Jun
24
Written by:
Mark Lavergne
6/24/2009 3:23 PM
Thomas Schieffer, a Democrat and former ambassador to Japan during George W. Bush's presidency, today formally announced his candidacy for Governor of Texas. It was conventionally known that he would enter the race, but today sealed the deal.
Schieffer said in his speech today that the Democrats in Texas should appeal to centrists, the same way Obama did during his presidential campaign. Schieffer harped on the need for better healthcare and education in the state.
He also defended his bona fides as a Democrat, having voted for George W. Bush in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. He and Bush are friends going back to when they were both members of the finance firm that owned the Texas Rangers in the 1980s.
"I am a Democrat - as Sam Rayburn used to say without prefix, suffix or apology - and I think it is time we all had a governor," Schieffer said.
More details at the Statesman and the Houston Chronicle.
And here's Schieffer's announcement speech on his website.