Speaker Straus a boost for urban Texas

Over at THE Dallas Morning News, William McKenzie has the basic insight on why Texans of any political stripe, whether Repubilican, Democratic, independent or third party, if they’re from around Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio or Houston, should welcome Joe Straus as Speaker of the Texas House rather than Tom Craddick:

Straus' emergence is a good thing. The San Antonio Republican is inclusive, understands modern Texas' challenges and hails from an urban area. The latter part is especially important since so many of the state's problems stem from issues surrounding its cities, whether it's transportation systems, air pollution or water supplies.

Indeed. Craddick’s Midland is smaller than a number of DFW or Houston suburbs. Even Mdiland-Odessa combined is smaller than a few.

Ditto for the Amarillo and Lubbock – previous Speaker Pete Laney living halfway between the two in Hale Center.

Not since the end of Gib Lewis in 1993 has Texas has an urban/suburban central/eastern Texas Speaker, and Fort Worth in 1993 was still Cowtown to some degree that today’s Fort Worth isn’t.