Politex

Poll: More Texas R's want Gingrich or Palin in White House than Perry

A new poll of Texas Republican voters shows little support for Gov. Rick Perry making a run for the White House.

Public Policy Polling, the same polling outfit that said last week that the race between Perry and former Houston Mayor Bill White is tied, asked 500 Texas Republican primary voters their take on the 2012 presidential race.

The poll was conducted on June 19-20. The survey’s margin of error is +/-4.38 percent.

Of those polled, 14 percent supported the idea of Perry running for president, while 63 percent opposed it and 23 percent said they were unsure.

When given five Republican choices for president -- Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul or Perry -- Gingrich received the most support with 23 percent.

That was followed by Mike Huckabee at 18 percent, Sarah Palin at 17 percent, and Mitt Romney at 14 percent.

Tied for fifth place: Perry and Paul, each with 8 percent.

On Public Policy Polling's blog, Director Tom Jensen warned anyone from reading too much into these numbers.

"I say this every single time but it always bears repeating - these top four candidates are so jumbled that it's very important not to over interpret the numbers on a poll to poll basis," Jensen wrote.

-Aman Batheja

Party platforms miles apart on gas drilling

 The Texas Democratic Party wrapped up their state convention this weekend in Corpus Christi. And just like the state Republican Party did at its get-together in Dallas earlier this month, Democrats approved a new party platform.

One issue that received extra attention from both sides this year was natural gas drilling, a hot topic in North Texas. While area cities are grappling with how to deal with requests from gas companies to drill high-impact wells close to homes and schools, the parties took very different positions on the issue.

Local cities have different regulations for natural gas drilling including different setback requirements specifying how far drilling operations must be from certain structures. Companies frequently apply for variances to parts of local cities' drilling ordinances including the setback requirements.

Some drilling advocates have called for replacing city ordinances with a statewide drilling ordinance.

In the "energy strategy" section of the Republican Party's platform, the state GOP declared its opposition to any "government restrictions...and regulations that restrict...location of gas and oil drilling..."

Here's the full text (hat tip to the Texas Tribune for posting the platform online):

"We encourage a comprehensive energy policy that allows more development of domestic energy sources and reduces our need for foreign energy. Energy policy should be cooperative, economically viable, and environmentally safe, but not restricted by overzealous environmental activism. We encourage use of wind, coal-fired plants, solar, and nuclear power. We oppose government restrictions such as windfall profits and severance taxes, and regulations that restrict construction of refineries, power grids and location of gas and oil drilling, or mandating alternative fuel use for vehicles. We oppose any legislation that supports any type of “Cap and Trade” policy, or ceding any energy policy authority to any world agreement. We support the abolition of the Department of Energy. We support an immediate end to the deep water drilling moratorium in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico."

Here's what the Texas Democratic Party included in its platform regarding natural gas production:

We support...
•    the development of Texas’ abundant and low carbon footprint natural gas resources with environment-compatible technologies in the transition period from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources;
•    state minimum standard distances as a requirement for oil & gas wells, collection, and condensate tanks in relation to schools, hospitals, parks, and other vulnerable community locations. 

The full Texas Democratic Party platform is available here.

Republicans also affirmed in their platform, "the state should not abridge or deny our inalienable property and mineral rights." Democrats did not mention mineral rights in their platform but did include support for "private property rights."

-Aman Batheja

Democrats eject Perry spokesman at convention

CORPUS CHRISTI -- Republican Gov. Rick Perry's spokesman, Mark Miner, was asked to leave the state Democratic party convention Friday.

"He was inside the building," said Democratic spokeswoman Kristen Gray. "My understanding is that when he was asked to leave, he did."

Miner later announced that the Perry campaign website LiberalBill.com has added a new video about Democratic challenger Bill White. The video nicknames him "Bill Whitewash" for his "shameful, liberal record."

Miner also sent reporters "survival kits" including NoDoz and a bottle of "White water."

--Bud Kennedy.

The Democrats' lone protester: It's about moral values

CORPUS CHRISTI -- The lone Republican protester at the Democratic state convention started near daybreak and found a welcome right away.

"I've had seven people throw me the finger already," said Gilberto Michel, 53, of Corpus Christi, picketing at the American Bank Center parking lot before 8 a.m. with messages about abortion and gay marriage.

"That's not bad for an early start."

Michel, a Republican who said he attended that party's state convention two weeks ago in Dallas, came early because "This is when the caucus leaders and party leaders are coming in."

He said the Republican Party is "closer to my value system." He said he's mainly concerned about abortion and what he called the "gay leadership and agenda."

Michel moved to the Gulf side of the convention center in the afternoon, marching with his picket sign along the shoreline sidewalk against the backdrop of Corpus Christi Bay.

-- Bud Kennedy

Democratic souvenir shopping: A hairy experience

CORPUS CHRISTI -- Texas Democrats like the gubernatorial candidate with no hair.

But they're trying to make the most of Houston Democrat Bill White's bald head, comparing White to the renowned "good hair" of Gov. Rick Perry.

One of the most popular souvenirs at the state party convention this weekend is a T-shirt by Houston "Oilpatch Democrats" contrasting the two candidates and asking whether voters want "hair" or tougher environmental policies and "clean air."

The busiest souvenir stand belonged to the Mid-Cities Democrats club, where president Dorie Cranshaw of Colleyville showed off kitschy gifts ranging from a "Bo the White House Dog" doll to drink Koozies and a "Texas Democrat" license plate frame.

Cranshaw said the club expects to raise $2,000 through souvenir sales.

"We believe when you're a Democrat in Northeast Tarrant County, you've got to think outside the box," she said."

--Bud Kennedy

Democrats waste no time zinging Barton

CORPUS CHRISTI - Perhaps to no one's surprise, Democrats jumped right in with a Joe Barton zinger as they gathered in this coastal city on the eve of their  two day state convention.  "It's good to be in a part of the Gulf that Joe Barton hasn't had to apologize to BP about," said State Democratic Chairman Boyd Richie as he welcomed delegates and party officials  to a convention-eve reception at the Texas State Aquarium.

Conventioneers munched on finger-food and sipped drinks as they toured the aquarium, took in a dolphin show and enjoyed the Gulf Coast view and evening seabreezes.  The big coversation topic centered on testimony in Austin that Democrats said tie a former chief of staff to Gov. Rick Perry to  efforts to get the liberal Green Party on the ballot.

Richie placed attendance at about 6,000 delegates, party officials and guests.  Various groups that make up the Democratic Party - including labor, Blacks and Hispanics - will conduct caucuses throughout much of the day on Friday before the convention's main event that evening - a speech by Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill White.

-- Dave Montgomery

Democrats back up the trailer to unload attacks on Perry

CORPUS CHRISTI -- The Democrats aren't here yet, but the trailer is.

The "Evict Rick" singlewide, a campaign ploy by the Texas AFL-CIO to tease Gov. Rick Perry over the state's $9,000-plus rented executive mansion, was parked on the bayfront outside the American Bank Center Thursday.

Delegates begin the state party convention Friday at the American Bank Center.

The labor federation mockingly offered Perry the use of the 3-bedroom, 2-bath mobile home for $1 a year in the place of the current $9,000-a-month luxury home outside Austin where Perry is living while the Governor's Mansikon undergoes fire repairs.

The AFL-CIO has been staging campaign events with the home and will announce future plans for it at a Friday news conference.

Delegates were just arriving Thursday and were scheduled to attend a reception at the Texas State Aquarium.

--Bud Kennedy

Oops! Did Barton un-apologize via Twitter - right after apologizing again?

Rep. Joe Barton,R-Arlington, was very contrite this morning, apologizing to House Republicans about his BP apology, but within a short time a link on his Twitter page appeared to an American Spectator article that seemed to contradict his message - “Joe Barton was right.”

The tweet was taken down - but not before Democrats went to town on it. Turns out a Barton aide had linked to the article, not realizing the seeming insincerity of Barton's apology. Barton did not know about the tweet, said his spokesman Sean Brown.

The article says:  “Rep. Joe Barton of Texas broke an iron law of Washington last week. He described the elephant in the room that no one was supposed to see. In this case, it was the strong-arming Obama & Co. applied to BP to get it to “voluntarily” set up a $20 billion fund to compensate Gulf citizens adversely affected by the oil spill. Barton used the inelegant term, ‘shakedown.’”

Joe Barton Was Right http://amplify.com/u/75gf

-- Maria Recio

 

 

Perry and White are tied in governor's race, says new poll

Giving Texas Democrats a boost in advance of their state convention in Corpus Christi this week, a newly released poll shows that former Houston mayor Bill White has advanced into a tie with incumbent Gov. Rick Perry in his bid to become the first Democratic governor since the mid-1990s.

The survey by Public Policy Polling shows the Republican governor and his Democratic challenger deadlocked at 43-43, erasing a 48-42 lead that Perry held in a PPP survey four months ago.  White made his gains by picking up more independents and cross-over voters than Perry did, said the pollsters.

"Bill White has the potential to give Democrats their biggest bright spot on what will probably overall be a bad election in November," said Dean Debnam, president of the Raleigh, N.C., polling firm.  "A win in the Texas Governor race would be huge for the party and instantaneously make White on of the most prominent Democrats in the country."

The poll also showed that only 10 percent of Texas voters want to see Perry run for president in 2012, compared to 69 percent who prefer that the state's longest-serving governor stay in Texas.  Those sentiments cuts across party-lines, said the pollsters, noting that 61 percent of Republicans are against a Perry run for president.  

Perry's political assaults on Washington, as well as his victory over U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Republican gubernatorial primary in March, has fueled speculation that Perry might run for president, but the governor has repeatedly dismissed the talk, saying he's not interested.

-- Dave Montgomery 

Democrats Unload Another Barton "Apology" Ad

A Democratic Party source explained why the Democratic National Committee rushed out a second Barton ad: "The decision to move forward with a new ad came after the tremendous response the party received from grass roots, low dollar donors and Democratic Party activists who see this as a golden opportunity to define the choice voters are facing this fall.  The outpouring included donations into the significant six figures in response to the Barton apology and the request for funds for an ad. "

 

-- Maria Recio