This has to irritate Bill White... Rick invited to fundraiser for Democrat State Senator...

Hispanic Democrat Van de Putte who was rumored to be considering running for governor or another state wide higher office is a loyal Democrat in a strong Democrat state senate district... she is also getting all buddy buddy with Rick, which can't make Bill White all that happy (link). Excerpt follows...

GOP Gov. Rick Perry got a hug from Democratic Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio at a college fair in the Alamo City.

Since he was in the neighborhood, Van de Putte then invited Perry to fund-raiser hosted by H-E-B CEO Charles Butt at his home.

"He made a comment that the Democratic-Republican divide is not as big as the Longhorn-Aggie divide," Van de Putte, a University of Texas alum, said of Perry, whose blood runs maroon.

Van de Putte said the fund-raiser's host committee included Democrats and Republicans and notes that she's not on the ballot this year.

"I've been a harsh critic," she said. "He has certainly sometimes disagreed with me." But she said there are issues like veterans affairs and the higher education efforts Perry was touting that they both work on.

Van de Putte is a supporter of Democratic candidate for governor Bill White, she said. "I care who's governor. I'm going to work with who the voters decide (to elect). I guess it's maybe pragmatism."

Rick showing how he gets along with peeps across the aisle... Hispanic peeps across the aisle at that... it seems like the meme that Bill White is going to eat into Rick's Republican base is getting turned on its head. If anything it seems like Bill White is going to have to be on the lookout for Rick swooping in and taking Democrat voters who should really be voting for the Democrat in the race...