Bill White & The Endorsements
Mayor, 4 predecessors endorse White
No matter how you spin this one, this is a biggie for White, and the inevitability train keeps on rolling. That former Mayors Welch and Hofheinz are both on the same page is big enough. Lanier has been on board, and Brown was not a shock. I swear, there's a quote from Brown's speech that makes you see in the span of two simple sentences what a dolt the man is, though. How he got to be where he is in this world may confound Houstonians in particular for quite some time hereafter.
More interesting is that Orlando Sanchez is now attacking Bob Lanier. Wow, Lanier was the last mayor voted in with support from GOP leaders and voters. Now he's the "establishment" that Sanchez wants to run against? Hmmm, kinda liking this Bill White guy more and more every day. This slightly dated John Williams column has a bit more on Sanchez's fate. Hint: it ain't lookin' good. He's running farther to the right than that lil Mosbacher kid or Michael Berry (he of "7% in the polls" fame during his heroic run for Mayor) in a city that ... well, lets just say it ain't likely to vote Republican too often. Fight the good fight, Orlando ... maybe you can get a gig on Dennis Miller's new political show when and wherever it airs.
Official GO.com prediction ... White wins it, but can't quite crack 60%. The rest of the races, I'll predict later on.
UPDATE: Oh, so I hear the latest Orlando Sanchez radio ad on the way home from work. Funny peice of work. Seems he's going to repeal the rain tax. That would be the same rain tax that was postponed for the next mayor to decide what to do with the idea. So what's to repeal? There's a funny line in there also about how the status quo politicians that are pushing it are going to raise taxes on churches as a result of this ... yep, that Bill White is now a church taxer!
Exactly how f*cking pathetic is Orlando going to be on his way down to obscurity?
Comments
Orlando's looking even weaker than Mosbacher was.
55% of the hispanic vote! pathetic.
Posted by: Randall Garlington | November 21, 2003 01:15 PM
It's academic at this point, but can we FINALLY admit that the same people who propped up the Brown administration are backing White and not Sanchez?
Posted by: R. Alex | November 22, 2003 03:31 AM
When Bill White and his people were sitting in the equivalent of a smoky room cutting a deal on the light rail/trolley boondoggle and Mayor Pothole knew nothing about it, that should have been your indicator. The establishment had already moved on to their next champion.
Record spending may convince a majority that Bill White's some sort of populist nonpartisan, but the reality is that he has been the establishment candidate all along, and that the same business interests who so influenced the Lanier and Brown administrations are going to be just as influential. For the most part, that's how this city works, although we never really like to come right out and say it for some reason. One just hopes Mr. White will be more like Bob Lanier, and less like Pigpen Pothole. And one certainly hopes he's nothing like that other millionaire to buy himself a big-city mayoral office recently, Michael Bloomberg.
Posted by: kevin whited | November 22, 2003 09:31 AM
Easy to admit, Alex, when you consider that the "same people"/establishment are just wisely considering staying on the bandwagon that will likely win, rather than be on the outs for the next six years (like the Waldens will be). When you've got Jack Raines switching horses, you know by that point, it's a done deal.
Outside of that, I'd actually agree with Kevin on one of the more substantive points:
... and disagree on another ...
Posted by: Greg Wythe | November 22, 2003 02:13 PM