Is a deal in the works?

The Chron reports that a deal is being talked about to combine the forces of Brian McCall and Jim Pitts against Tom Craddick.

"I don't think there is a deal. I know they have been talking and continue to talk," said Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, who met with the two insurgents -- Reps. Brian McCall, R-Plano, and Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie -- for lunch in Dallas on Sunday.

[...]

Eiland said the two Craddick opponents have met "a couple of times" and talked frequently on the phone since the speaker's race became public over the holidays.

McCall confirmed his conversations with Pitts but wouldn't say whether he expected Pitts to endorse his candidacy. Pitts was unavailable for comment.

"Jim and I are friends, and we're running for very similar reasons," McCall said. "I have the votes I need. I don't have the votes I want."

This would pretty much be game over for Craddick, if the anti-vote coalesces around one person. I think the uncertainty of having two opponents is the only thing keeping him afloat right now.

One potential sticking point for some of Pitts' Republican backers may be McCall's strong support among the House's Democrats. McCall acknowledged Monday that he was seeking support from more Republicans but said he would welcome more Democratic votes as well.

Translation: Pitts' supporters want to make sure they don't get screwed in committee assignments and chairmanships. Certainly a reasonable concern, and one for which there will be plenty of room to negotiate.

McCall said he would support electing the speaker by secret ballot, a proposal supported by many anti-Craddick lawmakers because they believe it would offer them some protection from retaliation should the effort to unseat Craddick fail.

Mmm. I'm not so sure how I feel about this. It's a noble goal, to say the least, but the last thing the Lege needs is more secrecy. Let's work towards getting a clear majority and rendering this point moot, okay?

Eiland also said he expected House Ways and Means Chairman Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, a key member of Craddick's leadership team, to enter the speaker's race.

"If Keffer jumps in, that would be an admission of surrender by the Craddick crowd," he said.

Burka has much more on this. He calls it the "Plan B scenario" for Craddick, where he tries to retain some form of influence by choosing his successor.

The sands are falling through the hour glass on Tom Craddick's speakership. The Craddick chairs have started to worry about their own skins. I am told that Craddick has until the middle of this week to try to get the votes he needs, and then he will have to abdicate in favor of somebody else--most likely Jim Keffer, or possibly Phil King, who has been making calls. (I don't have any definitive information on the vote count, but, trying to piece together a lot of conversations, I'd put McCall at around 80 votes and Craddick in the low to middle sixties.) The scenario in that would play out in Plan B is that the Chosen One would install Warren Chisum as chair of Appropriations, Craddick as chair of Ways and Means, and another loyalist (for example, King, if Keffer turns out to be the candidate), as chair of Calendars, and things would go on as before, except that Keffer is a nice guy who, unlike King, is widely liked on both sides of the aisle.

Keffer would be okay. Phil King, who was one of the lead hatchetmen on redistricting in 2003 and who was the sponsor of the 2005 telecom bill that would have gutted municipal WiFi, would not be okay. Burka thinks this scenario is unlikely because Speaker McCall would have essentially an open casting call for committee chairs. As noted, that's probably something McCall and Pitts have been discussing.

This all sounds like good news to me. We'll see how it goes from here. Stay tuned.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on January 02, 2007 to That's our Lege | TrackBack