Not a Bad Call!

There are very few who read this blog, and that's OK because it's really more as a vent for my own opinions more than anything else, but I do feel a need to point out that my take on the outcome of the TX governor's race was pretty darn close.

Towards the bottom of a post about the Houston Chronicle's attempt to perform CPR (Chris (Bell) Political Rescusitation) on the Chris Bell campaign, I wrote this:

"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."

The outcome? Rick Perry - 39.0%, Chris Bell - 29.8%, Carole Strayhorn - 18.0%, Kinky Friedman - 12.6%, James Werner (L) - 0.6%.

The only "missed call" in those numbers was the poor performance by the Libertarian candidate. Yeah, it's a fan club of one, but for an amateur political prognosticator, I say, "Good call, Ump!"