Wayne Slater, senior political writer for the Dallas Morning News and co-author of the book Bush’s Brain, caught T. Boone’s appearance yesterday on a panel at the Democratic National Convention. From his write-up:
Four years ago, Mr. Pickens and two other Texas billionaires bankrolled the devastatingly effective Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attack on the Massachusetts Democrat, helping squash his hopes for the White House.
This year, he’s crashing the Democrats’ party. Only this time, he arrived as savior of America’s energy crisis and champion of alternative fuels.
Mr. Pickens was a big draw at a panel, where he sat serene as a Buddha accepting the applause of a decidedly un-button-down crowd of political progressives.
“If you’d asked me a year ago if I’d be sitting up here with Boone Pickens, I’d have said no way,” said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club.
Mr. Pickens has a plan. He has vowed to spend $58 million of his own money to promote a program to slash U.S. dependence on foreign oil by tapping wind farms and using natural gas for automobiles.
He’s hired lobbyists, bought television commercials and personally pitched his plans to both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.
“We have got to change what we’re doing on energy. We have gone 40 years with no plan,” he told the bloggers. “My Dad said a fool with a plan will beat a genius with no plan. We are like a fool with no plan.”