Is Bill White in a panic? Why else would he buy television in early May?

Bill White is going up with a television ad in Houston, his home base. This is extraordinarily terrible news for Bill White if he is throwing money at this race already... it is not possible to sustain that level of spending unless he has someone who is writing 8 figure checks to his campaign (link). Excerpt follows...

Former Houston Mayor Bill White is falling so-far-behind in public support in his election bid for governor of Texas against Gov, Rick Perry that he's compelled to broadcast campaign commercials in his home-turf of Houston.

Meanwhile, Houston's current mayor Annise Parker has gotten stuck with the bill on Bill White's 7-year deficit spending-spree. Nonetheless, Mr. White is running for governor as a Democrat hoping to introduce President Barack Obama's Chicago-style politics to Austin.

[SNIP]

Ernst & Young accountants conducted an unofficial audit of Houston's finances and determined that former Mayor White may have led the City to the brink of bankruptcy. As a Texas Democratic politician, Mr. White substantially increased Houston's deficit problems, just like Obama is doing right now in Washington.

According to the Chronicle, "Perry spokesamn Mark miner suggested that if White is having to run television first in his home turf, he's a candidate in trouble. 'It's a sign of desperation by a candidate who can't get any traction,' Miner said."

It doesn't really make much sense. It smacks of micromanagement by a candidate who feels that his candidacy is in peril... that he is getting defined too early and too often by Rick's peeps... or that Rick is hogging all of the headlines, so he needed something to shake things up.

Maybe he even thought he could bait Rick into spending money early as well... not likely.