Special ends, CDA bills die, but.....

The fun ain't over. No sooner did the gavel fall sine die than speculation about Democrat statewide ambitions kicked up afresh. The life of a political blogger is rarely boring, y'all.

So, last night I told you that Capitol Annex (blogger Vince Leibowitz) was behind the effort to draft Ronnie Earle to run for governor. Earle had been talking about a possible run for attorney general, said last week that he was toying with the idea of governor, and is now looking to be quite serious about....something. He filed paperwork with the Texas Ethics Commission to raise funds for an unspecified statewide campaign.

Let's not forget State Senator Kirk Watson, another Austin Democrat with big dreams and deep pockets. When State Senator Leticia Van de Putte backed off the idea that she may run for governor, she encouraged Watson to do so in her stead. Watson ran previously for attorney general (handily defeated) before becoming state senator following Gonzalo Barrientos' retirement. The gang over at BOR are among his supporters for a run at governor, and so is Off the Kuff's Charles Kuffner.

What does it all mean? Frankly, that the Democrats are in a similar position that Republicans are in some respects. We have our own domino effect waiting for a push on this side (Dewhurst and Abbott, thought to be running for US Senate and Lt. Gov respectively, have been absolutely mum on their ultimate intentions). Earle running for anything just makes the Dem contests look more interesting (remember, Barbara Radnofsky is running for AG and Tom Schieffer is running for governor), but Watson running for another office opens up SD 14, and creates a scramble on the left to anoint a successor and could open up one, maybe two state house seats in Travis County.

You know, it's a good thing this is a holiday weekend.