Hillary, Obama will each have a pal in charge
Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie won't let anyone accuse him of playing favorites in the race for the 2008 presidential election.
Richie, a lawyer from Wichita Falls, is recommending that the Democrats' state convention in June be chaired by one supporter of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and one supporter of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.
The Clinton supporter is state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio, at left. Obama's guy is state Sen. Kirk Watson of Austin. Watson is also the hometown senator for the convention. It'll be held June 5-7 at the Austin Convention Center.
Watson will be the chairman of the convention and Van de Putte will be vice chair.
“I’m confident both Senators Watson and Van de Putte will serve in these important roles with the character, quality and fairness they have exhibited throughout their careers as we work to leave the state convention as a united party moving toward victory in November,” Richie said.
Richie's recommendations will have to be ratified by the full convention, which is traditionally a done deal out of respect for the party chairman. Whether the bare-knuckle quality of this year's battle for the presidential nomination changes that remains to be see.
But don't look for too many outward signs of hostility between Watson, left, and Van de Putte during official convention proceedings, despite their differences of opinion on who'd make the better president. They're friends, and both are known to play by the rules of senatorial courtesy when the Legislature is in session.
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