Michael Olson left NPR's political unit after the 2008 elections to be a project manager for NPR in Austin, Texas. He offers this take on Democratic prospects in the Lone Star State's 2010 gubernatorial contest:

Democrat Tom Schieffer launched an exploratory committee for governor Monday in Austin. The announcement, which came 173 years (to the day) after Texas seceded from the Union, coincides with Schieffer's desire to have Texans leave the Republican Party. If Schieffer succeeds, he'd be the first Democrat to hold the office since Ann Richards lost the office to George W. Bush in 1994. Schieffer's relationship to Bush is getting attention in Austin.

 

Schieffer, a Fort Worth lawyer, admitted contributing money to and voting for Bush. He said he doesn't regret it, but also said, "The only Republican I contributed to was George Bush." He explained that he and Bush were business partners and friends. Their ties were so close that Bush appointed Schieffer to be ambassador to Japan and later Australia. "The president asked me to serve my country," Schieffer said. "The president never asked me to do anything for the Republican Party."

Texas Democrats are attempting to seize on apparent momentum they've gained in recent years. While Barack Obama lost Texas' 34 electoral votes to John McCain by 56 to 44 percent, Democrats were able to increase their power at the state legislature. They worked with moderate Republicans to oust a powerful cultural conservative speaker of the House, Tom Craddick, and replaced him with a more moderate Republican, Joe Strauss.

In his announcement, Schieffer compared his experience and approach with that of the two Republican candidates who seem to be on a collision course in next year's primary, Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison: "There has been a lot of talk in the last few years about creating a good business climate and that that will take care of everything. ... I probably have more business experience than anybody currently in the governor's office or running for governor." He added that hyper-partisan politics make it more difficult to solve problems and ends up hurting families and education. Not a bad attack on a sitting governor who is among those on the front lines talking about not wanting stimulus money.

Schieffer is the first Democrat to announce, although state Sen. Leticia Van De Putte and Kinky Friedman (who garnered less than 13 percent of the vote when he ran in 2006 as an independent) are also mentioned.

If Schieffer's last name rings a bell it might be due to his brother Bob, that CBS News guy from Texas who is also into politics.

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