Forthworth lawyer Tom Schieffer

AUSTIN – Fort Worth lawyer Tom Schieffer, announcing that he's considering a run for governor, said Monday that Democrats can win the office for the first time in two decades if they tap voter discontent with Republican Rick Perry.
"We are experiencing a crisis of leadership," said Schieffer, a former U.S. ambassador under President George W. Bush who plans to run as a Democrat. He dismissed his ties to the former Republican president, saying Texans want leaders who are less partisan and more effective in dealing with issues like education and health care. "Our politics have become less substantive, less thoughtful, less creative and less innovative," said Schieffer, 61. The announcement allows him to begin raising money for the race. He said he intends to travel the state in the months ahead, talking with people and gauging public support for his candidacy.

Perry, the nine-year incumbent, and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison are competing for the Republican nomination. Schieffer declined to say whom he'd prefer to face. Hutchison, consistently rated the most popular officeholder in Texas, could be the more difficult opponent if she can win the GOP primary. But Schieffer seemed to take his sharpest aim at Perry, saying Texas should expand its health care coverage for children and take federal economic-stimulus money. Perry has criticized both programs.

"It makes no sense to me to have a situation in which children are not getting the health care that is available to them at the federal level," he said. "We're leaving almost a billion dollars on the table because somebody wants to argue they are more conservative than another person in the Republican primary."He said the Perry administration has emphasized a good business climate to the exclusion of dealing effectively with rising tuition, soaring dropout rates and record number of children lacking health care.

Tom Schieffer wants to bring change to Texas just like how Obama is trying to bring change to the nation, so far a large majority of Texas GOP's are objecting his democratic ideology even though some republicans argue that thers no true democrat in Texas rather its just a name they claim. The author in my opinion is in favor of schieffer instead of Perry or even Hutchison. I'm personally in favor of Tom Schieffer my self he seems to value education more unlike governor Perry its this kind of progressive attitude that's gonna raise Texas's declining education up to other state levels.