This sort of surprises me. I didn't think Tom Schieffer could win the Democratic Party's nomination for governor, but I didn't expect him to quit. But quit he did, in a 3:00pm news conference yesterday.
Schieffer was the first serious candidate to declare his candidacy, and I think he expected to be the frontrunner in the race. By comparison, Hank Gilbert has just recently gotten serious about his campaign, and Kinky Friedman has yet to start campaigning full-time. But the early entry didn't help Schieffer.
I think Schieffer just learned that Texas Democrats have long memories, especially for those who desert the party to support Republican candidates. Schieffer supported his Republican business partner, George Bush, in both the 2000 and 2004 elections. After that, it's no wonder that Democrats were having trouble accepting him as their candidate for the state's highest office.
You could see that he was in trouble when the latest poll came out that showed him at least 9 points behind Kinky Friedman. Even though he had been campaigning hard, Schieffer still only had the support of 10% of Democrats and it was hard to see how he was going to climb any higher. In addition, he had only been able to raise about $500,000 in contributions, most of which came from his friends and business partners.
Surprisingly, even though he couldn't hang in the governor's race, he still thinks he can be a kingmaker in Democratic politics. He asked all the other candidates to also withdraw and throw their support behind Houston mayor Bill White, and asked White to quit the senate race and run for governor. White has said he will consider it and give his answer by December 4th.
As a North Texan, I have to admit that I don't know much about Bill White, and I doubt that most other North and West Texans do either. But I don't think the ultra-conservative Republican-supporter Tom Schieffer did him any good by throwing his support to him. If Schieffer likes him, then that serves as a warning to me.
Personally, I hope White stays out of the race. There are already two good candidates in the race (I don't think Farouk Shami or Felix Alvarado have even a small chance). White is not going to hurt Friedman's chances of winning, but he might be able to cut into Hank Gilbert's votes, and that's a shame.
Although Kinky Friedman has my support, I think Gilbert is a good candidate and I could easily support him if he were to win the primary. I'm not at all sure about Bill White, especially since Schieffer is so high on him.
Stay in the senate race, Mr. White. The governor's race already has two good candidates.
Re Kinky, I just hope he has learned a lot from getting his butt kicked three years ago. He's a delightful dude, but his TV debate performance was awful and his wit just didn't translate into an effective candidacy. I hope he will do better this time, because I don't think Hank Gilbert has the name recognition to have a chance next November.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think he thought his humor could carry him last time. I hope he's learned his lesson, because I think he has it in him to be a good campaigner (and governor) if he tries.
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting for kinky to say something to the people that can't afford his $500 plate fun raisers..i was for him last time till he made the entire thing into a joke..i saw him at a meeting at hot fair grounds office and after he kept turing every thing into one liners i told him ..'you know it doesn't matter if your hearts in the right place, if your heads up your ass.'...and left..he is the only one that laughed..
ReplyDeleteYDG-
ReplyDeleteAs you note, Kinky has the ability to laugh at himself (and may be the only candidate that can). But you are right in that he needs to get serious about his campaigning this time and keep the jokes to a minimum.