The upcoming Republican battle for governor is starting to appeal to some Democrats.

Fort Worth businessman/lawyer Tom Schieffer's in the race. Medina County entertainer/writer Kinky Friedman is, too. And other buzzards are circling around the idea that a bloody GOP primary could produce a wounded Republican candidate in the November general election — someone who might be vulnerable to a challenge from a Democrat.

It's early, but there's recruitment talk going on. The caveat, as always, is that we can't tell from our seats whether those recruitments are genuine or engineered. But if you log in to Facebook, you'll find groups trying to draft state Sen. Kirk Watson and former Travis County Ronnie Earle, both from Austin. Watson was urged into the race by fellow Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, who looked but won't run and says Watson ought to. Earle, according to the Austin American-Statesman, has filed papers that allow him to raise money for an as-yet unspecified state race. Mark Thompson, who ran for Railroad Commission last year, might also be in the race.

It's a red state — the best performance by a statewide Democrat last year was 45.8 (Sam Houston in a race for Texas Supreme Court). But Democrats are encouraged by strength at the local level in places like Dallas and Houston, and by gains in their statehouse delegation over the last few years. The Democratic share of the Texas House was 62 of 150 seats in 2003; now it's 74 seats, or two short of a majority.

It's not a great environment, but it has improved enough, apparently, to attract some interest.

• On the Republican side, add one and drop one. Gov. Rick Perry has a press conference scheduled this weekend with Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler. Berman was talking about a bid for governor but has lately been talking to Perry and telling reporters that he'd join the governor's reelection efforts if Perry satisfied Berman's standards on immigration issues. There's another Republican challenger in the wings, though: Debra Medina, who chairs the Wharton County GOP, plans to be on the GOP primary ballot for governor in 2010. She's also pushing a set of initiatives she'd like to see on the GOP ballot in March.