I'm feeling a bit under the weather and wanted to turn the discussion back over to you guys today.
I read a poll last week that tied Bill White up with Rick Perry. That's great news given he faces low name recognition as it is state-wide.
Question: You are Bill White's campaign manager. What does he need to do to win in this heavily red state?
Bill does what he should here,
http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2010/06/white_distances_self_from_obam_1.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+houstonchronicle%2Ftxpotomac+%28Texas+on+the+Potomac%29&plckCurrentPage=1ll
I think at some point in the campaign, Bill White has to promise to the people of Texas that, if elected, he will not execute an innocent man.
All you have to do is remind people why they didn't vote for him last time. A majority didn't. Then, you highlight your own record of good leadership. White isn't a liberal and must not let himself be cast as one. He is fairly conservative economically and middle of the road in everything. It should be a fairly easy campaign in terms of message. The question is whether enough people will pay attention.
Anybody that has been paying attention, White was a good mayor. ALL the city services I encounter in my personal life and at work, got MUCH better under White. I'm sure people out Hwy 290 will disagree, but traffic, on the whole, got much better almost everywhere. Through traffic management he cut my commute in half. (Granted there were some things even he couldn't fix.)
I think as an administator he was great. No doubt there were some things that turned out bad. But for Katrina and Ike, he did a good job. It all just turned out to be a disaster, which is what we started with in the beginning. I think Katrina and Ike would have been MUCH worse without him.
Might I be a bit petty and point out that conservatives run CFISD? I could tell by the Mitt Romney quotes I get e-mailed to me by David Anthony, superintendent. And it's the Republican state legislature that re-directed our funds to the poor, (Also very republican) school districts that now have MORE MONEY PER CHILD than my children do. You know, I think your kind call that "redistribution of wealth".
My advice: Keep hammering Perry on the too-chicken-to-debate meme, as Texans think they're more macho than most. Witness the coyote-scared-my-puppy Perry bump.
Whittle down the long list of ways Texas is behind the nation (education, teen pregnancy, insured, etc) and repeat ad nauseum.
Make a couple of well-photographed visits to the oil blowout arena and highlight White's expertise and intelligence level. This weekend, there's a joke in motion at the Oil Palace in Tyler, where 'Act of God' Perry and 'Let's Pray' Drillin Palin will speak. Hopefully a photo will emerge of Perry and Palin praying for the oil to go away.
On a personal level Perry has made a small fortune buying land and then reselling it to major supporters many of which do business with the state. It's not exactly illegal but it aint ethical either.
The TCEQ is a joke; Texas is the only state where the EPA has been forced to take over the permitting process.
Perry did nothing about the book travesty performed by the SBOE.
There's no transparency in the Governor's office. Perry refuses to release his electronic transmissions.
We're not just near last in many significant categories; we're actually moving further south. Read Senator Sharpleigh's well-documented report "Texas on the Brink": http://shapleigh.org/system/reporting_document/file/255/Texas_on_the_Brink_2009_website_final.pdf
With budget cuts looming things will only get worse (except for big business).
I think people in Texas are slowly awakening and looking aroound in horror at the mess Perry and the Republican leadership has created. That's why the poll numbers are changing and will continue to change.
If you have to hold your nose to vote for Perry maybe you should sit this one out.
Interesting point of view. I am strongly supporting Bill White because its time for a thinking man to be in the Governor's mansion. Can you tell me, SPECIFICALLY, what White did to have you vote for a secessionist, governor-for-life-wanna-be and public embarrassment? You actually support a guy who spoke treason at tea party rallies and turned away help for unemployed Texans over the most successful mayor in Houston history?
I'm really serious. To me, there is simply no comparison. We should vote Perry out simply for over staying his welcome.
The issues in CFISD aren't Perry's, they are the fault of the morons who run the district that think palaces are more important than instruction.
The charges for state park use put some of the costs on the people who use the parks. Without the charges, there would have to be a tax increase somewhere or further reductions in services.
For me, I will either hold my nose and vote for Perry, or not vote. After 6 years of Mayor White, there's no way I'm voting for him for governor. Kinky Friedman would have been a better choice.
As a mother, I can promise the parents in this state who are raising small children don't think Perry has side-stepped a lot of political issues. My child is in CFISD and didn't have textbooks this year. She had photocopied worksheets instead on paper the teachers themselves had to pay for. CFISD DID build a giant center that Perry and Palin could have a rally in. While a good portion of our money went to poor rural districts (aka red districts). Furthermore, Perry mandated a vaccine that was untested and unproven, fastracked by the FDA. Until he wants to keep the government out of my children's bodies for financial and political gain of his own, he's TOAST to women like me.
It just depends on how many of us are more loyal to a party than to the future of our children.
I'm with carguy! White needs to wear a Beatle wig, speak lots of Spanish, talk about nothing but Texas and use desperado's "list of lasts" as a point of conversation.
Supporters in chicken suits should follow him in lines of Greyhound busses and dispense anti-dandruff shampoo to the hecklers...
Polls indicate that White IS making up some ground. But he's still gotta a lot of hair to make up for. That's right, I said hair. Hair is important in Texas. Regrettably, we must admit, Perry has some of the best hair anywhere. And White, well, not so much so.
Perry has also been able to sidestep many potentially damaging political situations. The toll road fiasco, secession-gate, and none of the mud slung at him from Hutchison stuck.
I think the only hope WHite has is if he gets a huge Hispanic turnout and 95% of it votes democratic. Lotta times the best looking candidate wins in close races.
Thanks for the expansion and builds Rockheaded. Bill is such a solid, smart, business-friendly, non-political hack, and pro-free enterprise guy he needs to make that stand out. Perry has so many flaws and problems Bill needs to focus on the biggest ones and go after him hard. Perry will try to tie Bill to Obama/Pelosi/Reid (BTW, Pelosi makes me throwup when I look at her or listen to her speak, sorry JMO, I am not her kind of Democrat), but Bill must not take the bait. Considering the low and sinking poll numbers for Obama/Pelosi/Reid (see the latest NBC/WSJ poll), Bill must not ever speak their names nor allow himself and his pro-business agenda to get tangled up with them and their anti-business agenda.
I have to say I agree totally with KennyS. Bill White needs to talk to Texans about Texas and what Texas needs. He needs to promise only that which is within his grasp to deliver. He needs to get voters pushing their *conservative* elected state officials to do what Texans want - and - that agenda is not nearly as *conservative* as some would have you believe. LBJ talked about delivering electricity to rural areas - White could talk about high speed internet service - wifi - high speed rail between Texas' large cities - old fashioned, real conservation of ways we can preserve the natural beauty of our state and its waters for future generations to enjoy and like taking our state parks out of the republican business model where the state owns the park and runs it like a business (charging $15!!! to "rent" a BBQ pit! for the day!!) - back to the PEOPLE own the park and it is there for the people to enjoy at low cost (and therefore available to many more people of the state).
btw, I LOVE Pelosi. JMO But this is a LOCAL campaign and voters need to know what Bill White will do for them. (and he needs to constantly compare and contrast the republican model of THE STATE owing and running stuff (and how, while they have control of the state, they generate "business" to the state and kickbacks to them personally - hence the "outsourcing" of state jobs and contracts and the resulting Perry increase of state fees corruption) - to the democratic model (of progressive dems) that the PEOPLE own the state and those fees should be kept low to the benefit of the people not the politicians!
I've been working with Bill White and I believe he can win.
1. Get good turnout from the Democratic base, especially the Valley.
2. Step aside and let Rick Perry flail.
3. Solicit and pick up the Republican votes from those who are sick of Perry.
see posted comments to 6/15 blog "Perry holds best press conference ever" - parody the textbook committee shenanigans !
As I have told Bill many times in person, don't be an Obama/Pelosi/Reid type Democrat. Don't endorse the Democratic DC agendas, focus on Texas and Texans. When in doubt do what JFK or LBJ would do, not Obama/Pelosi/Reid. Today's campaign email with the Clinton endorsement is not going to appeal to the majority of Texans, let's hope he isn't going to get one from Obama.