Nick Jimenez

Retirement of Gramm gives voters a rare opportunity

What does it say about Texas Sen. Phil Gramm that the biggest excitement he has stirred up in years is his departure? Gramm might have wished he created this much activity when he was running for the presidency in 1996 when $25 million got him a fifth place finish in the Iowa caucuses.
   With his announcement this week that he won't be running for re-election, Gramm triggered a massive political scramble among politicians, any of whom and all of whom now think they have a chance to be the state's senator.
   I won't repeat the names of all the potential candidates. If you keep track of politics like Houston Astro fans keep track of how many games left to go before the playoffs, then you know all the candidates. But if you're like most voters 15 months out before an election, the names mostly mean nothing. I think it's a salubrious dose of humility for candidates for respondents to polls to say "I don't know" more than a year ahead of Election Day. This means the public has better things to do.
   A buzz of excitement
   But it is fun to watch the buzz of excitement among candidates, most of whom are trying to keep some decorum while, at the same time, involved in a giant political scrum. And why not? It's not often in Texas that the governor's seat and an open Senate seat are on the ballot the same year.
   We mostly already know why the politicians are running: blind ambition. But what we don't know is why the voters should pick any one of them.
   This means that 2002 will be a great year for democracy in Texas. With the political stars in the right alignment, voters will have enormous power a year from November. That's not always the case. With big money dominating politics more and more, the decision on who will fill offices is made long before the first ballot is drawn up. The first candidate with a couple of million in his or her campaign fund wins; any other contenders of substance are usually scared off.
   If you go down most ballots these days, the uncontested race is the norm rather than the exception.
   Not next year, however. Voters will have the luxury, at least in those two races, of a choice, not only in November but in the spring primary. Republican voters especially may have a veritable feast, such is the depth of candidates seeking to succeed Gramm. And this is no year for Hispanics to sit on their hands. (Here's one plan to flummox everyone: Hispanic voters should stream to the GOP polls in the spring, nominate either Railroad Commissioner Tony Garza or U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla, and then have the luxury of being in the cat bird's seat come November.)
   But elections, and perhaps especially next year's, can be major decision points. Elections - and government budgets - really determine what our body politic will be about. Just as priorities in spending (and not spending) say a lot about our values, so do the candidates we wind up sending to City Hall, the state capitol and to Washington, D.C. say a lot about who we are.
   For instance, I like North Carolina. I think it's a beautiful state with wonderful universities. But this is a state that sent Jesse Helms to the U.S. Senate for 29 years, a man who based a whole political career on voter resentment.
   The Texas of 2002 will be more culturally mixed than it has been in its history with an economy that is no longer so dominated by oil and gas, where brains rather than brawn are the key to the future. We used to think that Texas' wealth was in the ground or on the hoof. We now know that in the 21st century it's more likely in that our treasures are in that little kid's head in the elementary school classroom.
   The voters will hear a lot of names of candidates between now and next November. It's important that we know more about them and why they are running. But in the end, next year's elections are not about them, but about us.
  
   Editorial Page Editor Nick Jimenez can be reached by phone at 886-3787 or by e-mail at jimenezn@caller.com.
  
  

 
Archives | Arts & Entertainment | Audio/Video | Business | Classifieds | Columns | Food | Forums | Health & Fitness | News | Obits | Opinions | People | Politics | Science/Technology | Search | Sports | Subscribe | Travel | Weather Previous columns | Discussion forums | Home Page

---

  © 2000 Corpus Christi Caller Times, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.