Friday, May 28, 2010

Bill White tried to deny active duty military the right to vote...

If Bill White had any shot at winning, it went out the door today...

This latest revelation about Bill White supporting a lawsuit to deny military members serving overseas the right to vote in local and state elections is stunning (link). Excerpt follows...

Bosnian war hero Scott F. O'Grady, who spent six days behind enemy lines when shot down in 1995, is questioning Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White's commitment to military voters.

O'Grady, who now lives in the Dallas area, is an active Republican and put out his statement through Gov. Rick Perry's campaign.

"As Memorial Day weekend begins, Bill White should apologize to all veterans and military men and women for supporting limited voting rights for the military ... As someone who has served overseas, I am personally offended by Bill White's belief that soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines serving their nation should be denied the right to vote for candidates seeking county, local, and state offices - including the office he is now running for. Bill White should be ashamed of his anti-military beliefs."

O'Grady was referring to a news conference White had as Texas Democratic Party chairman in 1997 in support of a lawsuit that was attempting to block the counting of military ballots in elections for local office.

Go read that entire link... the entire 1997 article is there...

This story should be practically the entire campaign from Rick from now on. Bill White joined a lawsuit against allowing the military to vote. Are you kidding me?

This is probably the monster story of the campaign. I may have been premature to call cap and trade Bill White's version of "bailouts." Denying members of the military the right to vote is one of the most disgusting things out there... but that is what Bill White tried to do in his role as the head of the Democratic Party in Texas.

Just sick...

Bill White has some serious problems...

Down by 9 in the latest Texas Tribune poll, the top line numbers in these polls are bad for Bill White no doubt (link). What is even worse is the regional performance of Bill White in some areas, as well as the racial and ethnic break downs...

First the regional angle (link). Excerpt follows...
As might be expected, White is doing best in his home base of Houston, though not overwhelmingly. Perry, on the other hand, is somewhat ahead in the Metroplex, while the two are neck-and-neck in the Austin and San Antonio areas. But Perry is clobbering White among Texans from “everywhere else.”
Perry holds a decisive lead among voters in each of these county types, including metropolitan counties. Perry’s lead among residents of metropolitan counties is even more impressive when we consider that this category includes respondents from predominantly Hispanic border counties such as El Paso, Cameron, and Webb, which are overwhelmingly Democratic. On the other hand, Perry’s lead among residents of micropolitan and non-core counties is huge. Truly rural voters aren’t the only reason that Perry is leading White among voters from the rest of the state, but they clearly play a role.
More than this... Bill White is only getting 69% of black voters and 43% of Hispanic voters... and he is already losing the female vote... he may end up winning 80% or 90% of black voters, but they are such a small portion of voters especially in midterm elections I doubt that will make much of a difference in the end.

He isn't catching on, and his personal attacks about a governor living in a governor's mansion are not working. Imagine if that line of attack was working... every governor of every state lives in a mansion of some kind paid for by public funds. You would already see this attack catching on around the country if it made any sense...

Uh oh... Bill White endorsed by Planned Parenthood...

It's not surprising or anything, but it is problematic for Bill White's mission of gathering Republican and independent supporters...

Bill White received the endorsement of Planned Parenthood (link). Excerpt follows...
On February 4, 2010, Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas (PPHSET) issued a press release by Rochelle Tafolo to announce its glowing endorsement of Bill White for Governor of Texas. The press release was published before the March Primary Election, which helped Mr. White get elected as the Pro-Choice Democrat. Ironically, the largest abortion facility in America was being constructed in the city of Houston at the time, while he was serving as the mayor.
Oops... some of the things Bill White did during the primary are coming back to haunt him... although the assumption was that Rick had moved so far to the right during the primary what really seems to be happening is that Bill White is having to disavow the left and Rick is staying right where he was during the primary... on the right...

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Attention R.G. Ratcliffe... time to admit your error...

A few weeks ago R.G. Ratcliffe wrote about how Texans are viewing the state's economy more poorly and therefore that will be trouble for Rick against Bill White... basically he used it as a pretext for a whole lengthy diatribe about how Bill White is great and Rick sucks...

I pointed out that he was using faulty numbers. Texans were upset about the national economy... not the state economy, and I showed evidence backed by numbers of this in two of my blogs (link) (link).

Still R.G. wrote not only a blog he wrote an article that appeared in print... all based on a faulty premise. If anything the real data played right into Rick's strengths and Bill White's weaknesses, not the other way around.

Now there is more hard evidence that Texans' views of the nation and Texans' views of Texas diverge significantly (link). Excerpt follows from the Texas Tribune...

The Texas electorate is all about Us and Them. Saying things are better in here than they are in Washington, voters think the rest of the country should look to the state as a model of how things ought to work, according to the new University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

Sixty-two percent of 800 registered voters surveyed say the country is on the wrong track, while only 27 percent say it's on the right track. But the state knows where its going and what its doing, they say: 45 percent believe it's on the right track and 38 percent think it's on the wrong track.

Texans are glum about the national economy, with 32 percent saying it's "a lot worse off" than a year ago and another 15 percent saying it's "somewhat worse off." About 28 percent say the country is better off, and 24 percent say it's about the same.

They feel better about themselves and their families, with 42 percent saying they're doing about as well as they were a year ago and another 20 percent saying things are better now. Twenty-five percent say they're personally "somewhat worse off" and 13 percent say they're a lot worse off.

Asked to list the most important problems facing the country, voters said the economy (22 percent put it first), federal spending/national debt (18 percent), unemployment/jobs (14 percent) and political leadership/corruption (13 percent). The most important problems facing the state? Immigration (23 percent), border security (18 percent), unemployment/jobs (12 percent) and the economy (11 percent).

One last point... 58 percent of voters say Texas government is a good model for other states to follow; only 30 percent disagree.

R.G. Ratcliffe, time to admit you were really really wrong before and that you probably jumped to a conclusion based on wishful thinking.

The msm doesn't do that though... man... this blog is turning into a mainstream media bias blog isn't it? There is so much new evidence every day...

More free advice for Bill White from his buddies in the liberal msm...

You can read this one of two ways... this is another "Come to Jesus" moment from the media because they are rooting for him... or they just really want to embarrass him for being so inept and this is their way (link). Excerpt follows...
With the governor's race about 160 days away, and with former Houston Mayor Bill White down by nine points in the most recent Rasmussen poll, the question is: How does White, a Democrat, get back into the game?

Perhaps by taking a page from the standalone playbook of Pennsylvania Democrat Joe Sestak, who last week defeated Arlen Specter, a five-term senator. White's only chance to win is to seize the anti-incumbent moment.

[SNIP]

White and his staff may be too Houston-centric. As a three-term mayor of Houston, White was extremely popular, with 80 percent approval ratings. But that adoration may be causing him to misread the mood of the rest of the state. He has to sell himself in 254 counties and 27 media markets, and he has to find his grass-roots game.

He has a good story to tell, but he's not telling it well. The son of two San Antonio schoolteachers, he's a lawyer, a husband, a Sunday school teacher. He also started two energy-related businesses and was deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy.

White's approach to telling it, including at a recent fundraiser in San Antonio, is modest, brainy and low-key, as if he and his staff assume people know who he is. They don't. His name identification is decent but does not compare with Perry's 100 percent. Solution: Hire a gifted speechwriter with a rapier pen and a sense of humor who can help him re-imagine his story.

As Hutchison did in the primary race against Perry, White is struggling to find the right message that will appeal to moderate Republicans as well as Democrats.

I don't think so. No amount of hired gifted speechwriters with rapier pens and senses of humors can help Bill White at this point...

Alton Easton explains why he will not vote for Bill White...

Litany of bad things (link). Excerpt follows...

I will not vote against Bill White, because he cannot understand the problems of the average on the street/ranch/farm Texan.

I will not vote against Bill White, because he is a liberal trial lawyer that made it big in lawsuits and backroom deals.

I will not vote against Bill White, because he turned Houston into a sanctuary city.

I will not vote against Bill White, because he was a member of the Washington’s Elite serving in the Clinton Administration.

I will not vote against Bill White, because he has not made any commitment not to raise taxes.

I will not vote against Bill White, because he established a policy that vehicles on Houston freeways and highways that incurred flat tires or a mechanical break had to be towed by the first tow truck on the scene.

I will not vote against Bill White, because he has refused to release his federal filed tax returns and complete personal financial disclosure.

I will not vote against Bill White, because he spent millions on massive expansion of parks, libraries, and public clinics.

I will not vote against Bill White, because some retired Ernst & Young accountants conducted an unofficial audit of Houston's finances and determined that the former Mayor White may have led the City to the brink of bankruptcy.

I will not vote against Bill White, because he left Houston with the bill on 7-years spending-spree.

I will not vote against Bill White, because he spent taxpayer’s dollars on “Green Modernization” of Houston Metro. As mayor, he controlled the make-up of Metro’s Board of Directors. The Houston Metro made a major change in the direction to concentrate dollars and efforts on a rail system that has been more expense than the bus system, serviced fewer citizens, increased fees to riders, and ignored promises stated in the approved bond election. Mr. White’s involvement in “Metro-gate” has yet to be determined.

I will vote against Bill White for Texas Governor, because he earned $2.8 million dollars as an active member of the Board of Directors for a public traded Energy Company, BJ Services Co, while serving as mayor of Houston. In my opinion, it is only logical to state this commitment was stronger than that as Houston mayor earning $1500 a month.

A lot of new things there... how true are all of them... I don't know.



Enough already with these liberal advice columns for Bill White...

Yet another one of those "here is what Bill White should do to beat Rick" articles, this time from the Houston Chronicle (link). Excerpt follows...

The White campaign has launched a website to continue pounding on the audit issue. Perry's spokesman Mark Miner told me last week that White ought to apologize for criticizing a program that has meant thousands of jobs for Texans.

As a campaign issue, the Texas Enterprise Fund is probably less a breakthrough moment than it is a slow tear, less a quick rip than a worn place on the seat of the pants that slowly becomes a hole. Maybe. As an issue, it could be a yawner.

For White, a more promising breakthrough moment -- think of Claytie Williams refusing to shake the hand of Ann Richards in 1990, Michael Dukakis perched atop an Army tank, Ted Kennedy unable to offer Roger Mudd a rationale for his 1980 presidential quest -- could be the rent-a-mansion issue, the $10,000-a-month home in West Austin the Perrys are occupying while the Governor's Mansion is being rebuilt.

It could be, that is, if the White campaign is adept enough to pounce like a cat and pummel the issue for all it's worth. We'll see.

Okay. We get it. You love Bill White and want him to succeed. You're helping him. You're writing ammo for him. You are paying attention to all the anti Rick stuff but ignoring the ethics problems of Bill White... we get it. You in the msm all have this urge to help your guy. You know he reads your stuff. You really wish you had been a political consultant instead of a reporter.

We get it already... start writing about Bill White's shady background or his lack of specific policy stances...

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Why 39% is not a big deal...

Democrats like to point to the 39% Rick got in 2006 in a 5 way race as some kind of evidence that Rick is vulnerable in 2010... Jason Embry makes up for a lot of recent whiffs and hits a solid double with this piece on why 39% in 2006 was not a big deal (link). Excerpt follows...

The governor's race isn't over by any means, but for now, Perry is well-positioned to win a third term.

Perry ran in 2006 against three major opponents — one (Chris Bell) who reaped the benefits of Democratic straight-ticket voting, one (Carole Keeton Strayhorn) who was a decade-long statewide officeholder and spent more than $13 million, and one (Kinky Friedman) who was such a celebrity that he garnered segments on "60 Minutes," Don Imus' radio show and "The Late Show with David Letterman."

Perhaps more importantly, Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq war had put Republicans into a national free fall in 2006, the year they lost control of the U.S. House and Senate. Even Texas Democrats felt a jolt of momentum, making major gains in the Legislature and big cities, particularly Dallas.

There was also a fourth opponent who took a percent or two from Rick... the libertarian in the race in 2006.

2006 was a terrible year for any Republican, and Rick still won by nearly 10% over his next biggest challenger despite the independents in the race all turning their fire on Rick almost exclusively instead of each other...

Metro Gate heats up... Bill White getting burned...

Jason Embry picks up on the drumbeat of Houston Metro Gate stories that Rick is trying to pin on Bill White (link). Excerpt follows...

One of Houston Mayor Annise Parker's most visible goals since taking office in January has been to shake up the agency that oversees buses, rail and other forms of transit in and around the city.

Parker's criticisms of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (known as Metro to those who speak Houston) have been music to the ears of Republican Gov. Rick Perry, who is trying to hold off a November challenge from Parker's predecessor, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White.

Through press statements and Web videos and under the predictable mantra of "Metrogate," Perry's team has packaged Parker's criticisms with a series of unflattering stories about the agency in the Houston media in an effort to question White's managerial acumen.

White's campaign boasts often that Houstonians re-elected him mayor by huge margins in 2005 and 2007. But widespread criticism of Metro over the past couple of years — amplified by Parker — could present a chink in his political armor.

A well researched and well written article... go read the entire thing if you have time... it really is amazing the litany of problems Metro in Houston had under Bill White's tenure. Then again most Metro operations across the country are bloated and ineffective at using tax payer money...

Bi-partisan trashing of PolitiFactTexas...

Harold Cook comically dismantles the PolitiFarce known as PolitiFact Texas (link). Excerpt follows...






Gardner Selby is practically the same guy as Al Franken, just with a fraction of the good looks and humor, and twice the made-up vocabulary.



The bandwidth on the Statesman website occupied by PolitiFact Texas would be better used for slideshows of readers' cat photos.



PolitiFact Texas is the end-all, be-all final arbiter of all political truth in Texas, and certainly not merely a few random people's opinion.



This PolitiFarce nickname is catching on... it is pretty clear what a joke this project has become. Although they unmistakably lean far to the left... even Democrats like Harold Cook are mocking them....

Bill White moves sharply to the left...

Down by double digits in the polls, Bill White is trying to make something happen... and he is moving sharply to the left on environmental issues and border issues.

On the environment... Bill White has chosen to side with the Obama administration, the EPA, and the environmental movement instead of the wise move which would be protecting Texas jobs and saying the federal government is overreaching in a recent nationalization junta takeover type of action of the Texas refinery permitting process (link). Excerpt follows...
Democrat Bill White is pinning this squarely on his rival in the gubernatorial race. “Because of Rick Perry's mismanagement of the state's environmental agency, our state is now losing our ability to make our own decisions about air quality and the economy,“ White said in a statement. “While Perry will likely try to make this into a partisan issue, the truth is that the state was repeatedly warned, beginning in 2007 under President Bush, that its permitting program violated the law that granted Texas the authority to issue air pollution permits.”
On border issues... Bill White opposes National Guard troops to secure the border (link).

Will the press notice? Bill White making moves to the left... realizing that he is not making traction with Republicans I guess...

Rick unifying party... congealing support from Kay supporters...

We knew this would happen eventually despite the animosity during the primary... Republicans just don't jump over to support liberal attorneys just because their moderate choice was beaten by a conservative. The vast bulk of Kay supporters are going to support Rick. That is just how primaries go. Having a March primary gives you several months to bring your peeps home.

Gromer Jeffers covers this story (link). Excerpt follows...
Hutchison supporters raising funds for Perry

Some of U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's biggest local supporters are now helping Rick Perry's re-election campaign.

On Wednesday, Dallas developer Harlan Crow, who supported Hutchison's failed effort for governor, is hosting a fundraiser for Perry at his mansion.

The host committee for the event includes Dallas Cowboys legend and businessman Roger Staubach, also a major Hutchison supporter. Businessmen Louis Beecherl and Ray Hunt are co-hosting the reception.

Perry beat Hutchison in the March 2 Republican primary. He faces former Houston Mayor Bill White in November.

White, a Democrat, has been trying to woo Hutchison supporters and independents for his campaign.

But Wednesday's fundraising shows that most of Hutchison's North Texas base is rallying behind Perry.

It is somewhat interesting that Mr. Jeffers is the one to cover this story since he is the one who used an 18 year old activist Obama supporting Charlie Crist loving "progressive" in a story of his and pretended he was a Republican for Bill White. This really should have been a moderate media scandal (link).

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

POLITICO sez threats to lawmakers are up... no wonder Rick is packing heat...

POLITICO is claiming that there is a surge in threats against lawmakers... with some Texas angles (link). Excerpts follow...
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) were threatened with assassination. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-Texas) were threatened with bodily harm.

[SNIP]

In February 2009, a man left voice mail messages for Stabenow in several of her Michigan offices.

“We’re gonna [expletive] get you,” he said in one message. “We’re gonna get you with a lot of [expletive] bolt action. Like we did RFK; like we did MLK. We know who you are. We’ll get you.”

FBI agents tracked the calls to a 54-year-old Texas man who lived alone — and who at one time had owned a 20-gun arsenal of handguns, shotguns and rifles. According to the documents, he told officers that he was “really, really drunk” when he made the calls. He said he was just “venting” — taking out his frustrations after hearing a discussion of the Fairness Doctrine and becoming concerned that the government would attempt to abolish the radio shows of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

My original theory on this coyote shooting incident was that it probably did happen... and it was probably leaked to the media to scare away any crazy person from wanting to do harm to Rick (link).

Even a mildly crazy person wouldn't want to mess with someone who can take out a coyote with one bullet... and may be packing heat... you never know...

Bill White injects politics into the State Board of Education...

The Texas State Board of Education of course is elected by Texas voters... it has 15 members who serve various districts around the country...

Bill White is trying to unilaterally overrule them and inject his own warped politics into the system (link). Excerpt follows...
“Obviously, I would pick a chair who would try to undo some of the damage that is being done as quickly as we can,” White told the Houston Chronicle.

[SNIP]

Yes, Bill White wants to take the politics out of Texas textbooks — right after he uses it for political gain.
Here is the thing... appointing a certain chair from the 15 member elected committee would not do much. This is an independent body for a reason...

Ann Althouse has actually investigated this, and she concludes that the liberal msm is tilting the coverage to give false impressions of what the State Board is actually doing (link). Excerpt follows...

If you're going to criticize the new social studies curriculum adopted by the Texas Board of Education, you'd better quote it.

Or at least link to the text. And if you choose to paraphrase and not even link, and I have to look up the text myself, and your paraphrase is not accurate, it is my job to embarrass you by pointing that out.
Bill White is injecting politics into the situation... stirring peeps up about things that are being intentionally misreported...

I don't see this as a winning issue. Picking fights on culture wars in a state like Texas... doesn't make sense for a liberal elitist like Bill White.

The more he brings it up, the more backlash there will be from conservatives. Observe (link). Excerpt follows...

The left started this war by attacking what was for years taken for granted about America, most especially that we are an exceptional country. The proof is the number of people who want to come here and the selflessness displayed by our citizens in the treasure we've spent and the blood we've spilled on behalf of others.

Too many on the left seem embarrassed by America's prosperity and standing in the world. The right seems just as committed to tearing the country down, literally and figuratively.

When liberals rewrite textbooks, inserting their own spin on history, they are said to be engaging in academic freedom. When conservatives attempt to do the same, they are called censors, bigots, anti-scientific and worse.

Don't think that liberals will win this issue just because they are winning it in the mainstream media... the American people know better... they know that our kids are bombarded with liberal ideas in public schools, and they also know better than to believe people who falsely claim that Thomas Jefferson was taken out of the curriculum.

Rick coming out with a book...

Rick has a book coming out later this year (link). Excerpt follows...

In FED UP, Governor Perry argues that expansion of the federal government is occurring exponentially and injuriously. Bailouts, spending increases, and a reengineered health care system are just a few ways Washington politicians have launched a major expansion of the federal government in response to our recent economic turmoil, and Perry shows how an increasing concentration of power in Washington will lead to further unsustainable debt, greater limits on opportunity and success, and a permanent dependency class -- adding up to a potentially failed nation, and one of the very sort that the Colonists fought against.

In spelling out the danger of federal intrusion and the ways that states can better approach our future, Perry issues a persuasive rallying cry for Americans to rise up and demand that power be returned to the people and the states. "I am pleased to partner with Little, Brown in writing about a subject that will determine the very future of our nation. Interwoven with America's founding principles, state sovereignty as enshrined in the Bill of Rights has actively contributed to the vitality of our union. Washington's ongoing efforts to undermine these rights pose a legitimate threat to America's continued leadership of the free world. It is no surprise, then, that citizens across the nation are so Fed Up. I'm convinced that the burgeoning grassroots energy and widespread concern can restore balance to our system and invigorate our nation in the decades to come. It's the Governors from both parties who must lead this fight," says Perry.

"Governor Rick Perry is one of the clearest thinkers in the nation on the importance of individual rights and state powers. When he speaks millions listen. This book will help shape the important discussions leading up to this Fall's midterm elections and long after," says Michael Pietsch.

That makes it seem like it's already mostly written...

Rick's campaign guy sez that the profits will be given toward a worthy cause (link)....

Monday, May 24, 2010

Paul Burka on the new poll...

Burka's take worth a read (link). Excerpt follows...

This observation by UT government professor and pollster Daron Shaw pretty much sums up the state of the race: “Anecdotally, off the top of your head, if a Democrat runs against a Republican in the state of Texas, what’s the spread? Twelve points. This looks pretty much like a statewide election in Texas looks. It doesn’t look like some huge Republican tide, but it doesn’t look like a Democratic renaissance, either.”

Twelve points! That is a huge spread. Mike Baselice has generally put the Republican advantage at 9, which is what the poll reflects. The Democrats are in for some dark days.

Texas Democrats are pretty cocksure that they will take over the state in the next few election cycles... and over the next couple of decades at the worst... Obama may have set them back by a few election cycles...

Green Party buzz... that won't help Bill White...

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the Green Party may be on the ballot in the race for governor (link). Excerpt follows...
Today, the Green Party of Texas will submit its ballot access petition to the Texas secretary of state. This is potentially bad news for Bill White and the Texas Democratic Party in two respects.

Most immediately, it signifies that White (along with Republican Rick Perry and a Libertarian Party candidate who will be selected in June) will be joined on the November ballot by a Green Party gubernatorial candidate. The Green candidate, who will be selected at the party's June convention (Houstonian Deb Shafto is the odds on favorite), will draw much of his or her support from the same group of voters as White, and will undoubtedly reduce White's overall share of the vote, something that could affect the outcome of the election in the event of a close race.

In addition, if White is unsuccessful this fall, Green ballot access this year could complicate his 2012 U.S. Senate bid. The Greens will automatically receive ballot access for 2012 if they get on the 2010 ballot and win at least 5 percent of the vote in a statewide race. The party is virtually certain to meet this requirement via the candidacy of Edward Lindsay for the post of state comptroller, where the Democratic Party failed to nominate a candidate to compete with Republican incumbent Susan Combs -- the person responsible for April's appliance rebate fiasco. A Libertarian also is running for comptroller.

White is faced with the dilemma of whether or not -- most likely via surrogates -- to challenge the signatures on the Green Party's petition with the goal of keeping the party off the ballot in the fall. The secretary of state may, but is not required to, verify the signatures on its own accord.
Hearing a lot of buzz about this... could shake up the race somewhat... cut into Bill White's base... take away a percent or a few from him but also dilute the Libertarian message and muddle other third party coverage. If there are too many third party candidates running the press won't be able to obsess over the one who will hurt Rick... they will have to focus on one who will hurt Rick but also the one who will hurt Bill White...

Also if there ever are debates... it won't just be everyone ganging up on Rick... you will have either none of them or all of them...

Too many third party choices for voters might though keep Rick from getting a strong showing and shedding that 39% label from 2006...

Really though with Bill White defending oil shale injections, off shore drilling, and other oil company practices the Green Party has a real opening to cut into Bill White's base... imagine if they had some money...

New poll... Texas Tribune has Rick up by 9 over Bill White...

There is a new sheriff in town... the Texas Tribune has a new poll in the race between Rick and Bill White, and as we all know it seems like the most recent poll is always the most authoritative in the public consciousness...

Details (link). Excerpt follows...
Republican Rick Perry leads Democrat Bill White by nine percentage points — 44 percent to 35 percent — in the 2010 race for governor, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll.
[SNIP]
Perry's stronger with Anglo voters, leading White 55 percent to 25 percent. White is stronger with African American voters (69 to 5) and with Hispanics (43 to 32). Perry is ahead among both men (48 to 34) and women (40 to 35).
Recently...

There was also a poll by Democrats showing Rick up by 9% over Bill White (link). Then there is that Texas Democratic Trust poll that had Rick up by 4... yeah right (link). There have also been polls showing Rick up by 13 in Rasmussen (link), 16 in Texas Research (link), 13 in the liberal Democrat Maslin poll (link).

A lot of polls... all pointing to one basic conclusion... Rick is up by an average of 10.67 in the polls that have come out in the past week.

Bill White has spent more than a million dollars on television commercials (link), and he has not made even a slight dent.

Even Bill White's allies the Dallas Morning News have a Come to Jesus moment with him...

The Dallas Morning News is pretty openly hostile toward Rick.... but they are giving Bill White some stern advice (link). Excerpt follows...

After five months of campaigning, White still hasn't given Texans a clear vision of where he wants to take their state.

Voters may be picking up on what Houston's former mayor doesn't like about Perry's decade in the Governor's Mansion, including his handling of the Texas Enterprise Fund. As this newspaper's Wayne Slater reported last week, White is raising many of the same questions about Perry that Kay Bailey Hutchison did in their GOP primary battle.

But we doubt there are many Texans who could give you the White vision, just as Hutchison failed to provide a clear idea of where she would lead Texas. Even some top Democrats we talked to last week were stumped about White's major priorities.

Bill White needs to give some specifics... yet when he does give specifics he seems to be stepping in all the wrong places...

When he bashes the SBOE he is really bashing the voters who put them in power... when he bashes the Texas Enterprise Fund he is really bashing a major job creation tool...

He is so boring that he can't really come out and give an exciting Obama speech and make peeps forget that he has no actual ideas... Bill White even prides himself on being a policy nerd... yet he has yet to really offer any real ideas.

At the same time Rick is going around telling the story of Texas being better than California, and that is all he needs to say...

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Is cap and trade Bill White's version of bailouts?

Rick and his peeps were relentless when bashing Kay for being pro bailout...

I think they may have found their line of attack against Bill White (link). Excerpt follows...

The governor did bring up White -- and Harris County -- toward the end of the rally, when he took off on cap-and-trade. "I just want to say thank you to Harris County," he said. "On March the second, you all sent a powerful message. Fifty-nine thousand more of you voted for me in my primary than that other guy got in his primary."

Perry reminded his listeners that he and White have their differences, and cap-and-trade is front-and-center. "Let me tell you, the cap-and-trade legislation that they're talking about in Washington, D.C., will devastate this country, it will destroy Texas and if there is an epicenter to that destruction, it is in Harris County and Houston and the energy industry that we have," he said.

"My opponent in November of 2008 sent a missive to the White House, to President Obama-elect, and said, 'Here's how you need to sell cap-and-trade to the American people.' Let's send Bill White a message out of Texas that we don't want his cap-and-trade. Let's send a message that we don't like what's going on in America, and we're going to do something about it."

The crowd rapturously agreed.

I think this new evidence of Bill White bragging that he advised Obama on energy policy, and then this memo that shows him trying to prove to Rahm Emmanuel that he was worthy of the role of Energy Secretary by "rebranding" cap and trade... Bill White is toast.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Bill White has a "Come to Jesus" moment in the Valley?

Rick recently racked up dozens of South Texas Democrat endorsements... in Bill White's allegedly strongest area...

Now it looks like Bill White may have been summoned for a "Come to Jesus" moment (link). Excerpt follows...

Was it a Rio Grande Valley "come to Jesus" meeting for Bill White on Monday night (una venga a la reunion de Jesus?) Or was it one in a series of getting-to-know-Bill gatherings the White campaign has been conducting throughout the state, nothing more than an opportunity for the candidate to rally the troops and to plan a future Valley fundraiser and a get-out-the-vote effort?

An anonymous Republican operative characterized it as the former, as an opportunity for White to address concerns among skittish supporters that his campaign is not coming together.

Michael Moore, White's chief campaign strategist, characterized it as the latter. "It was an opportunity to meet with Valley leadership," he said. "We fly out to do these meetings all the time."


Not that Michael Moore...

More indication that this was a stern talking to kind of meeting...

White's supporters urged him to "put the campaign in fast-forward" and to reach out to Mexican Americans from the Valley down to Brownsville. "He might be doing well in Houston with Mexican Americans, but it doesn't necessarily mean that he's doing well statewide," he said.

"He's got a long way to go," Leo said. "Rick Perry is a pit bull, so he's got to be aggressive."

In other words... you are running a bad campaign. Get with the program. Just echoing Kay's failed campaign won't work here (link).

Friday, May 21, 2010

California versus Texas... coyote policy....

This has been making the rounds (link). Excerpt follows...
The Governor of California and the Governor of Texas are both jogging along a marked trail in their home states, accompanied by a pet dog. A coyote jumps out and attacks the dog. Here is what follows:

California:
#1. Governor starts to intervene and then realizes he should stop; the coyote is only doing what is natural.
#2. Calls animal control. Animal control captures coyote and spends $200 testing it for diseases and $500 relocating it.
#3. Calls veterinarian, who collects dead dog and bills $200 to test it for diseases.
#4. Governor goes to hospital and runs up a bill for $3500 to get bite wound cleaned and bandaged, as well as being tested for possible diseases from the coyote.
#5. Jogging trail is shut down for 6 months while State Department of Wildlife Services conducts a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is clear of dangerous animals.
#6. Governor allots $50,000 to start a state-run coyote-awareness program for people who live in the area.
#7. State legislature spends $2 million on a study to investigate how to better handle rabies and make recommendations to eradicate animal-borne diseases.
#8. Governor’s security agent is fired for not stopping the attack and for allowing the Governor to try at first to intervene.
#9. State spends $75,000 required to train a new security agent for the Governor.
#10. California State Employees Union files a lawsuit demanding re-hiring of prior security agent.
#11. PETA files lawsuit to protest forced relocation of the coyote.

Texas:
#1. Governor expends one .380 ACP Gold Dot Hollow Point, previously acquired for $1.23 at his own personal expense.
#2. Governor and dog happily keep on jogging.

Does anyone wonder why California is broke?
Pretty good.

An emailer and reader sends along this too (link)...


The legend grows...

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Bill White advised Obama on cap and trade...

Now this is pretty wild...

We already knew that Bill White bragged about being an advisor to Barack Obama on energy issues when he was still running for senate (link). Excerpt follows...

Both the White and Sharp campaigns played down the absence of Obama from the candidates' recent pitches to voters and donors.

White spokeswoman Katy Bacon pointed out that White has advised Obama on energy issues and visited the White House as mayor. And she recounted a story from White's appearance in May before Obama supporters in Austin, where the mayor said a consultant once advised him not to run for mayor because his ears were too big for TV. White then "slow-mo" walked over to an Obama poster and pointed at the president's noticeable ears — drawing laughter, Bacon said.

Okay... so it is well established that Bill White thinks it is a pretty big deal that he advised Obama on energy issues.

Now there is a letter and everything... from Bill White to Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel...

In White's 2008 email entitled "Energy Policy at the Beginning of an Administration" to Rahm Emanuel, who now is White House chief of staff, White outlines some of his standard policies for reducing the nation's energy use:

* Use consumer tax credits to promote vehicles with fuel efficiency above 40 miles a gallon.

* Fund a national program to retrofit low-income housing to cut electricity consumption. This was done in weatherization programs and energy efficient appliance rebates that were included in stimulus funds.

* Promote natural gas electrical generating plants. Perry has backed coal-fired plants.

* Promote programs such as smart meters for electricity or rooftop solar energy.

Now, here's the kicker: "Avoid during 2009 wading into the mire of cap-and-trade or user taxes on carbon BEFORE (my emphasis added) the new Administration and Congress has made progress on the above four items."

The take away... Bill White was auditioning for an Energy Secretary role in the Obama administration. He thought he could show how smart he was on the issues and how smart he was on the politics of it all. My guess is that Rahm Emmanuel never read this letter, and neither did Obama.

Rick's peeps with new laugh track ad...

Not bad.

I would have maybe added something about Bill White not releasing his own taxes... or covered more about how Bill White actually did not cut taxes in Houston as he claimed... I think a voice over could have helped for a couple of the parts...


Good job overall though. On topic unlike the efforts featuring "Glee" and Rick's hair the Democrats are putting out against Rick...

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Is Bill White a good tactician?

Bill McKenzie with a story about Bill White's trial lawyer prowess (link). Excerpt follows...

The challenge before White is that he has no experience running a statewide campaign against a guy who knows how to keep his opponents off-balance by constantly poking them in the chest. Perry certainly doesn't expect White to respond to each poke, but he also knows he can lure him into his trap with some of them.

From White's perspective, finding the right cadence will be crucial. He could drain his campaign of energy if he tries to respond to every poke. But he also can't let Perry define him, as the governor did with Hutchison in the primary. How White handles this challenge will tell us if he can outfox Perry.

This being a conservative state, the race is Perry's to lose. And I mean that: He should win. But if anyone can beat him, it's a candidate like White who can match him tactic for tactic.

Has Bill White shown any inclination of being a good campaign tactician? From what I can tell he is more of a micromanager...

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Rick's fund raising mail gets attention from Bill White...

Bill White brought attention to one of Rick's points about him... on cap and trade (link) (link)...


Repeating a negative... an interesting new tactic by Bill White...

Texas Democratic Trust has a "private" poll showing Rick up by 4...

Sure they do... from Quorum Report...

TEXAS DEMOCRATIC TRUST POLL HAS PERRY-46%, WHITE-42%

Poll originally conducted to tweak voter files for 2010

Yesterday’s Rasmussen poll on the Texas Governor’s race made news if for no other reason than it showed Governor Perry’s lead widening from four to twelve points in just a month.

On the other hand, QR has obtained a copy of a memo about a poll conducted for the Texas Democratic Trust that would seem to confirm Rasmussen’s earlier poll. Conducted at the end of last month, the poll shows Perry at 46%, White at 42% and Libertarian Jeff Daiell at 4%.

The memo with the poll results was circulated by email today to Democratic leaders.

Sure they do.

Another poll, another day...

Another poll from the Democrats shows Rick up by 9 (link). Excerpt follows...
In our initial trial heat – a test with no potentially biasing information preceding – Perry holds a 46% to 37% lead over Bill White, with 3% going to the Libertarian candidate and 14% Undecided.
Add this one to the poll recap this morning (link)...

Four polls in just a few days all showing Rick up over Bill White by between 9 and 16 points... when it rains it pours...

Rick gets "thunderous" applause at Texas Southern?

Say what you will about Rick, but he has a knack for connecting with minorities...

Rick was the keynote speaker at Texas Southern University's commencement, and somehow he avoided a big boo fest and worked the crowd like he does with his base...

The Dallas Morning News has a blip about the event (link). Excerpt follows...

Gov. Rick Perry has told more than 800 graduates of Houston's traditionally black university they are the future of Texas and the nation.

Perry gave the commencement address Saturday to graduates of Texas Southern University.

He says the graduates are better positioned to make a difference in the current economy because Texas has created more jobs than any other state in the past six months. Perry also says Texas has a lower unemployment then most states.

Perry got a thunderous welcome when the school's band played a mix of the Texas Southern University song and Texas A&M University's fight song. Perry is an A&M graduate. He punched his fists in the air, hopped around and sang along. The graduates got on their feet to join the governor.

This has to irritate Bill White... Rick is marching right into Bill White's base areas and winning peeps over. Now it doesn't mean that "thunderous" applause will translate into actual votes, but it will probably do more than Bill White's weak events in places like Midland which are considered part of Rick's base...

Looking at the Twitter traffic... the reviews were pretty good (link). Excerpt follows...

RT @MrRealEstate713: Rick Perry is prolly one of the most entertaining speakers at TSU graduation...cool dude! less than a minute ago via UberTwitter ernie


Rick Perry is a Great Commencement Speaker..... Quick and straight to the point!!!! less than a minute ago via UberTwitter Crystal Alexander


There is also video out there (link)....

Did Bill White give a commencement speech anywhere?

Dallas Morning News tells Bill White to zip it...

Bill White has been on this strange mission to re run all of Kay's ineffective attacks, including the line that Rick should have accepted the unemployment insurance stimulus money with all of the federal strings and mandates attached. The Dallas Morning News laid the smack down on Bill White on this issue, as far as a liberal editorial board is willing to go in smacking down their candidate (link). Excerpt follows...

In any governor's race, candidates will throw out issues, just to see if they catch fire.

[SNIP]

In essence, that's what Democrat Bill White has done by questioning the practices of the Texas Enterprise Fund, which Gov. Rick Perry lobbied into law a few years ago to help him attract more businesses to Texas.

In other words... Bill White is flinging crap at the wall hoping it sticks... but his crap is just that... crap...

The rest of the Dallas Morning News editorial explains how Bill White's attacks on the unemployment insurance issue and the Texas Enterprise Fund issue are unfounded and off base... and if the Bill White Morning News is pointing it out you know it must be pretty egregious...

What is Kay up to these days? Kay is still Kay...

A story on Kay (link). Excerpt follows...
"When I go home, I try to catch up on all the things that need to be done that were not done over the last few months," she said last week. "So I'm getting to where I think I have a handle on it."
Home?

As in Washington?

Maybe Rick's peeps were on to something.

Recent poll recap...

Time for a recent poll recap.

Despite spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on television advertisements and Rick spending nothing, Bill White has fallen in the polls, and his negatives are up.

Rasmussen I covered already (link)... also Maslin I was one of the only ones to cover (link). Both of those show solid double digit leads for Rick over Bill White. Rasmussen also has this interesting nugget... Rick leads among unaffiliated voters by 15 percent and Bill White has a negative rating above 41% already without any of Rick's advertising on television (link). Bill White is toast in other words... swimming up current against a tide of anti Obama and anti Democrat sentiment...

There is another poll out that shows Rick up by 16 points, 46-30 (link). Excerpt follows...

A recent poll by the Texas Research Organization finds incumbent Governor Rick Perry with a 16-point lead over Democratic challenger, former Houston Mayor Bill White. With nearly six months to go before the November general election, Perry leads White 46 percent to 30 percent among registered voters, with 24 percent undecided. Similar surveys conducted by Rasmussen Reports give Perry a 49 to 42 percent advantage among “likely voters” in the Rasmussen polling average.

“Governor Perry holds a sizable lead among active voter households, while Rasmussen Reports shows the race to be closer among “likely voters,” said Dr. Greg Hupp, senior research analyst with the Texas Center for Public Policy Research. “Our active voter model pulls the sample of registered voters from households with a known history of participating in a previous election.”

I think this may have been written before the new Rasmussen came out showing Rick up by 13...

It may be safe to declare that this race is in the double digit margins. Paul Burka declares that it is basically over (link). Excerpt follows...
The numbers speak for themselves. We are seeing an instant replay of the Republican primary. Another Perry opponent has been unable to find a theme that resonates with the voters.

[SNIP]

You might as well pencil in four more years of the last ten years. There is only one thing that the Democrats can do to change the current political dynamic in Texas. They are going to have to win an election, something they haven’t done since 1994. Until the Republicans lose a major race–and the only major race that matters is governor–nothing is going to change in Texas politics. And it doesn’t look as if the D’s can win this one.
Now the liberals are trashing the Rasmussen poll... saying that Rick can't possibly be pulling 20% of African-Americans or only be behind by 4% among those making 20-40,000 a year, but the Maslin poll is a Democrat poll showing Rick up by 13%.... and this other TexasResearch.org poll also confirms the others.

Bill White... the more people get to know him the worse he will do... he is still a relatively blank slate and there is not much he will be able to do to convince people that he is a "different" kind of Democrat. Rick's peeps will define him more and more going forward... even as Bill White wastes money on television advertising this early in the game.