Hispanic Endorsement Hurts Democrats in Texas

FindLaw.com ^ | October 8, 2002 | Jeff Franks

[Bubba_Leroy]

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Texas Democrats' hope of riding the Hispanic vote to victory in the November election took a hit on Tuesday when one of the party's top Hispanics endorsed Republican incumbent Rick Perry for governor.

Former Texas Attorney General Dan Morales said he supported Perry because his Democratic challenger, wealthy businessman Tony Sanchez, lacked the experience and ethics required to lead the nation's second largest state.

"I'm a Democrat, but I'm first and foremost a Texan," Morales, who lost the race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to Sanchez, told cheering Perry supporters at the governor's Houston campaign headquarters. "I'm asking every Texan to put aside party politics ... and vote for the best man for the job."

Sanchez' heritage and personal fortune are central to a Democratic strategy of winning enough minority votes to oust Republicans from power in Texas. The GOP currently holds every statewide office.

At stake along with the governorship is a U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Phil Gramm. A win by the Democrats would help the party keep control of the Senate and give President Bush an embarrassing defeat in his home state.

Morales was soundly defeated this spring by Sanchez, a Laredo oilman and banker and a political novice who would be the first Hispanic governor in modern Texas.

ACT OF CONSCIENCE

He said his support for Perry was not an act of revenge, but of conscience. He accused Sanchez of questionable dealings in his oil and banking businesses and said his only qualification for being governor was his "big bank account."

"The office of governor of Texas should not be auctioned off to the highest bidder," Morales said.

According to campaign finance figures released this week, Sanchez has spent $53 million of his own money.

Combined, he and Perry have spent almost $74 million, a state record.

Morales, who does not plan to seek public office again, said he could not support Sanchez solely because he was a fellow Hispanic.

"It's not enough simply to be Hispanic. There's no doubt Gov. Rick Perry is the most qualified candidate," he said in Spanish.

Perry, a former state legislator and lieutenant governor who succeeded Bush when he won the presidency, said Morales' endorsement "speaks volumes about the fact that I have worked across party lines to build a better Texas."

A Sanchez spokesman downplayed the endorsement, calling Morales "irrelevant" to the race.

Democrats are banking on Sanchez to draw enough Hispanic voters to help the party's other candidates, including former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, a black moderate in a close race with state Attorney General John Cornyn for Gramm's senate seat.

Recent polls showed Perry leading Sanchez by nine percentage points and Cornyn leading Kirk by six.

Democrats believe a large black turnout for Kirk will also help Sanchez.

[Dog Gone]

I'm curious how you're going to spin this into more bad news for Republicans.

[Anti-Bubba182]

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[ambrose]

I'd say stick a fork in him, Sanchez is done... I don't think Morales would have made this move if he had any doubt as to who is going to win in November.

[Russell Scott]

Its time for the Dems to replace Sanchez with Jennifer Lopez, George Lopez, or a LoPEZ dispenser.

[PhiKapMom]

LOL!!!!!!!! So you are onto TR as well! The spin should be interesting!

[sinkspur]

I'd say stick a fork in him, Sanchez is done...

I'd say you're right. Sanchez has done nothing to counter the "crook" image that Perry has succesfully painted on him. This "we didn't elect him, we don't have to keep him" mantra that Sanchez uses against Perry is juvenile.

"Fat Tony" will pis* away $60 million on a failed campaign.

Rick Perry is not a shooting star like Bush, but he's not afraid to take a stand against powerful interests, as he's doing with Farmer's Insurance right now.

He's a good man, and I'm hoping he appears with John Cornyn more. These two are good for Texas!

[deport]

From another poll........

The poll was conducted from Sept. 30 through Oct. 6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1%.

Governor , "who do you think you would vote for if the election were held today?"

	State	North Texas	East Texas	South Texas	Central Texas	West Texas
Democrat Tony Sanchez, Jr.	29%	31%	28%	32%	26%	15%
Republican Rick Perry	56%	52%	59%	50%	56%	70%
Undecided	15%	16%	13%	18%	18%	12%

[deport]

De spin .... de spin...... well here's one cycle.

No Texan has spent this much to run, ever

Sanchez has shelled out more than $50 million of his own money.

By Ken Herman

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, October 8, 2002

Democrat Tony Sanchez, whose self-generosity knows no bounds, has spent $54.4 million of his own money in his quest to unseat Republican Gov. Rick Perry, according to reports filed Monday.

Sanchez could be on pace to become the greatest self-funder in American political history, a title now held by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who spent $79 million of his own money to get the job last year.

Those who are willing to spend Michael Bloomberg, New York mayor, 2001 $79 million (won) Jon Corzine, New Jersey senator, 2000, $60 million (won) Tony Sanchez, Texas governor, 2002, $54.4 million Steve Forbes, president, 2000, $38.7 million (dropped out)

[Dog Gone]

Toast.

[shiva]

Toast

You got that right!!!

[Theodore R.]

This is good news, Dog Gone, what else could I say? We have not had such good news on the Republican side in TX all year until today. I am no longer worried about Sanchez winning, but I am still uneasy about Kirk pulling an upset.

[Dog Gone]

US Senate"who do you think you would vote for if the election were held today?"

		State	North Texas	East Texas	South Texas	Central Texas	West Texas
Democrat Ron Kirk	30%	33%	28%	29%	33%	20%
Republican John Cornyn	56%	55%	57%	51%	55%	66%
Undecided	14%	12%	14%	20%	12%	14%

	State	Male	Female	White	Hisp	Afri-Amer
Democrat Ron Kirk	29%	26%	33%	24%	43%	77%
Republican John Cornyn	56%	61%	51%	63%	30%	9%
Undecided	15%	12%	16%	13%	26%	14%

link

[anymouse]

$100M spent by Sanchez in trying to gain the Texas Governor's seat.

One short speech by Dan Morales endorsing Gov. Perry.

November 6th, 6AM: Sanchez sitting alone in an empty "victory party" hall and $100M poorer - priceless. :)

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

You know me and I don't panic, but I'll tell you how this is a problem. We've spent a couple of years telling people former Attorney General Morales was a SOB for the way he handled the payoffs to the anti-tobacco lawyers. Now Perry is standing beside the guy saying how wonderful he is.

I was with my County Chairman for the Perry campaign just after she got back from the news conference this afternoon. She is in a mild panic knowing what is about to hit the fan among the most conservative wing of the party.

I hope this doesn't become a problem. We are also seeing Dewhurst problems out here.

[okie01]

He [Morales] said his support for Perry was not an act of revenge, but of conscience.

Conscience? I wasn't aware that Morales had one...

[Dog Gone]

Morales is an SOB, and so are the Teamsters. But most politicians won't turn down an endorsement from someone who would normally endorse the opponent. I'm not sure Morales's endorsement helps Perry; it's possible it even hurts him some among those who claim ideological purity.

But my feeling is that those people already had a problem with Perry, and were going to hold their nose and vote for him anyway.

I don't think there's any doubt, though, that this endorsement HURTS Sanchez, far more than it could ever hurt Perry.

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

weeping for the libs NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Txslady]

That was a good one!! LOL

[WOSG]

A smart politician should be able to handle it okay ... Morales is endorsing *Perry* not the other way around.

These guys in the media think this is a 'hispanic' think - it aint- they miss an important point ... Morales was Sanchez' *opponent* in the primary!! This shows how hopeless Sanchez is, that he cant convince and unify his own party..

Biggest waste of ego-driven campaigning since Michael Huffington vs. Feinstein. (remember him?)


Anyway other than the anti-tobacco stuff I have some respect for Morales - more so than most Dmeocrats.. he actually followed the law on Hopwood (struck down AA quotas) and advised UT to do the same. The lawless PC crowd on campus didnt much like that.

It shows he's not a Demo-robot.

The Dems would have done better to nominate him and not the money-bags Sanchez. Beside, Victor and Dan Morales would have greatly simplified the voting for the Democrats. :-)