I apologize for being disrespectful to Rick Perry's hair.  Generally I stay out of endorsing elections... however, I can't see voting for someone who said Texas should secede....

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Can Democrats spring an upset in Texas governor's race?

Bill White

By Dan Balz

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 7, 2010; 11:32 PM

AUSTIN- Democrats have a dream this year and it goes like this: It is election night. As the cable news networks' electronic maps run red with Republican victories, three of the nation's most populous states - California, Florida and Texas - turn instead to blue. 


Gubernatorial pickups in those Sunbelt states would bring a measure of satisfaction on what otherwise could be a bleak evening for Democrats. And heading into the final weeks of the campaign, the party has a chance of winning some or all of these races. Democrats know that heavily Republican Texas is the most difficult of the three. Long a Democratic wasteland, Texas is all the more challenging because of the national climate.


The state's Republican governor, Rick Perry, is a career politician in the year of the outsider, and the longest-serving governor in Texas history in the year of anti-incumbency. His Democratic opponent, Bill White, served three terms as mayor of Houston and was popular enough to win reelection twice with about 90 percent of the vote. He is a Texas native, a businessman, a former deputy energy secretary in the Clinton administration and a former chairman of the Texas Democratic Party.

Rick Perry's hair

A soft-spoken, balding and uncharismatic politician, he is the antithesis of Perry. White is pitted against a governor noted for his good looks and having the personality of a yell leader at Texas A&M University, which he once was.


Many Democrats regard White as one of the strongest gubernatorial candidates they have fielded in many years. He has kept the race closer than many people, including those in his own party, had expected.
But Perry, who ascended to the governor's office when George W. Bush became president and has been reelected twice, expresses little regard for his challenger. "By and large, I ignore Bill White," he said in an interview. (more... but you will have to sign in at the WPO for free access to the article)