As the November elections draw closer, Rick Perry and Bill White are embroiled in an increasingly heated race for governor. And though the venues were very different, both campaigns found themselves speaking to a group of journalists on Thursday afternoon.
Perry, who spoke at the National Conference for Editorial Writers, touted Texas’ low taxes, specifically Texas’s lack of a cooperate tax, as being the reason for Texas’ comparatively low unemployment rate.
Perry said that companies are relocating to Texas more now than ever before, and said that a collective 153 companies have come from the state of California alone.
“People who create jobs are human beings, they have hopes and dreams and they balance those with hopes and fears,” said Perry. “They want to know that government is not going to pull the rug out from under them with taxes and regulations.”
The governor said that his approach to solving the recent budget deficit was to prioritize and to cut back expenses on things that weren’t necessary. He said that this solved the budget deficit while still allowing the Texas legislature to put more that $1.8 billion back into public schooling in 2010.
Shiju Thomas, the north Texas regional director of the Bill White campaign, spoke to Carolyn Barta’s Media and Politics class on Thursday. He described Bill White as a “fiscal conservate” that had no plans to increase taxes in Texas, corporate or otherwise, and that his record of reducing taxes as mayor of Houston proves that.
“Bill White actually said yesterday that taxes were too high in Texas,” said Thomas.
Thomas said that the difference between White and Perry is their work ethic. He described White as a “workaholic” and said, “He’s a work horse, not a show horse,” noting that Perry was too intent on showing off than working hard.
Thomas said that Perry’s refusal to debate until White made his tax records from his time in the White House public was just an effort to “change the topic.” Thomas said, “This has nothing to do with the tax record and everything to do with Perry knowing that he has nothing to gain and everything to lose in the debate.”
The momentum behind both campaigns was also a point that Thomas made sure to bring up. He said that the only reason that Perry is leading in the polls is because more people know who he is. He said that if you talk to people who know a lot about both candidates, they overwhelmingly prefer Bill White.
“The only poll that matters to us is the one that happens on Election Day,” Thomas said.
The fate of Perry and White will be decided by Texas voters on Nov. 2. SMU students interested in voting can find more information on the candidates website as well as on smudailycampus.com.
