March 03, 2004

Over the Cliff With JFK

Guaranteed to contain no mention of Mel Gibson or The Passion of the Christ

Now that Kerry has put away the nomination, let us pause today to remember the name of Lena Guerrero. At one time Guerrero was the rising star in the Texas Democratic party, an ambitious and demographically opportune figure first elected to the state legislature when she was only 25. At the urging of then-governor Ann Richards, whose 1990 victory Guerrero helped to engineer, she was tapped to speak in prime time at the 1992 Democratic convention. USA Today featured her on a list of possible female presidential candidates of the future.

That same year, Guerrero was running to retain a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission--a powerful body that regulates oil and gas interests in the state, and regularly serves as a springboard to higher political office. The commander of the Texas Republican party made it his business to end Guerrero's rise. He obtained a copy of college transcripts that proved she had lied about her academic resume--she had never graduated college or received a Phi Beta Kappa key, and she failed classes on Texas government and Mexican-Americans in the Southwest.

Then, according to Lou Dubose, Jan Reid, and Carl Cannon's book Boy Genius: Karl Rove, the Brains Behind the Remarkable Political Triumph of George W. Bush: 

Rove waited. He waited until after the Democratic primary, when Guerrero was the only viable Democratic candidate. He waited until after Guerrero delivered the commencement speech at Texas A&M University, and told students: "I remember well my own commencement." He waited until after the Democratic convention, when Guerrero's profile was higher than it had ever been. And he waited until after his own candidate for the Railroad Commission, Barry Williamson, gave his midday speech to the Republican National Convention.....

"Karl had Lena's transcript," said an Austin political consultant. "But he held it until the right moment. The perfect moment. Then he screwed her."

Now we'll finally see what the Bushmen mean to throw at John Kerry. Will they really hew to the Massachusetts-liberal/Vietnam-radical line they've telegraphed, and if they do, how many people will care? And have they got any Kerry scandals more potent than his non-affair with a non-intern?

Posted by Steve Perry at March 03, 2004 09:37 AM

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