Unexpected sincerity in candidate’s voice
Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2010 2:00 am
By Rayanne Schmid, Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel

“Somewhere in the speeches, parades and public appearances, politicians can lose their more human side.

Constituents equal votes. Enough votes puts him in office. A successful term or two leads to a push up the political ladder.

Talks with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White and his wife Andrea prove that people still exist who can sit down and simply talk about the issues. No rhetoric.

That there are people who care about the government’s mission more than the position’s power.

I am sure most of you have realized that I tend to be a bit conservative – attributable to my native Texan upbringing in a Christian, German-Irish family of law enforcement officers and elementary school teachers.

But I also call it how I see it – no matter the party affiliation or preconceived notions involved.

In my 18 years as a journalist, I’ve learned that too many sit-down conversations with political long-timers sound nearly robotic. Lines come across rehearsed or the politician too often glances at an assistant to assure he is sending a consistent message.

In some of those sessions, I asked myself, “Where is the heartfelt message? The passion to make a difference?”

On two separate occasions, I found Bill and Andrea White to be friendly and gracious with their time. They appear to value visiting with small communities, associations and most of all newspapers.

Gov. Perry made it quite clear in the primaries that he had little use for visiting newspaper editorial boards, and essentially shunned the thousands of town residents who rely on the newspaper for their main source of information.

It’s a decision which won’t soon be forgotten.

Bill White, on the other hand, made an appointment with The Daily Sentinel staff early in his run. His messages and ideals for the state came across loud and clear, with no doubt what area heavily piques his interest – education. A man after my own heart.

In addition, Bill White is making appearances such as a debate in Kerrville with Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Kathy Glass, in which Gov. Perry declined to participate.

White also spoke to the Texas Press Association in San Antonio, the American Legion state convention in Beaumont among other stops along the way.

Standing firmly behind Bill and his campaign for governor is his wife, an attorney who became a noted children’s author, as well as their three children.

Andrea White spends a share of time on the road seeking supporters in places like Fort Stockton, Seguin, Wichita Falls and Dallas.

Mrs. White stresses that her husband, “is a competent business man who cares about this state.”

She explained that Bill White is “tight with money” and can cut a tax rate while increasing services. “Don’t get fooled by labels,” she said of his decision to run as a Democrat.

In the conversations, the Whites’ humanity shines through. A sincerity rings true in their voices. They seem to care deeply about Texas, their family and one another.

No robotic replies. How refreshing.”

Here is part of the Quorum Reports story:
“Given the way Texas is viewed at the national level, Democrats within the state will have to realize they are going to be on their own for the next few cycles, he said. Murray mentioned a couple of factors that will aid Democrats. Natural increase among Hispanic Texans remains the biggest driver in the state’s demographics. Also, Murray noted that half of McCain’s support came from white evangelicals, a demographic group in decline. That means the long-term prospects of Texas returning to a two-party state remain good. Murray suggested that the Texas House would fall back into Democratic hands by 2020.”

“The best opportunity to rebuild the Democratic Party would be for a Democrat to win the Governor’s seat. Murray pointed to Bill Clements’ victory as a historic parallel for the ascendancy of the GOP in Texas. “You really need to capture the governorship to build a minority party back up,” he said.

In Bill White, Democrats have perhaps their best candidate to accomplish that, Murray said. The task, though, is difficult because he will have to capture 55 to 60 percent of the independent vote, which tends to lean Republican in Texas, Murray said.”

Given the way Texas is viewed at the national level, Democrats within the state will have to realize they are going to be on their own for the next few cycles, he said. Murray mentioned a couple of factors that will aid Democrats. Natural increase among Hispanic Texans remains the biggest driver in the state’s demographics. Also, Murray noted that half of McCain’s support came from white evangelicals, a demographic group in decline. That means the long-term prospects of Texas returning to a two-party state remain good. Murray suggested that the Texas House would fall back into Democratic hands by 2020.

The best opportunity to rebuild the Democratic Party would be for a Democrat to win the Governor’s seat. Murray pointed to Bill Clements’ victory as a historic parallel for the ascendancy of the GOP in Texas. “You really need to capture the governorship to build a minority party back up,” he said.

In Bill White, Democrats have perhaps their best candidate to accomplish that, Murray said. The task, though, is difficult because he will have to capture 55 to 60 percent of the independent vote, which tends to lean Republican in Texas, Murray said.

“In the seven weeks since incumbent Rick Perry won the Republican Primary, there has been little change in the race for Governor of Texas.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely Texas voters finds Perry with 48% support. His Democratic opponent, former Houston Mayor Bill White, picks up 44% of the vote, his best showing to date. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate in the race, and six percent (6%) remain undecided.

A month ago, just after beating back Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison’s GOP Primary challenge, Perry led White 49% to 43%.

Any incumbent who earns less than 50% support at this stage of a campaign is considered potentially vulnerable.

Perry has hit 50% only once so far this year, in January just after White announced his candidacy.

The Rasmussen Reports Media Meter shows that most press coverage of both candidates has been negative in the week prior to release of this poll. Media Meter results are updated daily at RasmussenReports.com/Texas along with the latest polling and other Texas news.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it’s in the news, it’s in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

Opposition to the just-passed national health care plan is even higher in Texas than it is nationally.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Texas voters favor repeal of the health care plan while just 28% are opposed.

These figures include 58% who strongly favor repeal and 23% who strongly oppose it.

Perry picks up 75% of the votes of those who strongly favor repeal. White gets 89% of the votes of the smaller group who are strongly opposed.

The incumbent who is seeking an unprecedented third term as governor holds a slight lead among male voters and breaks roughly even among women. Voters not affiliated with either party give Perry a modest five-point edge over White.”

Nicholas D. Kristof: Access, Access, Access in the New York Times has an interesting message about abortion and health care reform.  If you oppose a women’s right to choose, you should be for the Obama health care reform.

Why, because getting health care prevents unwanted pregnancies.   That makes sense.  Here is part of his report.

“There’s one group that should be particularly passionate about supporting Mr. Obama’s efforts: opponents of abortions. There’s abundant cross-country evidence that the best way to hold down abortion numbers is to improve access to health care and thus prevent unwanted pregnancies.

As T.R. Reid (my editor way back in the 13th century when I was a college intern at The Washington Post) noted in The Post this week: “Increasing health-care coverage is one of the most powerful tools for reducing the number of abortions — a fact proved by years of experience in other industrialized nations.”

The United States has one-third more abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age than Canada, and more than twice as many as Germany, said Mr. Reid, author of an excellent recent book on health care around the world. While countries with liberal social policies typically make abortion accessible and cheap, they make other elements of health care accessible and cheap as well — such as contraception and child care. Research by the Guttmacher Institute suggests that access to contraception could be the crucial factor in reducing pregnancies and abortions.

The tide of history has taken us and other Western countries toward steadily greater access to medical coverage — until recent reversals in the United States. Put aside quarrels over the mechanisms used to pass the bill, and focus on the central question of Americans’ access to decent medical care. On that issue, those trying to kill this health care reform proposal are simply on the wrong side of history.”

•

So the Gossips are talking about our senior senator from Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchinson.  Will she resign her seat or stay in the Senate until her term expires in 2012.   We think she will stay.  Life as a Senator is not too hard and the pay is fine and besides she can help Texas some more.  So we say she stays.

Election returns and political consultants, however, say the losses of Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Leo Vasquez and Railroad Commissioner Victor Carrillo had more to do with personal issues and poorly run campaigns than ethnicity.

Carrillo’s father and half-brother died last year, and Carrillo underwent surgery for a benign brain tumor, all affecting the time he spent campaigning for re-election. Vasquez lost social conservative support, local Republicans said, because he lives with a woman married to another man.

Carrillo started the ethnic angst with an e-mail to supporters indicating racial bias had cost him re-election. That was followed up by Vasquez’s campaign manager and girlfriend, SuZanne Feather, sending out an e-mail saying there were “many similarities” between Carrillo and Vasquez’s loss on Tuesday to tea party activist Don Sumners. Vasquez joined in during an interview with the Houston Chronicle.

“It is perplexing that someone could basically spend no money whatsoever and mount no campaign and win as handily as he did,” Vasquez said. “The same thing happened in the Victor Carrillo race as well.”

But Vasquez’s predecessor in office, Paul Bettencourt said Vasquez lost because he had issues in his personal life that cost him the support of social conservative organizations.

Consultant Allen Blakemore, speaking for social conservative leader Steve Hotze, said Republicans were upset with Vasquez for settling a voter-registration lawsuit with Democrats and for not being as vocal on property tax increases as Bettencourt. Blakemore said the “final blow” came when social conservative leaders learned Vasquez lives with a woman married to another man.

Vasquez admitted social conservative leaders Hotze and Terry Lowry “probably got him (Sumners) another 10,000 votes and maybe even made the full difference between us.”

“The Republican Party, especially in Harris County, has been, unfortunately, overly controlled and influenced by a small, but vocal group on the religious right, and we need to get back to the core principles of fiscal conservative issues rather than these social issues that are being perpetuated by that small, but vocal, minority,” Vasquez said.

He refused to discuss whether his personal life made a difference. He and Feather said they have had a relationship for a decade.

“Our relationship never seemed to be an issue while we were out writing the checks and putting up the signs and doing other grass-roots work for the Republican Party,” Vasquez said.

Carrillo, who won the 2004 Republican nomination by defeating an Anglo in a runoff, stunned many Republicans by putting out an e-mail blaming his loss Tuesday to a little-known opponent, David Porter, on racially biased voting.

“Early polling showed that the typical GOP primary voter has very little info about the position of Railroad Commissioner, what we do, or who my opponent or I were,” Carrillo said in an e-mail to supporters. “Given the choice between “Porter” and “Carrillo” — unfortunately, the Hispanic-surname was a serious setback from which I could never recover although I did all in my power to overcome this built-in bias.”

Outreach efforts
Republicans have been trying to reach out to Hispanic voters in recent years, but they have been hurt by anti-immigration rhetoric that some take to be anti-Hispanic sentiments. Carrillo’s statement likely will fuel that fire.

Election returns from Tuesday’s voting show Carrillo lost not only statewide but also in traditionally Hispanic counties, such as Hidalgo and Cameron.

In the Supreme Court Place 9 race, down the ballot from the Railroad Commission race, there were more than 1.1 million ballots cast in a race that gave Eva Guzman the nomination over Rose Vela — meaning at least some of the voters who cast ballots for Porter also voted for one of the Hispanic women.

Republican consultant Ted Delisi said Carrillo spent far less than Railroad Commissioners Elizabeth Ames Jones or Michael Williams did on their re-election campaigns and said Carrillo did little personal campaigning.

“In the end, a bad campaign is just a bad campaign,” Delisi said.

r.g.ratcliffe@chron.com

chris.moran@chron.com

I knew Charlie Wilson for many years, first as a State Senator and then as a Congressman and I liked him very much. He was fun to be around and he knew the ways of the Legislature and the Congress. I use to party with him and spend time in his DC office with Charlies girls, all of whom were smart and good looking. I also knew Joanne King Harring when she was married to Bob Herring, who I worked for.

Charlie was an orginal and I am happy to have known him.

Here is the Houston Chronicle story of his life and death.

“Charlie Wilson, the larger-than-life Texas congressman whose efforts to fund Afghanistan’s resistance to the Soviet Union in the 1980s were made into a movie, died Wednesday of heart failure.

He was 76, and for a little more than two years had been living with a transplanted heart from Houston’s Methodist Hospital.

Old friends said Wilson was most proud of his role in defeating the Soviets in Afghanistan, bringing a Veterans Administration clinic home to Lufkin, and helping to create the Big Thicket National Preserve. But they said he represented more than all of that.

“First he was a wonderfully kind and generous person,” said John Wing, who traveled with Wilson to Afghanistan and Pakistan and remained close to him. “That kindness and generosity extended to everyone, no matter whether they were president of a country or a person down and out and looking for a job. Charlie saw no colors, no difference in people’s worldly standing. He just saw people.”

Wing notes that Wilson represented the 2nd District in East Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1973 through 1996, and that he was always ranked first or second in constituent services.

“And that was a damn good thing because he was not the prototypical East Texan,” said Wing, founder and chairman of Wing Aviation. “There’s not a lot worth recording about his behavior or mine when we were both single.”

Wing says Wilson gave up drinking and womanizing when he fell head over heels for his wife, Barbara. They recently celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary.

Pain and praise Wednesday afternoon, as high-powered politicians sang Wilson’s praises, it was his old friends who sounded deeply pained.

One was Buddy Temple, who knew Wilson since 1964 and was with him when he collapsed.

Wilson was born June 1, 1933, in the small East Texas town of Trinity.

Temple can’t remember exactly how old Wilson was, perhaps 13, when he entered politics.

Wilson himself told the story many times : his beloved dog used to run into a neighbor’s yard, and in retaliation the neighbor, who happened to be a city council incumbent, poisoned the dog.

Wilson ran against the man and won because he ferried so many voters, mostly poor and black, to the polls.

Wilson went on to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy, then serve as a Navy officer and spend six terms in the Texas Legislature.

Tom Bacon, who spent a year as a legislative and press aide to Wilson shortly after he was first elected, said his boss had a tendency to write his own press releases. That infuriated Bacon, in part because that was his job, in part because Wilson was a poor writer.

Finally, the aide had enough and quit.

“I went storming down into his office ready to fight,” Bacon recalled. “He kept intruding on my job. But when I left, I was drinking whiskey with him. He had the knack of making you like him.”

Wilson was married when he went to Congress in the early ’70s, but that marriage didn’t last long in Washington, where he was surrounded by temptation.

He was known for and hiring gorgeous women in his office who came to be known as Charlie’s Angels.

“Yes, he was a good-time guy and a womanizer,” says Houston attorney Terry O’Rourke, who worked for Wilson in the Texas Senate, then in Congress. “But he was hiring very intelligent women before anybody else, and they were a part of his success.”

Wilson took seriously his constituents but little else until he became involved in Afghanistan. He was convinced that the Communism was going to spread there and beyond unless they were stopped. In the ’80s, he helped channel billions of dollars in American aid to the war effort.

Helped by Houstonian His partner in the effort was Joanne King Herring, a Houston socialite, crusader and staunch anti-communist. During their brief love affair, they lived and breathed the Afghanistan conflict, and the Soviets found themselves outmanned, outgunned and outsmarted.

Detractors say the arms they helped provide the Afghan mujahadeen wound up in the hands of the Taliban government, which was harboring Osama bin Laden at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Wilson and Herring’s relationship died a natural death, but they got back in touch when George Crile wrote a hard-to-believe-but-nonetheless-true account of their adventures, Charlie Wilson’s War.

Tom Hanks played Wilson and Julia Roberts played Herring in the 2007 movie version. The surrounding hoopla put Wilson and Herring back in the limelight.

Wilson loved the book, loved the movie and loved hobnobbing with the Hollywood stars. By then, however, he was recovering from the heart transplant and his activities were limited. He made it to the Los Angeles opening accompanied by not just Barbara and his old friends Wing and Temple, but also his cardiologist and large amounts of medical equipment.

Herring, unencumbered and in excellent health, said, “I would have hated it if Charlie had missed this. This is his moment.”

‘He left us a legacy’ Wednesday evening, a saddened Herring described Wilson as a patriot and dear friend.

“He left us a legacy that we must fulfill,” she said. “We have to rebuild Afghanistan so that the people can maintain themselves and our soldiers can come home. The villagers can do it. We just have to help them with health care and education.”

Wilson actually went to a meeting with his friend Temple on Wednesday morning, and the two men were together when Wilson started to go into cardiopulmonary arrest.

“He was sharp, very sharp at the meeting, but he hadn’t been feeling 100 percent for a while,” Temple said. “We have lost a giant. There won’t be another like him for a while.”

Chronicle reporter Mike Tolson contributed. ”

I knew Charlie Wilson for many years, first as a State Senator and then as a Congressman and I liked him very much. He was fun to be around and he knew the ways of the Legislature and the Congress. I use to party with him and spend time in his DC office with Charlies girls, all of whom were smart and good looking. I also knew Joanne King Harring when she was married to Bob Herring, who I worked for.

Charlie was an orginal and I am happy to have known him.

Here is the Houston Chronicle story of his life and death.

“Charlie Wilson, the larger-than-life Texas congressman whose efforts to fund Afghanistan’s resistance to the Soviet Union in the 1980s were made into a movie, died Wednesday of heart failure.

He was 76, and for a little more than two years had been living with a transplanted heart from Houston’s Methodist Hospital.

Old friends said Wilson was most proud of his role in defeating the Soviets in Afghanistan, bringing a Veterans Administration clinic home to Lufkin, and helping to create the Big Thicket National Preserve. But they said he represented more than all of that.

“First he was a wonderfully kind and generous person,” said John Wing, who traveled with Wilson to Afghanistan and Pakistan and remained close to him. “That kindness and generosity extended to everyone, no matter whether they were president of a country or a person down and out and looking for a job. Charlie saw no colors, no difference in people’s worldly standing. He just saw people.”

Wing notes that Wilson represented the 2nd District in East Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1973 through 1996, and that he was always ranked first or second in constituent services.

“And that was a damn good thing because he was not the prototypical East Texan,” said Wing, founder and chairman of Wing Aviation. “There’s not a lot worth recording about his behavior or mine when we were both single.”

Wing says Wilson gave up drinking and womanizing when he fell head over heels for his wife, Barbara. They recently celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary.

Pain and praise Wednesday afternoon, as high-powered politicians sang Wilson’s praises, it was his old friends who sounded deeply pained.

One was Buddy Temple, who knew Wilson since 1964 and was with him when he collapsed.

Wilson was born June 1, 1933, in the small East Texas town of Trinity.

Temple can’t remember exactly how old Wilson was, perhaps 13, when he entered politics.

Wilson himself told the story many times : his beloved dog used to run into a neighbor’s yard, and in retaliation the neighbor, who happened to be a city council incumbent, poisoned the dog.

Wilson ran against the man and won because he ferried so many voters, mostly poor and black, to the polls.

Wilson went on to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy, then serve as a Navy officer and spend six terms in the Texas Legislature.

Tom Bacon, who spent a year as a legislative and press aide to Wilson shortly after he was first elected, said his boss had a tendency to write his own press releases. That infuriated Bacon, in part because that was his job, in part because Wilson was a poor writer.

Finally, the aide had enough and quit.

“I went storming down into his office ready to fight,” Bacon recalled. “He kept intruding on my job. But when I left, I was drinking whiskey with him. He had the knack of making you like him.”

Wilson was married when he went to Congress in the early ’70s, but that marriage didn’t last long in Washington, where he was surrounded by temptation.

He was known for and hiring gorgeous women in his office who came to be known as Charlie’s Angels.

“Yes, he was a good-time guy and a womanizer,” says Houston attorney Terry O’Rourke, who worked for Wilson in the Texas Senate, then in Congress. “But he was hiring very intelligent women before anybody else, and they were a part of his success.”

Wilson took seriously his constituents but little else until he became involved in Afghanistan. He was convinced that the Communism was going to spread there and beyond unless they were stopped. In the ’80s, he helped channel billions of dollars in American aid to the war effort.

Helped by Houstonian His partner in the effort was Joanne King Herring, a Houston socialite, crusader and staunch anti-communist. During their brief love affair, they lived and breathed the Afghanistan conflict, and the Soviets found themselves outmanned, outgunned and outsmarted.

Detractors say the arms they helped provide the Afghan mujahadeen wound up in the hands of the Taliban government, which was harboring Osama bin Laden at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Wilson and Herring’s relationship died a natural death, but they got back in touch when George Crile wrote a hard-to-believe-but-nonetheless-true account of their adventures, Charlie Wilson’s War.

Tom Hanks played Wilson and Julia Roberts played Herring in the 2007 movie version. The surrounding hoopla put Wilson and Herring back in the limelight.

Wilson loved the book, loved the movie and loved hobnobbing with the Hollywood stars. By then, however, he was recovering from the heart transplant and his activities were limited. He made it to the Los Angeles opening accompanied by not just Barbara and his old friends Wing and Temple, but also his cardiologist and large amounts of medical equipment.

Herring, unencumbered and in excellent health, said, “I would have hated it if Charlie had missed this. This is his moment.”

‘He left us a legacy’ Wednesday evening, a saddened Herring described Wilson as a patriot and dear friend.

“He left us a legacy that we must fulfill,” she said. “We have to rebuild Afghanistan so that the people can maintain themselves and our soldiers can come home. The villagers can do it. We just have to help them with health care and education.”

Wilson actually went to a meeting with his friend Temple on Wednesday morning, and the two men were together when Wilson started to go into cardiopulmonary arrest.

“He was sharp, very sharp at the meeting, but he hadn’t been feeling 100 percent for a while,” Temple said. “We have lost a giant. There won’t be another like him for a while.”

Chronicle reporter Mike Tolson contributed. ”