Well, I guess if electing a gay mayor is all it takes to qualify as a liberal bastion, Houston just made it. But from what I've read, the new mayor is anything but a liberal. I mean, kudos and all that, rah rah rah, but she's a conservative. And that's why Houstonians elected her.

I lived in the upper Galveston Bay area in a little burg called Morgans Point for 17 years. Just a few miles down the road from Houston. I was a precinct chair and election judge for 8 years. My son still lives just north of Houston. I also read the Houston paper every day.

This election was a combination of ingredients. First, Houston is pretty liberal. Do not confuse Houston with the suburbs of Montgomery, Fort Bend and Northern Galveston counties. They are a hotbed of bitter,virulent, conservatism. Remember that there is not a single statewide elected Democrat in Texas state government. But Houston, Austin and some of the deep east and deep south parts of the state are still Democratic.

Second, both of the candidates were Dems. Gene Locke her opponent, was a black lawyer who got desperate toward the end of the race and forgot where his loyalties lay. He tried to let some of the anti-gay forces endorse him and only lukewarmedly (great word) said he did not want to introduce that element into the race. He did not tell them he didn't want their endorsement or money. It killed him if he was not already dead. Houston has a very well organized Gay community.

The third thing was that Ms. Parker was actually the best and most experience candidate. She had been city comptroller for a number of years. The only Republican who ran was knocked out in the non partisan primary. This race was very predictable from the start. The media seems to be making more of it than needed.

Hurray for Houston!

-Sugarfatpie (AKA Alex Pulsipher) "X-Rays are a hoax."-Lord Kelvin