CAPITOL LETTERS

The Austin Club was hoppin tonight, as droves of House members showed up to put a face on their support for House Speaker Tom Craddick, less than 48 hours before Tuesday’s contest against Waxahachie Republican Jim Pitts.
Craddick was collecting pledge cards from members who hadn’t signed any in the last few days, state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, who has been a leading voice for the speaker’ team, told our reporter Robert T. Garrett.
“They’re all pledge cards that are less than three days old,” he said.
The two-pronged pledge cards were sent by the speaker to his supporters on Friday. They read:
"I am committed to voting for Speaker Tom Craddick for Speaker, and I am also committed to supporting public, recorded vote for the speaker elections." The member then signs his or her name.
Mr. Chisum said some members faxed their updated pledge cards to Mr. Craddick, while others delivered them personally at the Austin Club on Sunday night.
Pitts’ camp, which has seen some new supporters in the last few days, has claimed to have winning support, too.
Business as usual. Anybody’s guess.
Reporters counted about 60 (that we recognized) braving the press knot and walking through the front doors, starting around 6 p.m. Another dozen people reportedly snuck in the side door, although they weren’t identified in the darkness, according to a freelance videographer who’d been there all day (he didn’t say who he was working for).
Seriously - how much fun is it to see well-dressed House members ducking in to a dark alley and slipping into a speak-easy-like side door a few hundred feet away from a stinking dumpster?
Answer: Too. Much. Fun.
None of the half-dozen reps we talked to after the meeting, which lasted about an hour, could give us an exact headcount of who stopped in. Some, like GOP Rep. John Smithee, a chairman, stayed only a short time – Smithee cut out after about 15 minutes to celebrate his wife’s birthday.
Members had a sandwich buffet and there was an open bar.
The meeting, which Fort Worth GOP Rep. Anna Mowery, a chairman, billed as “an information exchange among Craddick’s supporters,” was closed to the public.
We’re told that Craddick spoke only briefly and there were no polls, votes, or any other consensus-type activities happening. Dallas Rep. Will Hartnett stood at the mic and reiterated that his controversial roll-call proposal was just one of a couple of options for voting.
Mr. Chisum continued to place distance between the Craddick forces and Mr. Hartnett’s method. He said Team Craddick is willing “to negotiate with the other side how you tally the vote. But at the end of the day, every vote will be public.”
Rep. Sylvester Turner, a Houston Democrat, spoke as well. Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland, and Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, stood up and spoke from their seats at the table.
Much of the palaver stressed, especially to the incoming freshmen members on hand, how important it is to honor a prior commitment.
“I would say the theme of this mini-event was that this is an honorable institution, and if you give you word, you keep it,” said Rep. Mike Krusee, a GOP chairman from Round Rock.
Asked if he had signed a pledge card tonite, Krusee started laughing.
“I already did that like three times,” he said.
Chisum said other topics included “how the healing process needs to start right now and let’s protect our Democrats who might get beat up on. … And we talked a little bit about procedure” for Tuesday’s vote.
“We had a nice dinner and everybody was happy,” he said.