Posted 2/06/2007 05:28:00 PM by Douglas

The "Western White House" is obviously going to ebb and flow with the current Administration, so it's not surprising that any lame duck president's home town isn't going to suffer a bit, but I think the AP is way off this time. I've said it before and I'll say it again: He ain't from Texas. He's a carpet-bagger with a drawl. He's not from Crawford, either, a fact that the residents there will have to face long after his presidential library finds a college that will accept it.

CRAWFORD, Texas - Near the lone stoplight on Main Street, a for-sale sign hangs from a dusty window where a souvenir shop used to sell cufflinks, cowboy boots and denim shirts emblazoned "The Western White House."

Another gift store across the street is shuttered too, though a sign says it will reopen elsewhere. And the biggest souvenir shop in Crawford is reporting a drop in sales.

The Washington professionals have their polls, their focus groups and their newspaper editorials. But Crawford, the 700-person town where President Bush's ranch is located, has its trinket stores, and they have fallen on hard times, in what some say reflects the president's sinking popularity over the war in Iraq and a daunting influx of anti-war protesters.

If I know my small, Texas towns (and trust me, I do), I think Crawford will be OK. I bet most of Crawford's voting majority didn't want the headache of all this bullshit in the first place, so if they made a couple of bucks in the process, more power to them.

I will say that Jimmy Don Holmes is an excellent metal artist, and if you need some custom work done, he's your man. Stars over Texas does great work, and he was pouring a slab for his new shop last fall when I went through, so who knows what kind of stuff he's got up and running now. Tell him I sent you. I'm sure he remembers my pickup.

My obligatory Crawford picture, taken 11/06.