BILL WHITE ANNOUNCES CHANGE FROM SENATE TO GOVERNOR (Received well by Conservatives and Moderates)

Ben B. Boothe Sr. and Bill WhiteThe last Democrat in the Texas Governor’s seat was Ann Richards in 1994. Bill White aims to take that seat back. Back in June, Bill White was running for U.S. Senate and we met him at Steve and Nenetta Tatum’s private home reception. Now in December it is a different world. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson decided to keep her Senate seat, and Tom Scheiffer dropped out of the governor’s race. Yes, Texas politics is like a pin ball machine, with candidates bouncing all over the place. But while the title may change for White, his philosophy remains solidly moderate. He is not an ideologue, not a mean spirited man, and his focus and respectful charisma has helped him to be an effective leader. That would be a refreshing change for Texas.

When Kay Bailey Hutchinson was running for Governor, we saw a real Texas brawl, with Rick Perry. Insults, charges, and counter charges making headlines daily. Did you notice? Bill White is very respectful. He has strong convictions, but constantly avoids personal attacks staying with the high ground of issues and suggestions for making ours a better place. I flew to Amarillo last Monday, and the TV was filled with political mud slinging of the governor's race. Bill White simply takes the high ground, and runs on a solid record of past business achievements as well as being one of Houston's outstanding mayors. When asked how he would respond to "slander tactics", he simply said: "Most Texans are tired of that name calling. We will stay focused Bill White, Wise, not a Mud Slinger on the moderate middle, where most people are."

Rick Perry seems distracted by other things. We were recently visiting Dubai and they told us that "Rick Perry may live in Dubai". Of course as we have owned a appraisal business in Texas for over 20 years, we travel widely and are interested when we hear what our governor is doing. 

Bill White has been most impressive in his years as Mayor of Houston. We supported him when he was running for Senate, and we support him as a potentially great Governor of Texas. Today he mentioned that Texas has the highest home insurance rates of any state in the USA. "When Texas ranks 50 in insurance affordability for young couples who wish to buy a home something is wrong." he said. That is typical of Bill White, a soft spoken, well thought out suggestion of solving an issue, that most people were unaware of.

His flexibility and willingness to change with circumstances reinforces our opinion that he has qualities that fit our times. Being from an oil town and with experience in the oil business, Bill White now sees the need for renewable energy and new sources of clean energy.

Bill White has long been on the VIP reader's list of "Boothe Global Perspectives" and we have followed his political career, considering him a man with special qualities. He told me that he appreciated the impact of our writings. It is not surprising that Mayor Bill White has reported excellent contributions and broad support.

Texas' most influential people consider Bill White an exceptionally talented man. In the “post hurricane” disaster, he led Houston to a quick and broad based recovery. He asked for Federal Aid, but didn’t depend upon, or wait on it. He went to private business and organized private churches, private community leaders, to do the recovery effort. He didn't depend upon the State or Federal Governments but took initiative and leadership in hand and had Houston back into recovery in amazing time. Over 100,000 citizens and business leaders pitched in with his encouragement. He literally recruited the good citizens of Houston, and made them the Houston recovery team to save their city. And it was effective!

There is a difference between a manager and a leader. Bill is a leader.