Governor Rick Perry (Left) & Tony Sanchez
Posted on 06/18/2004 1:25:06 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
HOUSTON — Shaking delegates' hands and hearing their pleas for him to re-enter the political fray, former gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez made a hurried appearance this morning at the Democratic Party's state convention here.
It was his most public appearance since being trounced in 2002 in his race against Gov. Rick Perry.
The multimillionaire oil and gas operator from Laredo refused to comment on his political future.
"I am not thinking about that right now, I have not made any decision," he said when a reporter asked if he plans to run for public office again. Later he added that he "won't think about running until six, seven, eight months from now."
But he pointedly refused to rule himself out of any future race.
"The issues that were important to me, that got me to run (in 2002) public education and health issues for the children of Texas, are just as bad if not worse today," Sanchez said. "I am not here to point fingers, but nothing is better (now) than two years ago, and I am concerned, I am bothered."
He declined interview requests, but answered questions as he hurriedly crossed the convention floor on his way to a closed-door meeting on the future of Texas Democrats.
Sanchez said his plan "is to be actively engaged in Democratic Party politics, but it might not be as a candidate. I do not think of myself as a candidate, but I will be working to elect Democrats."
Former campaign aides said Sanchez, who earlier this week was traveling out of the country, according to his Laredo office staff, said he almost did not attend the convention for fear of being asked the burning question: will he run again?
"We need you," one delegate said, rushing to shake his hand.
"I'm so sorry you are not my governor," another commented.
He smiled and momentarily stopped to slap backs and chitchat as an aide hurried him into the private meeting of 16 people, organized by state Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston.
During the meeting, Sanchez could be seen through a glass window.
He sat, alone, in the last row of the large meeting room with his arms folded across his chest. He did not speak during the hour-plus meeting at which University of Houston political science professor Richard Murray and Glenn Smith, Sanchez's 2002 campaign manager, spoke.
Murray told the small select audience that was later joined by a handful of state senators, including Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio, that "extreme conservatives, dominating low-turnout Republican primaries, have pulled the state farther and farther from its traditional centrist approach" on key issues including health care, funding of public education, abortion rights and civil justice.
--------------------ggarcia@express-news.net
Austin Bureau staff writer Gardner W. Selby contributed to this report.
Governor Rick Perry (Left) & Tony Sanchez
This will not make the employees of Sanchez Oil Company happy. First of all, they're largely Republican and they're uncomfortable discussing politics in the workplace. And Tony's last campaign was a huge distraction from the business of finding oil and gas.
I'm a Reagan-style pubbie and have been since l976 but I can tell you, as a Texan, Rick Perry is absolutely stupid. Even Republicans have a hard time handling some of his dumb stunts. Look for Perry to be defeated next go 'rounnd; for real.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
