GOP faces major test

[Judi Lynn]

Nov. 26, 2006, 12:51AM
TEXAS LEGISLATURE
GOP faces major test
With less clout, state Republicans may have to alter their strategy in the 2007 session

By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN - Texas state leaders are entering the upcoming legislative session weaker than at any time in recent history.

After then-Gov. George W. Bush won re-election with 68 percent of the vote in 1998, he was the dominant figure in the 1999 Legislature, setting the stage for his successful 2000 presidential bid.

In 2002, Gov. Rick Perry was elected with 58 percent of the vote, and Tom Craddick became speaker when Republicans gained a House majority for the first time since Reconstruction. They had the clout and the will to make $10 billion in state budget cuts in the 2003 session to avoid a statewide tax increase.

But Republican voter disgruntlement combined with a Democratic surge in this year's elections has changed the landscape for the Legislature that convenes in January.

"If you're a Republican, you have to be sensitive to the Democratic dynamic. They've had a very good year," said Bill Miller, a consultant with close ties to Perry and Craddick. "It's a fact of life, and, if you ignore it, you do so at your own peril."
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4360076.html

[lpbk2713]

1. *They've had a very good year* .......

They most definitely have their work cut out for them when you consider that by the time the primaries roll around their 'favorite son' AWOL Monkey-Boy will have had seven piss-poor years. His record of ruining this country will be hard to ignore.