Warren Chisum has been a busy man the past few days. So when he called us this morning to respond to our Friday story about an omission on his 2007 ethics form, we couldn’t help but ask about the most pressing issue in state politics.

“Well, you know, as a Republican, I have a little problem with having the Democrats decide who our speaker is,” said Chisum, a key ally of incumbent House Speaker Tom Craddick.

I asked him about Rep. Joe Straus, the Republican from San Antonio who has garnered enough votes to claim the speaker’s post.

“I have nothing against Rep. Straus. He seems to be a very decent guy,” Chisum said.

Craddick hasn’t said much publicly lately, since he officially threw in the towel in his bid to retain the speakership. I asked Chisum how the speaker is taking it. “He’s a realist,” he said. But Craddick will work, he said, with “the new speaker, whoever he is, in making the transition as seamless as possible. As I will.”

“It’s politics,” he said. “Win some, lose some … There’ll be another election in two years.”

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