One partisan says parties are "increasingly irrelevant
If he didn't actually bite the hand that feeds him, veteran Democratic consultant Kelly Fero at least took a little nibble.
The two major political parties, Fero told the Texas Legislative Conference in New Braunfels this morning, "are becoming increasingly irrelevant" to ordinary voters "who think of themselves as increasingly independent."
The remarks were part of a panel discussion on parties' influence before the organization that also featured GOP consultant Jason Johnson, Democratic state Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston, former U.S. Sen. Bob Kruger and former U.S. Rep. Tom Loeffler.
Fero's point was that candidates, especially Texas Democrats, often have to carry sometimes unpopular baggage that their party has accumulated over years and decades. One of Fero's chief clients over the past decade and a half is former Comptroller John Sharp, a moderate Democrat who lost races for lieutenant governor in 1998 and '02 as Republicans consolidated their grip on Texas politics.
Johnson, who has represented Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and Attorney General Greg Abbott, said the parties still provide the valuable service of guiding voters toward whatever broad philosophical bent they might carry with them to each campaign cycle.
Ellis, meanwhile, said parties were a lot more influential before consultants took over much of the political landscape.
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