Draft Ronnie Earle For Texas Governor

Taking a look at the declared candidates for governor on the Democratic side of the aisle in 2010, which basically amounts to 2008 Railroad Commission candidate Mark Thompson and Ambassador Tom Schieffer (with Kinky Friedman still “considering” a run), many Democrats across the state find themselves wanting….well, more.

One name that keeps cropping up in discussions about 2010 races is former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle. He hasn’t ruled out a run, but he hasn’t decided to run, either.

Toward that end, I and a handful of online and offline activists from across the state who think that Ronnie Earle would make an excellent candidate for governor have decided to shake the tree a little bit and see what fruit may fall. We’ve established a website, DraftRonnie.com, as well as a Facebook group urging Ronnie Earle to take the plunge and enter the race for governor.

That said, it is important to provide a little background on this announcement. After the 2007 Draft Rick movement, I swore to myself that I’d never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever be involved in another movement to draft anyone to run for anything as long as I lived and blogged. Part of the reason was because online activists got a lot of flack from all sides and for a variety of reasons–mostly realted to people questioning how “genuine” our draft was, and whether or not it was orchestrated.

In this case, the draft is a surprise to everyone–including me. Talking with some like-minded folks in Austin over the weekend about Ronnie Earle and this idea, it just seemed like the right time to do this. And, for the record, I strongly expect Ronnie Earle to be as surprised as I am that there is a Draft Ronnie Earle website in Cyberspace.

The next big question folks are probably asking is, “Why Ronnie Earle?” I think that the answers are pretty obvious, but I’ll elaborate.

Ronnie Earle is a classic progressive, good-government Democrat with the capability to inspire people and, ultimately, reach across party lines and actually win in places in this state Democrats haven’t won in a while.

Last year, I contacted then-DA Earle about participating in a panel that we were assembling for Netroots Nation called “Blogs As The Ethics Watchdog.” We wanted him to participate because we thought he’d have a unique perspective on some of the issues bloggers in Texas had covered since, after all, his office investigated them. Shortly after that, I got the opportunity to hear him speak at a fundraiser in East Texas (if memory serves, I even got to introduce him, because I’d suggested him as a speaker). I couldn’t quote you chapter and verse of his speech, but it was inspiring and, through that speech, Ronnie Earle articulated (perhaps without even realizing it) a vision for Texas that is different from the kind of thing you typically hear gubernatorial candidates talk about. Given that he wasn’t a candidate for anything at that point, it was particularly impressive.

Ronnie Earle talked about a vision for a Texas that is proactive and not reactive when it comes to public policy areas like crime and education. He talked about a Texas where the interests of children and the elderly come first, and not the interests of big business or big donors. He even set forth a few ways Democrats could accomplish those things, but I won’t try to recount them today.

In July of last year, I got to hear Ronnie Earle speak again in a more casual atmosphere at the Netroots Nation panel. By that time (and even when he spoke at the spring fundraiser), he had been mentioned as a possible candidate for statewide office. As I listened to some of what he said in the Netroots Nation panel, though, and recalled the earlier speech I heard, I decided that if Ronnie Earle ever ran for statewide office, he was a candidate I would support.

Since he hasn’t made up his mind yet, and since I know a number of people who feel the same way I do, now is the time to offer a little encouragement–hence DraftRonnie.com.

Just as is noted on the draft site, Texas needs Ronnie Earle right now. Texas Democrats really need Ronnie Earle right now.

[Editor's Note: Although our thoughs on Kinky Friedman are well known, we'll no doubt be asked by many readers if we are somehow displeased with the thought that Sen. Kirk Watson's name has been mentioned as a gubernatorial candidate. The answer is no; we like and respect Sen. Watson and continue to think he is a good guy who would make an excellent Lieutenant Governor.—VL]

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