| Before reading any further, read KT's great post, Attention Democrats: Farouk Shami Can't Win in November. Now, this isn't going to be a rehashing of KT's greater points about polls or advertising. Instead, we are going to talk about hypocrisy and broken promises.
Rather than agreeing with the Farouk Shami of yesterday, I want to agree with the Shami campaign of December 4:
"I respect everybody and every member of the Democratic Party." Source: Farouk on KOOP radio
"I'm not running against Bill White. Bill White is a good man." Source: Farouk on KOOP radio
That was in December. This is now:
White can't even muster enough points in the pool to defeat Debra Medina, the darling of the Tea Party movement in Texas. Medina struggles to get 16% support in the Republican polls, but still bests the establishment-anointed "Democratic Frontrunner" Bill White. Medina now edges White 41% to 38%. Last month, White had a 44% to 38% lead on her. While the Democratic Party establishment focuses on a career politician, Farouk Shami has been gaining support among rank-and-file Democratic Primary voters across the state.
"It is time to end politics as usual. This poll is proof positive that the Texas Democratic establishment couldn't lead a silent prayer, much less designate our party's standard bearer," Farouk Shami said when he saw these results.
[...]
"We need real courage, real leadership and a candidate that's out there listening to the voters, not pandering to donors and reciting tired talking points. That's the kind of campaign Farouk Shami is running. We look forward to a healthy debate on February 8," Vince Leibowitz, Campaign Director added.
Again, KT already took on most of these claims. I wanted to highlight one important part:
It is time to end the game of politics as usual. On that, I completely agree. The nasty, negative campaigning hurts the party and does nothing to solve real problems in Texas. Perry has been in elected office for a quarter century; Kay Bailey Hutchison for two decades. Bill White has been a politician for 6 years. Again, I agree with Shami that we should end the era of career politicians in Texas, but White's 6 years as Mayor, does not a career politician make.
This release ignores real basic points shown in the most recent poll numbers. We first alluded to the real basic positives after the Scott Brown victory in Massachusetts.
As we outlined weeks ago:
- Bill White "very favorables" are stronger than any other candidate.
- Only 16% of voters "strongly approve" of RP job performance.
- White has strength among women.
If Texas Democrats want to win, we have to get serious and this kind of ridiculous attack on a fellow Democrat does not move us forward. It's the kind of tactic you see from a desperate campaign in the final throes.
Shami and every other candidate needs to make a case for why they are the best person for the job. A negative narrative doesn't work if it doesn't have a positive to counter-balance it. Shami is in the tall grass with no public poll, a message that fails to resonate with any voters, a complete lack of experience in governing, and now his only message appears to be an anti-party, anti-White commentary.
Here's hoping that Farouk Shami and his Campaign Director, Vince Leibowitz, follow their own advice and end politics as usual. Let's have a discussion. Let's have a debate. But let's not blast out foolish press releases that reek of hypocrisy and the worst kind of politics.
P.S. If you advocate for new ideas, then don't recycle the same old lines about the Democratic party not being able to lead a silent prayer. |
