The Texas Nexus

With the ascendancy of George Bush and the demise of Jim Wright, you've probably noticed by now that Texans have a knack for getting themselves on the evening news, but have you ever thought about how many of them are out there delivering the evening news? Well, consider this: Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Jim Lehrer, Sam Donaldson, Linda Ellerbee, Bob Schieffer, and Bill Moyers are all from the Lone Star State. Jim Lehrer thinks the explanation may lie in the Texas twang. "People may not like Texans," he concedes, "but they like to hear them talk. If people are going to deliver you bad news, the more pleasant the voice, the better." Ultimately, the glut of Texan newscasters probably comes down to mere fortuity, no more explicable, for instance, than the equally curious fact that a disproportionate number of ventriloquists also seem to come out of Texas. On second thought, perhaps there is some connection.

JIM RASENBERGER