Simple question: Can a guy with little name recognition, slight political experience, a short history in Houston and no money to speak of really expect to be elected to lead the nation's fourth-largest city?I'm sure there's something I'm missing or reading wrong that will be pointed out to me in the comments.
The answer, just as simple, is no.
Of course, then there's this:
Political observers and bloggers have been dismissive of his candidacy, for reasons other than a somewhat awkward public demeanor. One blogger made fun of him for minor errors in filling out state-required expense reports. Another slammed him for putting up an unusually weak Web site. A third labeled him clueless. Veteran blog pundit Charles Kuffner concluded that Morales' ignorance on a matter related to Metro, revealed at a meeting with journalists, showed “there's a reason why he doesn't get to sit at the grown-ups' table ... Poor Roy.”It should have been noted that most, not all, of the criticism Morales has received has been from bloggers who are publicly identified as Democratic partisans. Staunch left Democratic partisans. It seems that treating Roy Morales as the court jester in the race is approved commentary.
Is Roy Morales as serious candidate?
My hunch is no, but the election will bear that out. I'm certainly not going to make a definitive statement before the first ballot is cast. He's a Republican who can't get much traction even among other Republicans. He's the Pachyderm's version of Chris Bell, running for office wherever there's a spot on the ballot. (Although not, it should be noted, with as much vigor as Orlando Sanchez) His candidacy has zero traction, and mockery of it is one thing that most Democrats and Republicans can agree upon in Harris County. In short: He's fighting an uphill battle.
That being said, it's still a candidacy that deserves to not be written off until election day. Morales deserves the basic courtesy of correctly identifying his strongest detractors who are, not surprisingly, strongly identified with the opposite political ideal.
ChronBlog failed on both counts in this story.
Looking forward to that Gene Locke endorsement by the Caucasian Think Tank.
1 comment:
It's amusing to see Charles Kuffner quoted in publications whose copyright he regularly abuses by stealing 8-12 grafs at a time with minimal (if any) attribution. Talk about completing the circle (of nothingness)! That's great stuff.
I agree with your critique of the Chron's profile of Morales, although I think I might have framed it a little differently. Clearly, the profiles of Locke and Brown were in what I call "cheerleader voice" and seemed designed to showcase the candidates in front of voters. I don't mind that approach necessarily, so long as it is fairly applied to ALL the candidates. I don't think it's off the mark to ask if it was in this case.
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