Farouk Shami—Jerusalem Is Not In Texas

Farouk Shami is a wealthy businessperson who is spending a lot of money to run as a Democratic primary candidate for Governor of Texas.

The primary will be this upcoming March 2nd.

Here is the web home of the Shami campaign.

Above is a picture of Mr. Shami and myself. This picture was taken a few hours ago.

I heard Mr. Shami speak at Martin Luther King Day festivities here in Houston.

He struck an economically populist tone in his remarks.

He was clear that he viewed himself as a racially inclusive candidate.

These are things that I want to hear.

Unfortunately, Mr. Shami was not disciplined in his remarks and I feel this absence of discipline will make it difficult for him to win the primary or move the agenda in Texas to the left.

For example, Mr. Shami said this afternoon that people will not have to pay electricity bills in two years because of his policies on solar power.

This does not seem likely.

Mr. Shami made reference to a gimmick he has going that if 100,000 Texas jobs are not created in his first two years as Governor, he’ll resign and give the State of Texas 10 million dollars.

What is that all about? How is that serious stuff?

Please look at the picture at the top of this post.

Mr. Shami is wearing a scarf.

That is fine. You don’t have to be Audrey Hepburn to pull off a scarf.

The problem is what the scarf says. On one side it says “Palestine” and on the other side it says “Jerusalem is ours.”

I read that scarf and I thought to myself—“Isn’t this race difficult enough for you already?”

You’re a guy named Farouk Shami running for Governor of Texas against a strong primary opponent.

So in addition to all that, you offer your views on an emotional issue that has nothing to do with Texas?

I wish Mr. Shami would run a focused campaign that would productively discuss issues that maybe an establishment candidate like former Houston Mayor Bill White will not likely discuss.

Mr. White is the leading contender in the primary.

There is a room for economic populism and for a strong challenge to Mr. White in the March primary.

Regretfully, Mr. Shami does not yet seem the right person to fill these roles.

Bill White appears to be the best option for positive change in Texas in 2010 and beyond.

(Blogger’s Note—This is the first in my “*Texas Primary Post Of The Day” series. ( *Posts will not appear each day.) If you have an idea for a post or a candidate you would like me to support, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail. Thanks for reading Texas Liberal.)

Below—Not part of Texas. Though at one point there was a Jerusalem, Texas.