I'm reminded of my short time in the third grade at the brand spankin' new Josephine Houston Elementary School in Austin during the '76-'77 school year. The principal of that school was a woman named Carole Keeton McClellan, who ran for mayor during that same time. I remember her pretty well considering how little I do remember from those days. She was present at some meetings where my teachers deliberated over what to do with me, the second grader who read at an adult level and scored perfect 99s on aptitude tests. (They decided to kick me up a grade, which didn't actually help things at all.)

I wonder if Texas politics would have been any less rancid in the ensuing thirty years had Mrs. McClellan chosen to remain a likable and energetic school principal rather than an unscrupulous and opportunistic sometimes-Democrat, sometimes-Republican politician. I think probably not-- the political cesspool that could belch out the likes of Bill Clements, Clayton Williams, and Dubya would almost certainly have filled her spot with someone at least as scurrilous as she has proved to be.

She is charming and agrees with everything you tell her - I mean, she really does. She grins, nods, and says stuff like "You tell 'em! You're right! I agree with you completely!" - to everybody.