When a Republican electoral victory is a good thing by kos
<http://kos.dailykos.com/> - Mar 09, 2010
Phew
<http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/creationist-cum-mccar\
thy-booster_rejected_by_texas_republicans.php> .
The top conservative activist on the powerful Texas Board of Education,
who rejects evolution and has pushed for a revisionist right-wing U.S.
history curriculum, is on the way out, after a moderate candidate
defeated him in a tight primary last week.
For months now, TPMmuckraker has been covering Don McLeroy as a major
player in the battle over the drafting of nationally influential history
textbook standards by the Texas board.
Lobbyist Thomas Ratliff edged out McLeroy 50.4%-49.6% in a GOP primary
for the seat McLeroy has held since 1999.
Close as it was, Ratliff's win is significant because he represented a
clear alternative to McLeroy, and he pulled through in a deeply
conservative district. McLeroy's home county went 64-35 for McCain in
'08, and no Democrat is even running for the board seat.
Ratliff is younger, moderate, and emphasized listening "to teachers and
superintendents in determining what students should know," according to
the endorsement column of the Dallas Morning News.
How bad was McLeroy?
* In 2008, he objected to including Chinese literature in English
classes: "[Y]ou really don't want Chinese books with a bunch of crazy
Chinese words in them. Why should you take a child's time trying to
learn a word that they'll never ever use again?" He conceded some terms,
such as "chow mein," might be useful, the San Antonio Express-News
reported.
* He said during a 2008 debate over science standards: "Is
understanding of evolution 'vital' to the understanding of biology? No."
* Last year he instructed curriculum writers to "read the latest on
[Joseph] McCarthy -- he was basically vindicated."
* He described his textbook evaluation process this way to the
Washington Monthly: "The way I evaluate history textbooks is first I see
how they cover Christianity and Israel. Then I see how they treat Ronald
Reagan--he needs to get credit for saving the world from communism and
for the good economy over the last twenty years because he lowered
taxes." [...]
* Finally, McLeroy successfully offered an amendment to U.S. history
standards to require students to be able to "describe the causes and key
organizations and individuals of the conservative resurgence of the
1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schafly, the Contract with America,
the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority, and the National Rifle
Association." There is no liberal counterpart clause in the current
draft of the standards.
This guy was a full-fledged member of the American Taliban (and
certainly made my forthcoming book titled, fittingly, American Taliban).
His ouster, however narrow, suggests that there are still enough
Republicans uncomfortable with this kind of theocratic agenda. Still, I
don't doubt that given the dearth of hotly contested Democratic races in
the primary, that challenger Ratliffe wasn't boosted by crossover
Democratic and independent support in this open primary. Clearly, there
was no margin to spare.
Permalink
<http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/9/844475/-When-a-Republican-el\
ectoral-victory-is-a-good-thing>
