presents...pERRY WATCH ...standing firmly for corporate interests
Career Record As Gov Vetoes Political Attitude Leadership Tales As Lt. Gov. Lt. Gov. Interview Party Platforms Ed Vouchers Censorship Health Mental Retardation Desalination Environment Private Meetings Private Meetings Public Records Appointees Enron Campaign Money Hispanics School Prayer Tax Cuts Executions Partisan Politics Fund-Raising Campaign Perry Site Sanchez Site contact us	Did Perry's "Silver Bullet" End Up In His Foot? "As interpreted by the daily online political newsletter the Quorum Report, here's a sampling of how state newspapers dealt with Perry's Attack Ad [see story below] in headlines across Texas:" "Perry to run ad linking Sanchez to drug trafficking." "Perry calls ads accurate; Sanchez calls them gutter politics." "Perry stands by controversial drug ad." "Perry's drug ads ignore law's timing." "Perry visits Valley amid criticism over commercial." "Judge in Tesoros case denounces Perry ad." "Former feds denounce Perry ad, call it shameful." "Despite criticism over ad, Perry still in attack mode." "Yes, indeed, the silver bullet of the 2002 gubernatorial campaign has been fired. But one has to wonder who is being injured by the shot so far." --Sam Attlesey, July 4, 2002 Perry Attempts To Smear Sanchez In A Distortion-Filled Ad Typical Of His Previous Campaign Against John Sharp* Perry's recent smear and distortion ad, "'Suitcase,' opens with a one-sentence recounting of how drug money "stuffed into suitcases" was flown to Texas and deposited in [Sanchez's Bank,] in 1983 and 1984. The deposits were spread out among scores of accounts in many people's names. How the money flowed out of Tesoro, including $9 million wired to Panama as government officials tried to freeze it, was the source of a federal court battle that ended in 1988 with an order saying Tesoro did nothing wrong when it wired the money as requested by the account holders." --AAS, July 29, 2002 In the ad, we are told of a series of Reagan Justice Department claims about the Sanchez banks that were rejected as being without foundation by a Houston U.S. federal judge in 1988. Further, Perry includes material about an El Paso bank and a money laundering case in which Manuel Noriega is mentioned, but none of this has anything to do with Sanchez's bank or Sanchez. --Politex, July 29, 2002 *"POR EJEMPLO JOHN SHARP." MEDIA COMPANY USED BY PERRY CAMPAIGN PAID FOR SPANISH AD THAT SLURS SHARP, BACKS LIBERTARIAN, AND DOESN'T IDENTIFY SOURCE. (Houston Chronicle. The San Antonio Express-News also reported the story.)The Mexican radio ad which claims Sharp "says that our children are not intelligent and have criminal tendencies" was beamed across the south Texas border and does not meet U.S. election guidelines. Through a spokesman, Perry says it's not his. Libertarian Garcia says it's not his: "It looks like Perry is giving up on the Laredo area and he's trying to take votes away from Sharp"(HC) Strategic Media of Virginia has not returned calls. Also,in central Texas, a Perry TV mud attack run against Sharp in Waco caused "the second time Mr. Sharp has complained of a negative ad that the Perry campaign later said was not authorized" to be released. (Also reported by DMN) 10/31/98 Perry vs. Sanchez Promises A Fun-Filled Fall Ft. Worth Star-Telegram June 18, 2002 By Molly Ivins EL PASO, Texas -- - Tony Sanchez, Democratic candidate for governor of Texas, made an effective speech at the state convention here.... It was a peppy crowd of Democrats whooping it up in Sun City -- evidence that they think have a shot at the statewide offices this year. The D's appear to be way more revved up than the R's were in Dallas a week earlier, though sometimes it's hard to compare the parties -- since R's, on the whole, spend more time at prayer breakfasts, while the D's drink more beer. The D's Irish-American Caucus met daily when the bar opened. The D's were quick to jump on Sen. Phil Gramm's bad line about how diversity on the Dem ticket is "trying to divide us by race." So the alternative is the all-white ticket so we won't be divided by race? The Republican Senate candidate John Cornyn made the mistake of endorsing Gramm's sentiments at a fund-raiser in Washington, D.C. This is the man who said he wanted to "keep race out of the campaign." The Texas Observer came up with an amusing factoid -- in high school in 1968, Cornyn headed the student George Wallace for President group. Of course we should all be forgiven for high school, but we'll certainly be watching to see how he keeps race out of this campaign. The D's Senate candidate Mayor Ron Kirk of Dallas is a political natural: The fact that he had the partisan crowd on their feet repeatedly is less newsworthy than the Sanchez effort simply because everybody already knew Kirk could do it. Hell of a pass when you have to go to a Republican convention to find a good political fight in Texas anymore. I hate unity and harmony. Fortunately, the Hispanic caucus got into a titanic battle and took an hour to select a temporary chair so they could vote on whom they wanted for party vice chair. Juan Maldonado won, mostly 'cause he's from the Valley, and the half of the El Paso delegation that's really mad at the other half wouldn't vote for the other half's guy. Texas Hispanic politics is sort of like the restaurant business -- a lot of it is location, location, location. Sanchez went after Gov. Goodhair Perry with both hands on the corruption issue. At the R's convention, Perry had declared -- referring to Sanchez's millions -- "The governor's office is not for sale." "It's not for sale because it's already been sold," replied Sanchez. -- "The HMOs wanted to kill prompt pay for doctors and your medical payments. So they gave Perry $200,000, and he sold us out." -- "The big insurance companies want to raise your insurance premiums. So they gave him $766,000, and he sold us out, and our premiums are going up." -- "The giant utility companies want to raise our electric bills. So they gave him $500,000, and he sold us out, and our utility rates are going up. ... He has demonstrated that he has experience -- experience that money can buy. My friends, we didn't elect him, we don't have to keep him." Perry collected $1.2 million in campaign contributions from special interests during the 20 days he had to decide on whether to sign or veto bills. At the end of it, he unleashed the blizzard of vetoes that wiped out the legislation the interests didn't want. That's fairly astonishing, even by Texas standards. Sanchez is running by the book -- education is his issue -- and one line that got a huge response was, "Our teachers will not be forced to 'teach to the test.' ... We're going to free teachers to teach." Could be a sleeper issue there. For fans of irony, the Sanchez campaign is heaven -- the exact reverse of the usual D versus R fight in Texas -- a businessman running against "a professional politician." Sanchez actually used the line, "I know what it is to meet a payroll." In other convention news, Sherry Boyle, a down-ballot candidate for Railroad Commission, sure impressed a lot of people ... John Sharp had Ann Richards speak at his convention party and forgot Rule No. 1 of Democratic politics -- never follow Ann Richards ... Sputnik, the biker organizer, and his caucus put on a great motorcycle parade ... Ron Kirk is rumored to be raising serious money. So is Cornyn, of course. The theory is that the Bush administration will fight hard for Cornyn because it needs the seat to regain the Senate, but they really don't care that much about Gov. Perry ... On Karl Rove's "slipped disk," the computer disk found by a Democratic staffer, Texas is rated a toss-up. Oh boy, a fun fall. Perry's Political Problem San Antonio Express-News May 28, 2002 By Carlos Guerra Memorial Day and Labor Day used to be important milestones for political professionals. In the Texas political calendar of yore, Memorial Day was when the quiet part of a campaign - raising money and organizing troops and events - kicked off in earnest. And Labor Day was when the costly advertising barrages began. That started changing two years ago, when businessman Tony Sanchez said he might run for governor and wouldn't mind dropping his own $25 million to win. At the time, many dismissed the virtual unknown as a political novice with more dollars than sense. "Know how you say Claytie Williams in Spanish?" hee-hawed the open-handed campaign consultants who stalked Sanchez. Undeterred, the Laredo magnate quietly and methodically assembled a crack campaign team as he solidified his natural support bases in South and West Texas and in the inner cities, where voters tend to favor Democrats but don't usually turn out in large numbers. From the beginning, the assumption was that it was only his fortune that made Sanchez the Democrats' front runner, a notion that was given credence by his early avoidance of the media. So quiet was his early campaign that former attorney general Dan Morales was drawn into what ended up as a pathetic, vain attempt to derail Sanchez's bid. As soon as Morales filed, a Sanchez that few expected emerged. He wasn't as polished or practiced as his primary rival, but he was well versed on the issues - and very focused on his ultimate target: Rick Perry. And he quickly erased doubts about his willingness to invest in his own campaign by unleashing a blistering media barrage that was as costly as it was well-produced and effective. It's true that Democrats haven't much experience recently in winning state elections. But it's also true that Texas Republicans have zero experience in fending off Democrats who can match their budgets dollar for dollar. Since the primary, Sanchez's campaign has continued to be unlike any ever mounted by Texas Democrats: well-funded, well-organized and very deliberate. And it has the best issue-response team any Democratic campaign has ever had. Within minutes of a pronouncement from Perry or his camp, Sanchez or a spokesperson will issue a well-informed and substantive reply. Five months before Election Day, independent polls show Sanchez is still trailing. But his supporters counter that he continues to gain steadily, and surveys of "likely voters" will understate support Sanchez will get from the same "non-regular voters" he drew out for the primary and will pull out again. That remains to be seen, but undisputed is that Sanchez's sizable investment is yielding him double rewards. For the first time in years, major donors are writing Democrats checks, and Republicans are having to spend early and heavily to stay even. Sanchez is now spending about $1 million a week on TV ads for an election five months away. But that has forced Perry's campaign to also buy expensive TV ads. And if it continues, Perry, who can't match Sanchez with his own money, will have to resort to raising money in chunks so large that only special interests can afford it. But if he does, he will give his rival proof that he is - as Sanchez has charged repeatedly - owned by the special interests. Not bad for a novice. see how Perry's friend inside the beltway lives at... Perry Watch is paid for by Politex, a non-affiliated U.S. citizen. Editorial Policy: All entries are dated and documented as needed. Original text (c) 2002 Politex. Permission of author required for reprinting. Duration of working link not under our control. Updated at various times. Send all e-mail to Politex Perry Watch has not reviewed all of the sites linked to our site and is not responsible for the content of any off-site pages or any other sites linked to our site. Your linking to any other off-site pages or other sites from our site is at your own risk.