TESTING THE WATERS: I just hung up from a conference call between several bloggers and possible Democratic candidate for Texas Governor Chris Bell. He seems impressive, and these calls (this is not his first; just the first one I had free time to be in on) do help give candidates the pulse of the activist web. More candidates should do this.

He declined to denounce outright the recent Republican-bashing by Howard Dean, though he said other words might have been chosen on reflection. The real hot item was his refusal to be afraid of Kay Hutchison running for Governor, because "I don't think she can win". He believes the radical right has become so dominant in the primary that Rick's strategy of pandering to them may win him the primary, and so Kay won't be the most likely opponent in NOvember.

Bell should polish up his rhetoric about immigration, or he may suffer from Hispanic (and liberal) voters. He gave credit to Bush for putting the issue on the agenda, and said we should all be able to work together with a goal of having "fewer people coming into the US and Texas" and of acting to "incentivize them to going back". He said some businesses today depend on cheap immigrant labor, and as long as laws are being enforced in a lax fashion, that will go on. He also opposed private anti-immigratiion patrols by militias or such, and denounced those trying to stir up hatred. This was more muddled than mean-spirited, but he needs to straighten up his stands or his statements about them.

The most fun bit was the last question, when someone asked what he thought about Pink Floyd getting back together. His response was that he hoped, since he had quoted them before, that made them feel that they were still relevant in some way. I give him lots of extra points for handling that one on the fly. This man could do very well in debate against Ricky or Kay.

UPDATE: More on this call from In the Pink Texas and from Panhandle Truth Squad.