The Austin American Statesman has posted a rather scathing Op-Ed criticism of Speaker Craddick's reign from a rather influential sounding member of the "Texas State Republican Executive Committee" Mark McCaig.

Republican Executive Committee Member Mark McCaig puts it rather bluntly:

The only way to prevent further erosion of the Republican majority in the Texas House is for Tom Craddick to immediately announce that he will not seek another term as speaker.

Now who is Mark McCaig? He sure sounds official. Well, he's really not. According the Trailblazer Blog over at the Morning News:

McCaig is a young (four or so years out of college, give or take) Republican type who at one point was a frequent contributor on the Empower Texans blog, a self-proclaimed "small-government" conservative, and hardly can be considered a GOP defector by any other measure than his apparent opposition to Craddick.

Actually, he is a 2005 graduate of Texas A&M University with a BBA in Marketing where he made a name for himself by starting a petition to recall a Student Senator at Texas A&M and writing for a Right-Leaning Blog Empower Texans

The Statesman printing an Op-Ed from a Conservative, Republican, Aggie, Right Leaning Blogger?

He's young, and I think he has just learned that he is nothing more than a tool in the eyes of the Statesman, who unabashedly inflated his credentials and gravitas for a cheap shot at Craddick.