Farouk still going strong

With all of the drama in the TX-Governor's race this past week, many speculated what will be of the candidates still in the race.

I received an invitation to a campaign event for Farouk Shami, the Houston businessman who has pledged to spend $10 million in his pursuit for the Democratic nomination. The event was at his palatial residence on Lake Woodlands in Montgomery County.

I must admit, that I now know what Elise Hu talked about when she called Shami's last campaign event "The Farouk Show." I can say the experience was unlike anything I've experienced in Texas politics.

Firstly, my pickup truck was valet parked. Then I went through the well staffed registration and was led through the house that reminded me more like a downtown museum, to the party room and lakeside pool. The place was packed full of supporters, or those just wanting to see what this candidate was all about. We enjoyed catered barbeque, a wine bar, live music, and the Texans/Colts game on a projector. The place was crawling with staff people and security, all in perfect Farouk uniform.

The former hairdresser-turned billionaire spoke to the crowd from the spiral staircase. He touched on a variety of Texas issues that he hopes tackle as Texas Governor. His message is clear: Jobs. He hopes to bring them to Texas by encouraging manufacturing, especially that of solar panels (which power his house, in part).  He also briefly touched in his perception of the problems with our criminal justice system, education, the state budget, healthcare, and immigration. These issues were discussed in general terms, with no specific solutions offered. I guess at this stage in his campaign, such proposals haven't been completely baked, which I'll give him no flak for.

I have not yet made a decision on who to support in his primary, so I will limit the extent to which I editoralize, and will simply relay the facts. My overall perception was that the campaign itself was very organized and very staffed and the jobs message comes through clearly. He does not make the case for why he is the best Democrat to beat the Republican nominee and he makes no mention of any other candidates in the race.

I will make this observation; if Houston Mayor Bill White decides to run for Governor, this race will become difficult for any candidate already in it. A large war chest can help with name recognition and message delivery, but it can't guarantee a win. In order to win over thoughtful Dems in the primary, all candidates need to put forth detailed policy proposals. I applaud candidate Hank Gilbert for doing that already. Additionally, we need to be sure that the nominee is the best possible person to beat what is likely to be a vulnerable Rick Perry. As a resposible primary voter, we must take electability into account when supporting  any potential nominee. As I've said, Mr. Shami is in the nascent stages of this campaign, so he's just introducing himself. But the clock is ticking, and for a candidate who faces an uphill climb to win a statewide race in a state that hasn't elected a statewide Democrat in 15 years, we can't be convinced soon enough. 

Farouk for Governor Event Invitation

From Gov. Good Hair to Gov. Hair Care?

Who?

That’s the reaction I invariably get lately when I mention Farouk Shami, the latest contender in the race for the Democratic nomination for Texas Governor. Oddly, I’m usually only talking about this with fellow political junkies, people you’d expect to have caught on by now. I guess with this race, it's hard to keep up.

Then I mention “CHI”, and if it’s a female, their eyes light up. They really love those flat irons and associated haircare accessories. In fact, they seem to dedicate their vote for Governor on the basis of the greatness of this miracle product. After nearly ten years with a Governor Good Hair, will Democrats try to trade him in for a Governor Hair Care?

I don’t even know what a flat iron is, and I certainly don’t know about BioSilk, but they seem to have been the greatest things invented for the American Female since eye shadow. And of course the man behind it all is Farouk Shami: epitome of the American story, self-made man, and…Montgomery County Democrat.

At MoCo Report, we cover Montgomery County Politics, particularly the left side of them. So, it’s a big deal that one of very own local Ds is running for Governor. Many local democratic activists have already signed on to his campaign and I have already received two event invitations from them, one at Mr. Shami’s Woodlands home.

What will be the Shami effect in this primary race? While some may speculate about his viability in a general election showdown, you can't discount someone’s ability to affect a primary when they pledge to spend $10 million of their own money on the campaign.

Other candidates have taken notice. Hank Gilbert tacitly acknowledged Mr. Shami in an email blast yesterday when he stated, “our Party's nomination isn't for sale to the highest bidder.”

Mr. Gilbert has done a great job of communicating what he perceives as Texas' problems and what his proposed solutions are to fix them, an arguably much better job than Tom Schieffer, Kinky Friedman, or Felix Alvarado. So far, Gilbert has set the bar when it comes to the level of activism and number of sound policy proposals. Will Shami meet those standards? Most Democrats haven’t made up their mind yet on this race and I know they’ll listen intently to each candidate with an open mind before doing so. Even if you are already leaning one way, you should listen to what a new candidate has to say.

Well, we don't have to wait long. Mr. Shami is expected to officially announce this Thursday that he will be a candidate for the nomination. He’ll make this announcement while standing in front of one of his facilities, with which he brought 5,000 jobs to the Houston area. It's a great campaign narrative that complements his American story well. But, the burden is on him to tell us what he’ll do to fix the many problems Texas faces. We need to know that a businessman can be trusted to clean up Perry's corruption. We need someone who can further the cause of turning Texas Blue. And we need to know why he'll be a better person to beat Perry or KBH. Most agree that a business success story and a large war chest will not be enough to convince most Texas Democrats. We're looking for the meat.

I'll be there on Thursday and I'm looking forward to hearing what the Farouk Shami vision for Texas is. Follow me on Twitter (austinstout) for live updates from his announcement.