Texas Gov. Rick Perry's re-election campaign is slamming ex-Republican Carole Strayhorn, who switched to an independent in her pursuit of the governor’s office this November. Luis Saenz, director of Texans for Rick Perry, said Strayhorn’s move is one that’s based on convenience rather than principle.
"Carole so desperately wants to run for higher office that she has resorted to attacking the Republican Party and Republican voters. But, to be blunt, nothing has changed about the nature of the Republican electorate since Carole Strayhorn declared herself a candidate for the Republican nomination in June: it was a strong party with strong leaders then; it was conservative six months ago and remains so today; and it was the dominant party six months ago and remains so today (something she has said many times in recent months.) The only thing that has changed, and changed again, are Carole’s loyalties. She has sold her political soul to traditional Democrat donors, including enemies of President Bush like Ben Barnes.
"Today she is attacking Republicans. In ten months she will be asking for their vote.
"The fact of the matter is Carole is doing what is convenient, as she always has. It was convenient to switch political parties in the 1980’s because too many Democrats stood between her and her ambitions for high office. Today it is convenient for her to abandon another party and attack Republican leaders so she can extend her political life by another eleven months."
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this story will be the questions directed at Strayhorn’s son, White House spokesman Scott McClellan, upon his return to Washington from Crawford, Tex. Human Events Political Editor John Gizzi, our White House correspondent, is planning to ask McClellan about his mother at the next White House press briefing - unless someone else beats him to it.
