The Texas governorship is important in 2010, though you might not know it reading here. I hope to remedy that underinformation gap.
The governor's race will set the tone for down-baallot races, including Congress and the State Legislature. This matters to Texas, but it also matters to YOU, wherever you are in the US.
We stand to take over the Texas Leg, and redistricting is CRUCIAL here: FOUR MORE SEATS FOR TEXAS. No other state is changing, much less GAINING that many seats. This will matter for the next TENyears.
You don't want "Governr Goodhair" and the Texas GOP re-drawing the map of the 36 Congressional seats.
Further, Rick Perry has designs, ideas, ambition, and he has a base of support and power from which to exercise these. Underestimate him at your risk.
Follow me while I make the case.
I will first shamelessly pimp two previous diaries just for the scene-setting, and to give background.
Two simple contentions on my part:
Texas races matter...to all of us.
and
Rick Perry is Ambitious and Dangerous
The titles are self-explanatory.
The gist is this: The Texas Governorship DOES matter in 2010, Perry does have ambitions, and he has a GOP-backed base of corrupt donors and power built over the last TEN YEARS as Governor of Texas (since W left the Governor's office to be President in 2001).
Ignore him, and the national implications and consequences, at our collective risk. I further submit that the national Democratic leadership has focused (rightly, but wrong emphasis) on the states that will be LOSING seats (Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, for example), and in trying to hold on to those, while ignoring the ADDED FOUR seats that Texas will gain in 2011. Am I the only one who sees this?
Now, just to prove I'm not the only smart one out there, here 12 are recent MSM articles below, I believe supporting what I contend above.
I am open to and welcome reasoned challenges and development for or against any parts of my painting of this whole picture. Let the discussion begin.
In the absence of contrary evidence, or even just to hedge the bets, I want to see that Rick Perry does NOT get FOUR MORE YEARS to further build his power and money base. We all stand to lose for a decade from that. I ask for support for his Democratic opponent, former Houston mayor Bill White:
http://www.billwhitefortexas.com
Do it for Texas, but do it for the country.
____________________________
Those wild folks in San Francisco apperently have taken notice of the Texas Governor's race, and attached some import to its outcome.
The ten most important governors' races in the U.S.
http://www.sfgate.com/...
Texas
President Obama is very unpopular in a very red state, where no Democrat has been elected to statewide office since 1994. So the governor's race should be over by now, right? Wrong. Former Houston Mayor Bill White, the Democratic nominee, remains within striking distance of Republican incumbent Rick Perry. Two possible explanations: In a throw-the-bums-out year, Perry's tenure as the longest-serving governor in Lone Star history may be a double-edged sword. And the Republican incumbent garnered only 40 percent of the vote in a four-candidate field four years ago, so he doesn't have the residual support of the state's other GOP incumbents.
The Note: Enthusiasm Gap Closing, But Does It Matter? (ABC News blog)
http://blogs.abcnews.com/...
LONE STAR RACE GOES NATIONAL. ABC News is focusing all week on key governors’ races around the country. Today ABC’s Huma Khan and Maya Srikrishnan turn the spotlight on Texas where Democrats are hoping to reclaim the governor’s mansion for the first time in a decade-and-a-half. They report: "Former Houston mayor and lawyer Bill White is in a surprisingly close race with GOP incumbent Rick Perry, running for a third term. Among registered voters, Perry was leading White by 46 percent to 39 percent, with 8 percent undecided, in the most recent poll by the Dallas Morning News, conducted Sept. 15-22. White has consistently trailed Perry since the incumbent won the Republican primary against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. While most Texas politicos are still hedging their bets on Perry, albeit after a tough election fight, Democrats still have a shot if they can elevate grassroots momentum in the last few weeks of the campaign, especially among Hispanics." The Democratic Governor’s Association is eyeing Texas as a key pickup opportunity in November, pouring more than $2 million into White’s campaign.
It could be a horse race for Texas governor
Incumbent Rick Perry is still a strong favorite, but Democrat Bill White has been keeping it close in recent polls
http://articles.latimes.com/...
October 03, 2010|By Paul Meyer
Reporting from Dallas — By several measures, Texas Gov. Rick Perry should be cruising to reelection for a record third term.
He is a conservative Republican in a conservative state, more residents believe Texas is moving in the right direction than do not, and the Democratic Party has failed to win any statewide office since 1994.
Yet Perry maintains just a single-digit lead in recent polls over Democrat Bill White, the well-funded former Houston mayor.
Last week, the Democratic Governors Assn. sent a strong message that it thinks the race remains prime for an upset, paying for a television ad that attacks Perry as an out-of-touch career politician. The group — also targeting races in California and Florida — has contributed $2 million directly to the White campaign, more than it has ever given for a Texas gubernatorial race.
White is "by far the strongest candidate [in Texas] that we've had in decades," said Nathan Daschle, the association's executive director.
The race in Texas is the flip side of other close races across the country, where a dour economy and anti-establishment fervor has lashed incumbents. Perry regularly touts his time in office for helping buffer the state from the worst of the recession. And his bona-fide conservative credentials — built around themes of limited government, states' rights and fiscal responsibility — have garnered wide support from grass-roots activists like the "tea party" movement.
Perry is a coward, for not debating his opponent:
Candidates for governor debate without Perry
http://www.dallasnews.com/...
Gov. Rick Perry was absent from the first gubernatorial debate of the general election campaign Sunday night, and Democrat Bill White used the forum to criticize Perry following reports that companies linked to major donors received large state grants.
White, the former Houston mayor, joined Libertarian Party nominee Kathie Glass and Green Party candidate Deb Shafto in fielding questions during an event that drew about 300 spectators in Houston, the Houston Chronicle reported. The debate was sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
The trio discussed education, with White and Glass questioning the emphasis on standardized testing, and all three calling for a greater emphasis on vocation and technical education. Glass endorsed securing the Texas-Mexico border with the Texas State Guard.
A peek into some of Perry's corrupt powerbuilding practices:
Newspaper [Dallas News]: Perry donors benefited from tech fund (AP)
http://hosted.ap.org/...
DALLAS (AP) -- The state of Texas has given more than $16 million to high-tech startups whose investors are big donors to Republican Gov. Rick Perry, according to a published report.
Companies with ties to at least eight big donors have received awards from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund administered by Perry's office, The Dallas Morning News reported in Sunday's editions. Overall, the state has given $173 million to 120 companies through the tech fund, which was created in 2005.
The companies receiving state technology funds include Terrabon Inc. of Houston. Terrabon got $2.75 million, according to the newspaper report, and its backers included Phil Adams, a college friend of Perry's. Adams had donated at least $314,000 to Perry's campaign.
Rick Perry, The First Socialist Governor of Texas?
http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/...
Buried in the avalanche of information in yesterday’s Dallas Morning News story showing the interlocking relationships between contributions to the governor and investments from the Texas Enterprise Fund is another astonishing revelation — worth a story in itself. Texas under Rick Perry has been secretly risking tax dollars in high-tech investments.
The tech fund is structured so that the state gets the right to buy stock in each company that receives an award. The state can cash in when a company is sold or goes public. That has happened at least once. CardioSpectra Inc., which was $1.35 million in 2006, was bought by Volcano Corp. in 2007. Perry spokeswoman Cesinger placed the return on the state’s investment at $2.2 million.
The governor’s office would not reveal how many shares the state owns in any other companies, how many shares the state can buy in each company, and the current value of its portfolio.
...
The Texas Legislature — controlled by Republicans — allows this? Were its Republican members even aware of it? Or is government investment in private business only socialism when Democrats are in control? I have accused the Texas GOP of hypocrisy before, but I did not know until yesterday how deep the rot goes.
No wonder Rick Perry refuses to debate. What else doesn’t he want his own party to know?
White hits Perry over tech-fund allegations
Gubernatorial debate held in Houston without the governor's participation
http://www.chron.com/...
In the fall campaign season's first debate open to all candidates for governor, Democrat Bill White waited until his closing statement to attack the candidate who wasn't there, incumbent Rick Perry, regarding allegations that he has used taxpayer funds to reward high-dollar campaign donors.
The Tyler Courier-Times-Telegraph did a very bold thing:
This Editorial is on the FRONT Page, above the fold, and ABOVE the newspaper's BANNER!
See the paper's link for a look (sorry, photo-linking challenged here).
This is deep East Texas, conservative, even reactionary territory, and Rick Perry has pissed them off!
TIME FOR RESPECT: An appeal to Gov. Rick Perry
http://tylerpaper.com/...
We believe a tradition long held by political candidates and Texas newspapers has been abandoned in what we can only believe to be a decision of political expediency.
Your position to not visit with the editorial boards of Texas newspapers may be astute politically, but it demonstrates a disregard for newspaper readers and voters across the state, who deserve to hear substance rather than silence.
It is therefore with the greatest concern that we offer not only an editorial board meeting with us, but also an opportunity for a face-to-face debate between you and your opponent, former Houston Mayor Bill White, for the purposes of illustrating to Texas voters your positions on key issues.
Rick Perry has lost the Texas Farm Bureau, and he's from a farming family in the Panhandle! This is unheard of in this state.
Farm Bureau won't endorse in Texas governor race
http://www.businessweek.com/...
The Texas Farm Bureau's political arm decided Wednesday to remain neutral in the Texas governor's race, an unprecedented move that Democrat Bill White's campaign cast as a big slap at Republican Gov. Rick Perry.
It's not the first time the farm bureau has snubbed Perry during an election season, and the governor's campaign spokesman said Perry feels comfortable with the support he has. Perry is a former state agriculture commissioner who comes from a farming family
.
And he has no Presidential or other national ambitions? Don't believe it. And with the resources he could bring to bear with his corrupt supporters and donors? I don't want to risk that. Do you?
Perry: Not much thought about a presidential run
He says he'd rather organize anti-fed governors
http://www.chron.com/...
AUSTIN — GOP Gov. Rick Perry discounted the idea that he has given lengthy consideration to a presidential run Friday but talked up his plans to organize governors to "push back" against the federal government.
"Yeah, I thought about it. I mean, if 15 seconds is a long thought, yeah, I thought about it," Perry said of a White House run after giving one of his anti-Washingtonspeeches to the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association's fall meeting. "Do I want to do that? Is that the best and the highest use of my time? And the answer is no, it's not."
Perry reiterated his interest in pushing his anti-Washington message on a bigger scale. The Dallas Morning News has reported that he wants to lead an anti-Washington group of governors.
"I don't care whether you're a Democrat or Republican. If I was a Democrat governor of any state, and the federal government said, 'Here's how you're going to run your state,' I'd go, 'Maybe not. Read the Constitution. Read the Bill of Rights,'" he said. "So, absolutely, I want to lay out the argument that states can best decide what's right for them.
The FOUR additional Congressional seats to be added to the Texas delegation in 2011 are critical, and will matter for a decade (or more).
Florida and New York gain importance in 2010 with new redistricting estimates
By Aaron Blake
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/...
While Democrats have a shot at controlling the process in New York, they have much work to do to gain a foothold in the line-drawing in Florida, Ohio and Texas.
Republicans already hold five of six state legislative chambers in that trio of states and they are hopeful they can take the Ohio House too. If that's the case, Democrats will need to win competitive governor's races in those states to have any say in redistricting.
The governor's race is particularly important in Florida, where Republicans have huge -- and virtually unassailable majorities in the state legislature but Democrats appear to have taken a lead in the governor's race between state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink (D) and former health care executive Rick Scott (R).
If the GOP controls the process in those states, they would do their best to redistrict out two Democrats in Ohio and create seats for six new Republicans in Texas and Florida. (It's not always that easy, though, because population trends in the Lone Star State could make it difficult to add that many GOP seats.)
These seats gained in Texas are at the expense of other states, and that's how the population growth and re-distribution cookie crumbles. This appears to be where the Democratic natiional leadership is putting a LOT of resources, while ignoring Texas (yes, I'm taking it personally).
Report: Missouri, Illinois will lose one congressional seat
http://www.stltoday.com/...
Census likely will cost Ohio two House seats
http://www.dispatch.com/...
Folks, I think Bill White is our best hope for some Democratic leadership in Texas. It matters to us here in the Lone Star State, but it matters to YOU, too.
Bill White is on his way.
Democrat gets first newspaper nod for governor
09/20/2010
Associated Press
http://www.dallasnews.com/...
Democrat Bill White received the first editorial backing from a major Texas newspaper of the 2010 general election campaign for governor on Sunday as the Houston Chronicle endorsed his candidacy.
In an editorial published in Sunday's edition, the Chronicle said the former Houston mayor would bring stronger managerial credentials to the state government than those offered by the Republican incumbent, Gov. Rick Perry.
"The governor has shown a distaste for dealing with budget details, fobbing them off on the Legislature and even suggesting in a recent news conference that Comptroller Susan Combs had better uses of her time than issuing deficit projections," the Chronicle editorialized
Even the Dallas Morning News has endosed Democrats for a State House and Congressional seat:
CORRECTION: catte nappe has corectly pointed out my poor research/citation skills (or lack). This is the Tea Party candidate that the DMN is endorsing over Eddie Bernice Johnson, the Dem. incumbent.
Editorial: We recommend Broden in U.S. House District 30
DMN link removed. We don't need their endorsement against Eddie Bernice Johnson
The DMN has endorsed Loretta Haldenwang in the Texas HD-105 race, which race was barely won by the GOP incumbent (by only 19 votes) in 2008, after recount! That left the Texas state House in the hands of the GOP by a TWO-SEAT split, 76R - 74D. Since then, we've had an East Texas Blue Dog (or Blue Hog, as some have it who like real dogs) defection, so it's 77 R-73 D now. THAT's how close it is to controlling redistricting in Texas. State races matter.
I will close by asking you to peruse the rest of the state candidates in Texas, making special note of the Texas SBOE, which as we all know, matters to us all. If you also think it matters, act accordingly.
Help us (re)turn Texas Blue!
http://www.txdemocrats.org/...
Peace.