Republican presidential nominee

John McCain

While we love Mike Huckabee precisely for saying this to Time Magazine: "Folks, I didn't major in math. I majored in miracles, and I still believe in those too," we don't think he's presidential material. We stand behind John McCain for the Republican nomination. McCain has always been known as the moderate former POW and a champion of post-Vietnam values. But his integrity caught up with him in 1987, when he became embroiled in the Savings and Loan scandal, an association McCain believes will trail him to his death. However, McCain made a point of coming clean after the scandal and touts truthfulness as his main virtue. We recoil as we watch McCain's formerly middle-of-the-road views on issues sway further and further to the right, but we hope he can at least retain his reformed honesty through this election season.


Democratic presidential nominee

TBA

We don't think it would be fair to endorse a Democratic candidate until both arrive on our turf in preparation for Thursday's debate. Before we make our final decision, we want to fully soak up the political sun that is shining on UT.

Monday we had the chance to meet with Garry Mauro, the chair of Sen. Hillary Clinton's Texas campaign. Mauro told us he's positive that Clinton has Texas, including voters in the under-30 age group, but we're not so sure. Although Mauro's ploy for Clinton was convincing and his dedication genuine, we hope to have the opportunity to meet with Obama's campaign this week to even the scales before coming to a final consensus.

We genuinely welcome Obama and Clinton to our University free of any preferential treatment. We Texans get to see history in the making this week, and we hope students get involved by relishing every second of these candidates' presence.


Railroad Commissioner

Dale Henry

The name of this seat might fool many into thinking it's unimportant, but the Texas Railroad Commission has absolutely nothing to do with railroads. Rather, it oversees the Texas oil and gas industry, the second-biggest in the nation. The commission is also responsible for ensuring pipeline safety, making environmental decisions regarding oil wells and authorizing cost-of-service rates for natural gas utilities, which have been on the rise.

Candidate Mark Thompson has said the Texas Legislature should change the agency's name because the public has so many misconceptions about it, and we agree. Apparently, Thompson's opponent Art Hall doesn't even understand the office he's vying for: According to the Fort Worth Star Telegram, the former San Antonio City Councilman listed on his Web site "railroad safety" as one of the "issues important to the Railroad Commission of Texas," further noting that "rail derailment is a major issue in Texas." He later removed the misinformed reference from his Web site, but had to cope with a rash of ridicule from political bloggers. We can rest assured Hall at least knows a thing or two about serving the best interests of the oil and gas industry; his wife is an attorney for San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp.

Our endorsee Henry, however, seems to have the best interests of the public in mind. This is the 76-year-old Lampassas man's third attempt running for a commission seat, and in 2006, he lost to a new Gov. Rick Perry appointee who got the privilege of running as a GOP incumbent. He still managed to earn 1.7 million votes (42 percent of the turnout), and, even more impressive, he spent less than $50,000 on that race, most of which came out of his own pocket.

Henry is a UT petroleum engineering alum who has worked for more than four decades in research and development for major U.S. drilling and oil field service companies, and has done private contract work for the commission, plugging and filling abandoned wells (which is high on the list of environmental defense measures). In fact, he says the commission's premier focus should be on safeguarding the environment from water, soil and air pollution associated with the industry, and he's well-versed on the benefits of renewable energy.

We're fond of Thompson, who is a disabled rights advocate and therapist for the blind. But we need an experienced railroad commissioner who knows the ropes, and we're sold on the fact that Henry is the only candidate who has actually worked in the energy industry.


District Attorney

Rick Reed

Since Ronnie Earle has decided not to seek re-election after holding the seat for 31 years, a new district attorney is something many Travis County voters will see for the first time this year. Four qualified Democratic candidates, all assistant district attorneys, are vying for the seat, and because no Republican bothered to file, the primary election is the real deal - that is, unless there's a runoff.

Rick Reed, a UT alum, has made himself a standout in this race by being the only candidate to publicly oppose the death penalty (something a district attorney in Texas has never done before). Travis County residents would see at least a temporary abolishment of the death penalty if they elect him to office. While his opponent Rosemary Lehnmerg - who seems to have garnered the most endorsements, including that of Earle - has said "we should not perform any executions," she hasn't taken the initiative to officially oppose the death penalty, which we see as a weakness in authority.

Reed has also brought attention to himself by revealing to the Texas Observer last month that there was "bitter dissention" in the district attorney's office leading up to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's indictment for campaign finance violations, claiming that Lehmberg and other prosecuters were intimidated by DeLay's political stature. Reed, who is credited with building a large part of the case against DeLay, said he was the only person pushing to present the case to a grand jury.

Meanwhile, UT alum Mindy Montford, who has earned the endorsement of the University Democrats, seems to think becoming friends with the political sector is a good way of fighting corruption of state officials; she told the Observer, "We've got to educate the Legislature and the lobby that, 'Look, you've got nothing to be afraid of if you're following the law.'" And no wonder she's been the most popular in gaining cash and endorsements from politicians, such as former Texas Governors Dolph Briscoe and Mark W. White. The financial assistance she's gotten from her father, John Montford, who is a head lobbyist for AT&T Inc. and a former state senator, has put her in the lead of the money race.

On the topic of the death penalty, Montford said at a recent candidate forum that the district attorney must set aside personal feelings because "you can't necessarily dictate how you feel the law should be; it's what's on the books." We'd rather have a district attorney whose heart and mind are behind his or her actions, no matter how intimidating or difficult the circumstances may be.

Given the difficulty in choosing from four candidates of such high qualifications, we must rule out an endorsement of 46-year-old Gary Cobb, who has worked under Earle for 17 years, solely on the fact that he's the only one who hasn't worked in the state-watchdog Public Integrity Unit. We'd also be quite happy to see Lehmberg win the seat. But the district attorney is the sole prosecutor with the power to investigate state officials, and Reed has proven to be the toughest candidate to handle just that. We're a bit set back his finger-pointing in his interview with the Observer, but that only shows his aptitude and fearlessness in pointing the finger at public officials if need be.

U.S. Representative, District 10

Dan Grant

Young, intellectual and internationally savvy, Dan Grant could be called a typical Austinite, while the older, affable do-gooder Larry Joe Doherty could be called a typical Texan. Both candidates trying to outseat Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, are good, progressive choices, but our vote's going to Grant. We commend Doherty for rising to quasi-fame with his TV show "Texas Justice," but while he was doing that, Grant was living in Iraq working for nonprofits to piece the country back together in the wake of the war. And before he went to Iraq, Grant spent time organizing elections in Kosovo and Bosnia and reinstating Afghanistan's Central Bank. What he lacks, however, is money. Doherty has raised nearly five times more money than Grant during the fourth quarter, and according to the Austin American-Statesman, ended the year with $267,000 in cash compared with Grant's $37,000.

The war in Iraq defines the differences between these two candidates. Doherty may, in fact, seem more liberal than Grant based on his platform: He wants to remove all troops from Iraq as soon as possible. But we can't help but think that Grant's more moderate plan for troop removal - according to his Web site, he wants to put into action a "smart plan," which would remove 80 percent of troops immediately and redistribute the remainders across the Middle East to ensure stability - holds authority, since he was the one on the actual field and is more likely to actually know what he is talking about. Even though Doherty has 28 years on Grant, Grant has spent his 33 years gathering experience at an impressive clip, which we hope he will bring to the 10th District.


State Representative, District 46

Brian Thompson

Although Rep. Dawnna Dukes has done some good work as an advocate for minorities, children and the environment during her seven terms as a state representative, we maintain that she wakes up and goes to sleep a Craddick-puppet. Texas' embattled Speaker of the House Tom Craddick, a Republican from Midland who assumed his post in 2003, is widely disliked by Democrats and Republicans alike. After nearly four decades in the House, his biggest accomplishment has been establishing himself as a money-hungry autocrat. When Fred Hill, R-Richardson, called for Craddick's resignation during last year's legislative session with the support of several house members, Craddick simply refused to consider his request. Dukes was one of the few who stood behind him. As she told the Austin American-Statesman, her legislative movement to raise salaries for state workers by opening up Austin to increased television and film production would not have happened without Craddick's support. And we don't doubt that the alleged monetary support that her relationship with Craddick brings - one of her biggest campaign contributors is HillCo Partners, which is run by friends of Craddick's and fueled by Bob Perry of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth fame - buoys their relationship.

But with the primary approaching, Dukes is understandably trying to distance herself from Craddick. In February, she told the Texas Observer that she's less concerned about beating her opponent, UT law school alum Brian Thompson, than fighting for Democrats in general. But she won't cut ties to Craddick. In January, she told the Austin Chronicle that she "would not rule out backing Craddick as speaker again next session."

We hate for this to be a negative endorsement focused on ousting the incumbent. But Thompson, 27, is a neophyte who has lived in District 46 for slightly more than one year. He has yet to prove himself politically, but with Dukes's shady alliances, we're willing to give him and his youthful ideologies a shot. District 46 is a locus of change and possibility in Austin, and it needs fresh leadership to elevate it along with the rest of the city. As he states on his Web site, he believes "East Austin deserves a representative who is honest, ethical, hard working and actually shows up to do the job the people elected them to do." (Dukes is also notorious for taking ill-timed leisure vacations - in 2005, she missed voting on an important bill because she took a family vacation to France). We hope Thompson can stay put for East Austin's sake and prove us right.

Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector

Glen Maxey

Somewhat like the presidential contest, the race for Tax Assessor-Collector has turned into a choice between experience and the promise of change. The two candidates vying for the position are incumbent Nelda Wells Spears and Glen Maxey. Maxey has been a fixture of Austin politics since he was first elected to the Texas House in 1991. A former teacher, Maxey is notable for being the first openly gay member of the Texas House. He left the House in 2003.

Spears has been in office for the past 16 years, having been initially appointed to the job. She has rightfully gained a reputation for efficiency and competence. Her crowning achievements include a 99-percent collection rate and the highest voter registration rate among urban counties. We do not deny the fact that she has performed her duties well and has served Travis County with great skill and resolution, but now the time has come for new blood in the office. Our reasoning comes mainly from Spears' outright support of some form of voter identification legislation. Spears has called such a measure "a reasonable safeguard that protects legitimate voters from having their voice diluted by those who might not be legitimately registered."

This statement and other similar ones she has made concerning voter identification shows that she fails to understand both the implications and the ramifications of such a bill. The underlying motivation behind the GOP-backed voter ID bill is not protecting the democratic process from those who would muddle with it. Its chief purpose is to keep certain members of society who are unlikely to have identification from voting. The voter ID bill could also create yet another psychological and bureaucratic barrier between the people and the process. If Spears, who is old enough to remember a time of more overt vote suppression, cannot see why a voter ID bill is antithetical to her job as the official in charge of voter registration in this county, then it greatly calls into question her judgment and her commitment to full registration and high voter participation. Therefore, we cannot in good conscience support her bid for re-election, and are therefore giving our endorsement to Glen Maxey.


Proposed initiatives

No, no and no

In addition to re-nominating such fine figures as John Cornyn and Mike McCaul, Republican primary voters must also decide on three proposed non-binding initiatives.

The first of these initiatives concerns the hell-hot issue of immigration. The measure would require federal, state and local governments to "enforce U.S. immigration laws in order to secure our borders." The proposal is obviously meant to eradicate "sanctuary" cities, or jurisdictions in which local and state entities do not ask citizens about their immigration status. The sanctuary status of those cities has proven to be an effective law enforcement policy, as it makes it easier for police to protect and serve communities, as residents can report crime without fear of recrimination.

Also, the task of enforcing federal immigration laws does not fall under the jurisdiction of state and local governments, many of which are ill-equipped to deal with sometimes large populations of undocumented residents. And the financial burden of expanding the responsibilities of local law enforcement would be borne by that community's tax base, taking funds away from schools and infrastructure.

The second proposal would require voters to present a valid photo ID to vote in Texas elections. The proposal's superficial purpose is to bar undocumented would-be voters from affecting the results of any election. However, as there has been virtually no instance of undocumented immigrants voting illegally, one can infer that the real motive for this measure is to keep groups least likely to have valid identification (such as minorities, the poor and the elderly) from voting. Ironically, each of those groups lean heavily Democratic.

The third proposed initiative addresses the issue of government size, calling for limitation of budget increase and spending by every state governmental body, unless Texas sees population growth, inflation or official state emergency. This proposal would seem innocuous were it not for the nagging feeling that it could be used to justify not increasing funding for social programs that are in sore need.

All in all, we recommend a vote of "no" on all three measures.

Editor's note: The editorial board is split on the U.S. Senate race between Rick Noriega and Ray McMurrey.

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