas Senate in 2005,” he revealed. "How’s that going to sit with the voters when that comes out?”
