What is Spin Check? As part of our coverage of Decision 2010 and the elections that affect Texas, we put political ads to the test.
Gov. Rick Perry's campaign has compared Bill White to other Washington politicians.
But now he's saying Bill White ran Houston in the way Chicago is run. If you're wondering why that's something negative, Chicago has a long list of Democratic mayors and is known for its "machine politics."
Their latest ad is "Bill White's Chicago Way."
Let's spin check it.
Here's the text:
"Graft. Corruption. Cynicism.
That's Chicago-style politics.
(Rahm Emanuel: You never want a serious crisis to go to waste)
The Chicago way is Barack Obama's way.
It's also Bill White's way.
When asked which city was his model for how to govern Houston, Bill White chose Chicago.
A vote for Bill White is a vote to award Barack Obama's Chicago way and make his overreaching liberal agenda easier to pass.
Don't let Bill White happen to Texas."
Let's check the part of the ad that says:
"The Chicago way is Barack Obama's way.It's also Bill White's way. When asked which city was his model for how to govern Houston, Bill White chose Chicago."
That's TRUE, but there's more to that quote.
White said he'd run Houston like Chicago's Mayor Richard M. Daley, just with a few tweaks. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Bill White was asked if he could run Houston like another American city. White chose Chicago. The quote reads as follows:
"Chicago, but with Houston's better weather and friendlier people and stronger public schools. Chicago has been served well the last decade by a strong hands-on mayor who manages well the city's basic services in the neighborhoods and supports effective mass transit and who aggressively promotes diversity and recruits new businesses."
The ad also says:
"A vote for Bill White is a vote to award Barack Obama's Chicago way and make his overreaching liberal agenda easier to pass."
That's a political statement. It's also worth noting that President Barack Obama never ran Chicago. That was always Daley's job.
