Republican asks powerful House speaker Craddick to quit

[sonias]

AAS 10/23/08
Republican asks powerful House speaker to quit
By JAY ROOT
Associated Press Writer

AUSTIN — Powerful House Speaker Tom Craddick, already facing an increasingly tough battle from the Democrats, got a public slap Thursday from an elected official in his own Republican Party.

Mark McCaig, a member of the State Republican Executive Committee from Katy, warned Craddick was leading the GOP toward defeat in the state House and called for him to abandon his leadership post so another Republican leader could emerge.

McCaig noted that Republicans have gone from a 26-seat majority in 2003 to an eight-seat advantage today, warning that Craddick could preside over a "return to Democratic control" in the 2008 elections.

"The only way to prevent further erosion of the Republican majority in the Texas House is for Tom Craddick to immediately announce that he will not seek another term as speaker," McCaig wrote in an opinion piece published Thursday in the Austin American-Statesman.

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Sonia

[sonias]

1. Here's the link to the OpEd

AAS 10/23/08
McCaig: Tom Craddick must step down as speaker of the Texas House
Mark McCaig, STATE REPUBLICAN EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER
Thursday, October 23, 2008

With Election Day quickly approaching, it has become clear to many conservatives that a Democratic takeover of the Texas House of Representatives is a very real possibility. What was once a 26-seat Republican majority in 2003 has dwindled to an eight-seat majority today, and that number will almost certainly shrink again this year. The Republican Party simply cannot afford any more losses in the Legislature, let alone a return to Democratic control.

The only way to prevent further erosion of the Republican majority in the Texas House is for Tom Craddick to immediately announce that he will not seek another term as speaker.

Republican leaders must acknowledge that they are to blame for squandering their legislative majority instead of blaming others or pretending nothing is wrong. New Republican leadership would go a long way to repair the tarnished image of the party in the minds of traditionally Republican voters who have become disenchanted with politics in Austin.

Who wants to lay odds Craddick stays the course?

:bounce::bounce::bounce:

Sonia

[thevoiceofreason]

2. Craddick will leave.

When they pull his decaying corpse from the halls of power, prying his claw-like hands from the levers of manipulation.

[sonias]

3. I'll be at that funeral

I'll help pry his decaying hands off our Speaker's gavel. Wouldn't miss it for the world!

:popcorn:

Sonia