Wooden Headed Reporters and the voters

How many times are we going to have to read articles about how Tony Sanchez's money rules and nothing else matters in the Democratic race for governor of Texas? 

The Wooden Headed Reporters truly believe that the voters in this state are stupid idiots who are going to vote for two corrupt Hispanics (one with an ex stripper wife) to lead the Democratic Party in the governor's race. They have reported over and over and over again how Sanchez's money means he wins. How stupid. How cynical.

Has anyone looked at the gubernatorial candidate's web pages? Morales and Lyon have none. WorldPeace has an extensive web page which covers virtually all the issues and daily responds to the news in Texas. Sanchez has a slick web page that says absolutely nothing except: "Hi! I am Tony. I am rich. Vote for me." Not a shred of substance on Tony's page.

Now Mr. Moritz has added his me too "money is king, the voters are stupid" article to the pile of "punch and cookie" BS articles about Sanchez that have been repeated for the last year. (And after a year of Tony Sanchez and his money, he is still 3 to 1 behind Rick Perry.)

I also really like the part in Mr. Moritz article where he says WorldPeace is a little known candidate. Well, part of that is because the press has refused to report the real campaign. They have been reporting nothing but Sanchez for a year even though the do nothing Mr. Sanchez took a siesta all through 2001. 

I know Mr. Mortiz did not bother to look at the campaign finance report of WorldPeace with its $600,000 in expenditures for 20 million statewide phone calls in 2001. I know that he could not figure out that $600,000 was more than Dan Morales spent. I know that he refused to believe that WorldPeace was 17% to Perry's 53% in September and that Sanchez was only 18% to Perry's 48% in December per the Scripps Howard polls. Seems like WorldPeace was head to head with the money man Tony in September. It didn't matter to Mr. Moritz that according to the December poll both Perry and Sanchez lost 5% of the total vote and 22% of the Hispanic vote since September. I wonder where Mr. Moritz thinks those voters went.

Oh, well. It is always better to be with the herd and be wrong than stand alone and be right. It is better to report the group lies than the individual truth if you want to stay employed.

And let us not forget the economics of political publishing. A corrupt Hispanic who says he is going to spend $30 million means advertising money for the newspapers and translates into press for corruption. A guy named WorldPeace who intends to spend virtually nothing on print media gets little or no press. The story never changes. If you want to know why things don't make sense, follow the money. If you want to know what is going on, go to the Internet.

And right now the money says print "punch and cookie" articles about the most corrupt individual who has ever run for governor of Texas and print as little as possible about the only candidate of substance who is speaking about the issues. 

My bet is that the voters are not brainless. My bet is that money cannot make a silk purse out of a pig's ear. My bet is that the press is on its way to becoming irrelevant as the Internet takes over as the disseminator of truth. My bet is that WorldPeace is going to beat Sanchez and Morales. We'll see.

John WorldPeace
The next governor of Texas
"A real Texan for ALL Texans"

_________________

Governor's race expected to bring record spending
By JOHN MORITZ
Star-Telegram Austin Bureau

AUSTIN - This week's report that Gov. Rick Perry started the 2002 election year with more than $13 million in his war chest has prompted political watchers to predict that Texas is entering a new era in campaign financing.

Just consider that four years ago, then-Gov. George W. Bush ran his re-election effort - a grand precursor to his 2000 presidential campaign - by raising about $17 million and ending with about $4 million to spare. Four years before that, Bush and Democratic incumbent Ann Richards each raised about $15 million.


"All the old [fund-raising and spending] records are out the window this year," said Harvey Kronberg, who publishes an online newsletter for political insiders. "This is going to be a $100 million race, up and down the ballot, maybe more. There are 20-some major media markets in Texas and TV time ain't getting any cheaper."


Kronberg and others said Perry will need that $13 million and more if the Republican governor is going to win in his own right the office that he assumed after Bush became president. Especially, they added, if the Democrats nominate Tony Sanchez, the Laredo businessman who has reached into his own $600 million fortune to underwrite his campaign.


"The Democrats are competitive again, and that puts pressure on Perry to raise as much as he can," said Chuck McDonald, who was Richards' press secretary. "At first, I was shocked when I saw how much Perry had. But I think he's going to need it."


Perry has no opposition for the GOP nomination. Sanchez is facing a spirited challenge by former Texas Attorney General Dan Morales, plus two little-known candidates without access to large contributions, in the March 12 primary.


Sanchez, who is making his first run for office, was forced to accelerate his spending when Morales entered the race unexpectedly this month. On Tuesday, the Sanchez campaign launched its first TV ads - one in English that will run in all of the media markets and one in Spanish that targets Latino voters.


The Sanchez campaign did not disclose the cost of airing the 60-second spots, but Morales' campaign director predicted the money will be wasted.


"We believe that a populist message that appeals to working families, soccer moms and other Texans will be well-received and not as expensive as, perhaps, the more traditional strategy," said Jim Moore of the Morales camp.


Morales did not raise money last year, though he reportedly still has about $1 million in his campaign account left over from his days as attorney general in the 1990s.


Aides to Perry and Sanchez make no apologies for amassing the assets they say are needed to mount aggressive campaigns.


"We've said all along that we are confident that we'll have the resources it takes to be competitive," said Michelle Kucera, a spokeswoman for Sanchez. "Nothing has changed about that."


Deirdra Delisi, Perry's spokeswoman, sounded a similar note.


"When you have the prospect of running against someone with $600 million cash on hand, you better make sure your side is funded," Delisi said. "Governor Perry will have the financial resources and the grass roots to spread his message."


One veteran political consultant, however, said both camps might be on the verge of financial overkill.


"We are entering a new era in the perception of how much money it takes to run in Texas," said Bill Miller of Austin. "The reality is that $15 million will still buy you a decent campaign for governor or any other office in the state. But candidates being candidates, they're going to raise as much money as is out there. Their attitude is: 'You got it, I need it, so let's have it.' That's the way it is.


"My belief is that anything over about $20 million is going to be wasted. All you are doing is creating fatigue among the voters. You're starting too early and throwing around too much information."


John Moritz, (512) 476-4294 jmoritz@star-telegram.com