The Houston Chronicle Performs "CPR" on the Bell Campaign

Not that there was much life in the Chris Bell for Governor campaign, but the Houston Chronicle is certainly doing all it can with this article to revitalize this flagging campaign that has never seen 25% support in the polls when all current candidates are factored in...

Bell's political revival harder than imagined

The secondary headline reads: "Donation and debate showing revitalize effort".

Let's do a little cut and paste commentary, shall we?

"Chris Bell's political career was in the dumps by Christmas 2004."

(And for the last two years, it hasn't gotten much better...)

"...the road has been steeper than Bell could have imagined. Democratic leaders and financial donors dodged his calls. The news media cast him as an underfunded also-ran."

(...isn't he still an underfunded also-ran? Except for John O'Quinn's taxpayer-funded tobacco money, of course... I mean, he is a major party candidate in one of the largest states in the nation.)

"...The July campaign finance reports showed Bell keeping up with independent Kinky Friedman. Polls had him running about even with Friedman and independent Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, while incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Perry was vulnerable. Libertarian James Werner trailed badly."

(When the "psychological turn" in your campaign is that you are "keeping up" with a guy whose political slogan is "Why the Hell Not?"... a guy who has the backing of no major political party and no political experience ... how far down do you have to be that to look to Kinky is to look up?!?)

"...Then Bell made an impressive showing in the only gubernatorial debate of the fall, followed by a $1 million campaign donation from Houston trial lawyer John O'Quinn with a promise of more. Bell's campaign got a new burst of life with television advertising that moved beyond cable."

(An impressive (to whom?) showing in a gubernatorial debate that no one watched... and the polling showed that his performance only bumped him to the high teens. That might impress political prognosticators looking to pump up a flat campaign, but it certainly didn't impress the few political die-hard voters that were watching. ... And are you really sure that having to publicly and visibly have your campaign rely on taxpayer-funded tobacco money from a trial lawyer is a good thing?)

"(after mutliple paragraphs of bio background)...In the current race, Bell's campaign is counting on getting a very basic Democratic turnout. The Democrat who did the worst statewide in 2002 got 1.4 million votes, or 33 percent of the turnout. If Bell could match that, his campaign believes it would put him in the running to dislodge Perry in a five-way race."

(The problem is, this is not a "very basic" race. If it were, he wouldn't have polling numbers that show him less than 20%. Rick Perry is virtually guaranteed 35-40% just by virtue of the being the lone "R" on the ballot. Carole Keeton Rylander Strayhorn Jones is a lock in at least the 15-20% range. Kinky is good for perhaps 10-15%, and the Libertarian is probably good for 3-5%. That leaves 20-37% left for Bell. And do we really think he's going to land on the high side of those numbers when recent polling shows him at 18%? Yeah, I don't think so either.)

"...Steen said the fact the contest can be won through a plurality has kept everyone associated with the Bell campaign saying: "This is not impossible. That's been our war chant all along: This is not impossible.""

No, it's not impossible... but it's not likely or probable, either. Chris (Bell) Political Rescusitation efforts notwithstanding.