Mayor Bill White as Governor?

Former Ambassador Tom Shieffer announced Monday that he is quitting the race for the Democratic nominee of Texas Governor. The attention then shifted to Houston Mayor Bill White, whom for the past few years, Democrats have been asking whether he will run for governor of Texas. Orginally, Bill White was planning to run for the U.S. Senate, but may be changing his mind:

Then, at 4:15 in the afternoon, Mayor Bill White made the announcement that yes, he is thinking of switching from the Senate race to the Governor's race. However, he wanted to take 10 days to listen to Texans, and decide.

...switching from the Senate to the Governor’s race is the politically savvy thing to do for a Democrat in a Republican state.

Here is what a Texas on the Potomac article says may unfold:

1) Perry wins the Republican gubernatorial primary and with it the opportunity to appoint Hutchison's successor, if and when she resigns her Senate seat;

2) Hutchison decides there's really no reason to resign -- no reason, in Murray's words, "to give this guy who beat up on me in the primary the chance to appoint my successor";

3) Perry goes into the general election an easier target for a viable Democratic candidate than Hutchison would have been, given the likelihood that, had she survived the primary, she would have attracted independent voters;

4) With no Senate seat open until 2012 and with Perry set to waltz back into the governor's mansion, White decides he has a good shot at being the fresh face who dispatches the longest-serving governor in Texas history back to the ranch.

Under Bill White, the City of Houston incurred about $1.5 billion of operating losses! This is not someone we want in charge of the entire state of Texas! Even though Texas is a red state, this won't be a breeze of an election for the Republicans. With Governor Perry only getting 39% of the votes in the 2006 election, and with Bill White popular among the Democrats, this may unfortunately be a tight race.