N Y Times: WorldPeace wins as token candidate

Consider the following definition of WorldPeace as a token candidate: 20 million phone calls between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2001 at three cents each for a cost of $600,000. In the September Scripps Howard poll the token candidate WorldPeace was registering 17% to Perry's 53%. After the poll,the other white candidate, Marty Akins, dropped out of the governors race and those votes did not go to Sanchez. The December Scripps Howard poll ignored the token candidate WorldPeace even though he was reported in the May and September polls. In December, Sanchez was 18% to Perry's 48%. This was a 5% drop for both Perry and Sanchez in three months. Also the total percent of Hispanics committed to Perry and Sanchez went from 78% in September to 56% in December, a drop of 22%. The truth is that WorldPeace was two to one ahead of Sanchez and head to head with Perry. That is why the December poll did not report WorldPeace. 

It is just a matter of time before the truth comes out. Morales and Sanchez are going to split the Hispanic vote if both stay in the race. WorldPeace will get the White and Black vote because Democrats are not going to vote for the Republican turncoat Sanchez nor put Morales' ex-stripper wife in the governor's mansion. 

If there is a debate, Sanchez will be eaten alive by Morales and WorldPeace and Morales will fade against WorldPeace. It was at the coalition of Black Democrats forum in Austin on August 25, 2001, that ended the candidacy of Marty Akins. Sanchez did not show because he does absolutely terrible in a open forum.

My opinion is that Ben Barnes owns both Sanchez and Morales. They are his Hispanic mules and Morales was brought in at the last minute to kissy fight with Sanchez and then Sanchez is programmed to drop out for the good of the Party just like Akins did. (Barnes was in the middle of Akins withdrawal.) Seemed like a good plan right up to the point where Morales ex-stripper wife was reinput into the mix. Now we do not know which one is going to drop out. It all depends on who Barnes thinks has the better chance to win. Two mules eating from one bag leaves both only half full. (Barnes knew that Morales was coming in on Wednesday because he gave an interview on Monday to Peggy Fikac where they talked about raising taxes to meet the budget shortfall. It was an out of sync interview. Morales has a history of raising taxes. Barnes could not resist leaving a little evidence of his manipulation.)

Sanchez is not liked by the Hispanics as evidenced by the Scripps Howard poll where he had 31% to Perry's 25% of the Hispanic vote. Morales is not liked by the Hispanics due to his attacks on affirmative action.

Sanchez never intended to spend his money on the campaign. If he did, why did he take $230,000 from Barnes and friends last month.

And it is interesting that the press gets so carried away with the Morales Sanchez fight they forget that Sanchez only scored 18% to Perry's 48% in the last poll. Sanchez has never exceeded 23%. So the bottom line is that if Sanchez or Morales wins the Democratic Primary, the winner will lose in November as the White Democrats (other than the yellow dogs) cross over to vote for White Perry. For the Party to champion a Hispanic in the general election is suicide, especially one with an ex-stripper wife.

On March 12, 2002, it is going to be WorldPeace the token candidate who emerges victorious because the two Hispanic guys will have self destructed for different reasons. See my web page at www.johnworldpeace.com for more detailed information.

John WorldPeace
The next governor of Texas

January 6, 2002

__________________

New York Times
January 6, 2002

A Slow Texas Primary for Governor Suddenly Picks Up Speed
By JIM YARDLEY

In Depth Campaigns

HOUSTON, Jan. 5 — For the Texas Democratic Party, the coming March primary for governor seemed to be shaping up as planned, which is to say no surprises. The party's anointed candidate, the multimillionaire businessman Tony Sanchez, had a seeming cakewalk, with only token opponents, including a lawyer named John WorldPeace.

But then, as if in a scene from a movie, a messenger arrived this week at the Democratic Party headquarters in Austin less than an hour before the candidates' filing deadline and delivered a political stunner: Dan Morales, the former state attorney general who had long talked of running for the United States Senate, was instead filing for governor. 

"We were a little surprised," said Molly Beth Malcolm, the sharp- tongued good-old-girl chairwoman of the Texas Democratic Party, who quickly added, "We think it's going to be fun."

Fun, though, is not really what Texas Democrats had in mind for the primary, nor has the party had much fun in recent years, with Republicans winning every statewide office. Democratic leaders had pointed to 2002 as the beginning of their revival in Texas, particularly since the hugely popular George W. Bush was safely away in Washington. They had envisioned that Mr. Sanchez would attract a record turnout among the state's fast-growing number of Hispanic voters and hoped that his willingness to spend $30 million of his fortune would help lift the whole Democratic ticket.

But the plan also called for Mr. Sanchez, who has never run for public office and is still introducing himself to voters, to have an easy primary before facing off against Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican. To the delight of Republicans, that plan is now out the window. Some Republicans gleefully speculate that Mr. Morales may already be leading Mr. Sanchez on name recognition alone.

"I think Santa Claus has come back to Texas as far the Republicans are concerned," said Reggie Bashur, a leading Republican consultant. "At the minimum, they are going to have a heated and divisive primary." 

If anything, Democrats now have two viable Hispanic candidates competing to lead the ticket, underscoring the important role that Hispanics are expected to play in state and national politics. 

Texas is second only to California in the number of Hispanic residents, who make up a third of the state's population. Ethnic pride is proving to be a motivator for Hispanic voters: last month, a Hispanic Republican mayoral candidate, Orlando Sanchez, almost pulled off a stunning upset in historically Democratic Houston after he attracted a record Hispanic turnout.

Mr. Morales, who announced his candidacy today in San Antonio, himself was once regarded by Democrats as one of their great stars, if something of a maverick. He served in the State House of Representatives in the 1980's, then became the first Hispanic to win a nonjudicial statewide race when he was elected attorney general in 1990.

He angered many Democrats when he issued an opinion against the affirmative action policy used by the University of Texas. He also won attention by hiring teams of private lawyers who won the state a $17.3 billion settlement with the tobacco industry. But that case also led to Mr. Morales's being accused of trying to steer hundreds of millions of dollars in lawyers' fees to a friend. 

Federal investigators have examined the accusations for the last three years and have not charged Mr. Morales with any wrongdoing. Yet some Democrats and Republicans considered him politically vulnerable. Mr. Morales calls the accusations a baseless political attack that voters will ignore. 

"I think voters, in Texas at least, are very sophisticated politically," said Mr. Morales, who attributed his decision to run for governor rather than senator to "gut instinct." He has already called for debates on issues like health care and the financing of public schools. Noting that Texas may face a budget shortfall reaching several billion dollars by 2003, he has hinted that taxes may need to be raised, a position usually considered taboo here.

"I think that's being honest," Mr. Morales said in a telephone interview.

The Sanchez campaign conceded that it was surprised by Mr. Morales's move but still very confident. "We think that we've got an edge," said Glenn Smith, Mr. Sanchez's campaign manager. "We're prepared. We have a campaign in place. We've been preparing for months." 

Some Democrats believe that Mr. Sanchez will still prevail, particularly as he begins to pour money into television advertising. Others, though, worry that Mr. Sanchez has too little to show for the year his campaign has spent preparing for the race, noting that the Democratic rank and file have been slow to embrace him, perhaps because he once contributed heavily to Mr. Bush.

"If he truly does not have an indictment problem," a Democratic consultant said of Mr. Morales, "he could be a godsend." 

The March 12 primary that once seemed like an afterthought is suddenly a sprint. In a race that has turned upside down, one thing remains certain: the Democratic nominee will be Hispanic, if not necessarily as planned.