Shami vs. White Tonight

The Texas Observer did a head to head comparison of White and Shami, along with the super cool mugshots you see to your right.

They interviewed both candidates, and I would bet money these are basically the talking points we will hear from them at tonight's Democratic gubernatorial debate.

Some highlights from the Shami interview:

On stimulating the economy (jobs, jobs, jobs as an anti-poverty program):

I’ve been to El Paso, and I visited the colonias. I understand there are thousands of these. In Houston, I see the Fifth Ward, Third Ward, Sunnyside, Acres Homes. Such poor people. As long as those people are poor and having no jobs ... so my concept is to start with these people and create jobs. Bring factories to these communities.

[---]

So that’s where I say stimulate the economy starting from the bottom. Those people, when they get a check, they spend it the next day. It goes back to the economy. And that keeps the money in the state. That’s how you stimulate the economy.

[---]

Plant roses, plant flowers, and do agriculture. That’s what stimulates the economy—find a job for everybody. We need jobs for everybody.Those are the people who need the jobs, the poor people. So those are the people who are the priority.

[---]

We should not have poor people in the United States of America. Because with poverty comes lots of disasters. Lack of education, crime, drugs, all of that stems from no hope and no jobs.

On Bill White:

I think the person who has the least chance of winning is Bill White. The people who want a change, they’re going to choose Farouk Shami. The people who want to stay with the status quo, they’re going to stay with Rick Perry.

[---]

Well, one of the most polluted cities in the United States of America is still Houston. OK? So he talks. People are tired of talk. People want action, and he’s definitely not a man of action.

[---]

Why didn’t he do something about it as mayor? He’s talking about jobs. Why didn’t he create jobs as mayor? Talking about health care. Why didn’t he do something about that? Energy—why didn’t he do something about it? He had an opportunity of six years, so on his report card, he gets an “F” on almost everything. And I’m speaking as a citizen of Houston myself.

There's much more Shami at the link (including how he thinks he is more well known than White across the state), plus an interview with Bill White. It's all worth a read as part of your debate prep.

Here's your link if you are trying to figure out what channel you are going to watch the debate on tonight. In Houston, it's PBS, Channel 8.