Get off Bill White's Back and Get on John Sharp's

by: Todd Hill

Thu Aug 20, 2009 at 01:07 PM CDT

Some are pressing for White to switch races. With the momentum of a successful tenure as mayor of the state's largest city, the moderate White appears to be the best thing going for Texas Democrats in 2010.

I want to know who these people are that continue to "press" Houston Mayor Bill White to get out of a potential senate race and get into a gubernatorial race he doesn't want to run in.  Who are you?  Get off his back!  The man you should be "pressing" to get out of a potential senate race and get into a gubernatorial race that needs a serious injection of excitement is John Sharp.  

I believe it would be good for the Democratic Party to have more than one person in the gubernatorial race.  As we sit right now only one serious candidate, Tom Schieffer, has declared, but former Travis County District Attorney, Ronnie Earle, appears to be revving up his political engines for a statewide campaign too.  I think Sharp is better qualified, and in a better position politically, to change the dynamics completely of the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Sharp's campaign doesn't appear to be raising the funds necessary, outside of personal loans, to remain competitive in a potential U.S. senate race.  I suspect that is because those donors who thought Mayor White would run for governor versus the United States Senate suddenly found themselves choosing between Sharp and White.  Many people, including myself, believe that Bill White is the brightest star we have in the Democratic Party, and donors and grassroots supporters do too.  Those who committed to Sharp assuming White would run for governor suddenly switched allegiances upon his announcement that he would run in an eventual special election senate race.  White's fundraising numbers prove that is the case.  That doesn't mean those donors don't support Sharp, they just don't support him in a head to head race with Bill White.

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Such a move on the part of Sharp would instantly move much needed attention from the Republican Primary, to the Democratic Primary, and energize the Democratic base in the process.  He becomes the frontrunner instantly in primary race that would be his to lose.  We must keep Democrats at home in our primary if we want to run against Rick Perry over Kay Bailey Hutchison.  Those moderate to conservative Democrats considering Kay Bailey Hutchison are likely to stay home in the Democratic Primary to choose between either of our moderate to conservative Democrats in Sharp or Schieffer. Should Earle run you can throw him into the primary vote mix too.  You clear the road for donors to commit fully to Mayor Bill White and build his war chest for what will be a free-for-all, highly expensive special election--should it occur.  In this process you consolidate Democratic support and resources behind one candidate versus splitting them, thus giving us the best shot in a free-for-all special election to fill a senate vacancy.  Splitting our resources guarantees we lose the special election.  In the meantime, Democrats stay home and decide which gubernatorial candidate will take on Rick Perry and, as a result, we have the 2010 dynamics that Texas Democrats have been building toward over several election cycles.  Their shouldn't be any doubt that a rigorous Democratic gubernatorial primary will make our eventual nominee a better general election candidate.  

It's time to get off Bill White's back and get on John Sharp's.      

UPDATE: Gardner Selby with the Austin American-Statesmen gave me a heads up that in his article from August 15th that John Sharp's campaign said their was "Zero chance" that he [Sharp] would enter the gubernatorial race.  We'll see.