Given bdgr’s observation, call them the QB and the C and you’ll get people’s attention. The legislative leaders could be WR and RB and the courts of course would be R.
“Okay, imagine there’s this screwy rule where the center calls the plays . . .”
People seriously overstate how weak the position of governor in Texas is. They have line item veto power. Legislature only meets every two years for 140 days; however, the governor has the power to call special sessions and only items chosen by the governor are considered during special sessions. They also have the normal appointee powers, which when you’ve been governor as long as Perry has, means that nearly everyone is a Perry appointee.
The good news is that Perry is not running for re-election. I’m sure he’s out to get embarrassed running for President again. Attorney General Greg Abbott will run and win. He’s not great, but he is light years better than Perry.
Stop it. Don’t give them any ideas.
Yea, I’m surprised New York hasn’t named the heads of the boroughs as Presidents; that seems just like what some stupid New Yorker would do. Same thing with those stupid Louisiana backwoods idiots. I’m surprised they haven’t named the heads of the Parishes as President.
He’ll, if Wall Street was so out if control, every corporation would have at least one president.
Well know that education is hopeless when every class has a president.
(“President” was chosen as the title for the constitutional executive precisely because it was so commonplace, mundane, and dull)
I thought it was chosen because everyone already was used to it, because under the Articles of Confederation, the President of Congress (so called because he presided over Congress) was the nearest thing to a chief executive the U.S. had.
Hmmm. Now that Rick Perry has stated he’s not running for re-election, this could become interesting.
Color me intrigued.
I respectfully disagree. Greg Abbott wants the job, has all the big fundraisers lined up, and shouldn’t have any problem sweeping all the endorsements with Perry officially out of the race. A Perry/Abbott primary battle royale would have been interesting, but this is going to be pretty boring unless there’s some sort of major scandal that comes out between now and next November.
What that ^^^ guy said. Unless Abbott implodes unexpectedly I don’t see any way she has a chance. Maybe down the road, but Texas ain’t gonna go Blue just yet.
Pretty much, yeah. At least he won that one, his track record of suing the Feds lately hasn’t been so great (he was on the anti-ACA cases and managed to bungle a Voting Rights Act case). But the powers-that-be like him and he has no serious opposition.
Then shame on Texas.
Back to the issue of Governor vs Lt. Gov. in Texas, many of you are missing the uniqueness of the Perry tenure. The Texas Governor is constitutionally weak. He/She has the power to mess up a variety of things, they can veto the will of the legislature, and they can call special sessions. However, it is the power to appoint that is significant in the current situation. Perry is (will have been) Governor for FOURTEEN YEARS. This is an epoch in Texas politics. Texas tends to turn out even popular governors after only one term. Perry has been in Austin forEVER! The result is that he has appointed EVERYONE on every board, commission, etc. in Texas. Everyone owes him and only him. For this reason, he has tremendous power. The next governor, whoever he/she is, will not have such power. In fact, they will be stuck dealing with a state full of Perry appointees who will not be going away any time soon.
The “Lite Guv”, in contrast, has the power to appoint Senate committees. He/She controls the Senate calendar and can simply prevent bills from ever seeing the light of day. Typically, this is very powerful. The current Lite Guv, David Dewhurst, was severely wounded by the Davis filibuster. He has to deliver this ALEC abortion bill in order to prevent an attack from his left. Personally, I believe that Dewhurst knows this is a bad bill. That’s why it didn’t see the light of the regular session. Now, he has to pass it. This is the damage that Ted Cruz has wrought by labeling Dewhurst (correctly, I might add) as a “centrist”. Cruz mopped the floor with him and now is spreading his special kind of joy in the US Senate.
This situation is unprecedented in Texas.
Are you sure?
I am sure that no one else has served as Governor of Texas longer than James Richard Perry.
But, have there not been leaders – like LBJ, though he never was Governor – who exercised similar levels of personal power in Texas politics?
Wow, I didn’t know that the NY boroughs and Louisiana parishes were once all independent republics with actual presidents. Can you provide a cite for that?
Dunno, but, West Florida was, quite briefly. And maybe-arguably Franklin. Let others tell the tales of the Green Mountain and Lone Star and Bear Flag Republics, or, better still, not.
I’m not sure LBJ was so powerful in Texas politics. Allan Shivers, Price Daniel and John Connally were all popular and powerful governors during their tenures. I’m sure they were allies of LBJ but they hardly deferred to him. Besides, I think LBJ had enough to worry about just keeping the country from running off the rails.
I think the deal with Perry is that as a result of him being in power so long he has outlasted most, if not all of his enemies, and seen to it every appointed position is occupied by someone who is beholden to him in some way. That is unique in Texas politics.