Today Rice University hosted a preview of the 2013 legislative session.
The second panel of the day moderated by Evan Smith of the Texas Tribune was comprised of Kate Alexander of the Austin American Statesman and Joe Holley of the Houston Chronicle. Smith asked if either saw Joe Straus retaining the position. Both confidently agreed.
However, during the question and answer period a questioner asked the panel to justify their optimism for Straus. He asked, assuming 55 Democrats want Straus to be the Speaker, does Straus have the 20 Republicans he needs for re-election?
Alexander waffled, saying she had not looked at the list. The other two panelists passed on the question. Their previous bluster proved hollow.
Also, it may be a mistake to assume Democrats are without reservation. Democrats are out of power, which means their only weapon is parliamentary rules. When their speaker broke the rules at the end of the session, mostly due to mismanagement, he damaged their best weapon. If the rules don’t matter the Democrats have even less power.
Mike Villareal (D) rushed to Straus’s aid in a later panel claiming he had the necessary Republican support. It was unconvincing.
Since speaker pledges are made to be brandished, let Villareal or Straus produce the list of 20 Republicans. If they can’t, they don’t have them.