One of the pleasures I had during the 2012 Senate campaign in Texas was meeting Tom Leppert. I hoped that Tom would stay engaged in public affairs because he is one of the bright spots in public policy for Republicans. I ran across a post from Tom on the new website, InsideSources.com and wanted to share it with you.
Kaplan CEO: The Wrong Fix
Tom Leppert
In March, the U.S. Department of Education proposed a rule intended to address some of the challenges facing American higher education. Unfortunately, this so-called “gainful employment” regulation would punish lower income and working adult students and do little to address the real issues….
Rather than hold colleges accountable for student learning, the proposed regulation punishes schools for factors they do not control. Programs would be denied eligibility for federal student aid based on the amount of debt a student takes on and their earnings after graduation. Schools have neither the authority to limit student borrowing, nor can they guarantee earnings after graduation.
…
This proposed rule is also a job killer. It threatens to shut down educational programs for some of today’s most in-demand jobs, such as medical and dental assistants, computer support specialists, and accountants and bookkeepers, as well as for important public service careers in law enforcement, education and healthcare.
This is actually a very good radio spot for Tom Leppert.
Troy Aikman Radio Ad: ‘Important’
“I Don’t Talk Politics Very Often, But With All The Stuff Going On In Washington Right Now This Race For U.S. Senate Is Pretty Important. One Man Stands Out In My Opinion: Tom Leppert.”
DALLAS, Texas, April 30, 2012 – Texans for Tom Leppert today released a new radio advertisement featuring Hall of Fame quarterback and FOX sportscaster Troy Aikman.
Aikman is a member of “Cowboys For Leppert,” a group of Dallas Cowboys legends who have endorsed Tom, which also includes quarterback Roger Staubach, safety Cliff Harris, linebackers Lee Roy Jordan and Bob Breunig, and defensive lineman Chad Hennings.
Together, these legends have combined for 12 Super Bowl trophies, 25 Pro Bowl selections, and four are members of the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Legends.
Leppert’s new radio advertisement is part of an aggressive, multi-million dollar paid media campaign that began last week. Last Monday, the Texans For Tom Leppert unveiled a new television ad “Empty Suits,” which is airing on broadcast stations in major markets and on cable stations in every media market in Texas.
“Important”
TROY AIKMAN: This is Troy Aikman.
I don’t talk politics very often,
but with all the stuff going on in Washington right now
this race for US Senate is pretty important.
One man stands out in my opinion: Tom Leppert.
Tom’s not a lawyer.
Or a career politician.
For most of his life Tom Leppert has run businesses.
Successful businesses.
Balancing budgets.
Making a payroll.
Creating thousands of good jobs.
In just one term as Dallas mayor,
Tom Leppert did something most political leaders never do.
He said NO.
No to bigger government and wasteful spending
While reducing crime and making his city more efficient.
Raised by a single mom and self-made in the Texas tradition,
Tom Leppert is a man I’ve come to know and respect.
I hope you’ll get to know Tom like I have.
He’s smart.
Conservative.
And represents the best of Texas.
I’m voting for Tom. I hope you will too.
TOM LEPPERT: I’m Tom Leppert, candidate for the US Senate and I approve this message. Paid for by Friends of Tom Leppert.
I like what Leppert is doing. His campaign is almost 100{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} positive, with some very minor jabs at Lt. Gov. Dewhurst. Negative ads certainly work but they also work against the person slinging the mud by bringing up their own negatives in the polls. If you don’t believe me, just check Ted Cruz’ numbers – after months of nothing but slinging mud, he’s sinking like the Titanic. But candidates rarely win with a 100{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} positive campaign, especially in a Republican primary, so it will be interesting to see how Mr. Leppert’s strategy works. I’ve said often that I think it will work well in this specific campaign, even going against the “smart folks” and saying that he’s in the #2 spot, primed for the runoff if Lt. Gov. Dewhurst doesn’t make it to 50.1{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}. Yeah, go ahead and laugh. We’ll see on 5/30.
On Friday afternoon, Senate Republican hopeful Tom Leppert, who along with rival Ted Cruz was attacked in the super PAC’s ad, called on Houston Public Media to remove Polland from the two-hour program. It begins at 7 p.m. Thursday.
….
Houston Public Media announced late Friday that Gary Polland has become so embroiled in the GOP primary battle that it no longer will allow him to play a key on-air role in Thursday’s “Conversation With The Candidates” U.S. Senatecandidate forum.
This press release precipitated the curb kicking:
Leppert Campaign Statement on Gary Polland and Houston PBS Candidate Forum
“Today, Texans For Tom Leppert Is Calling On Houston PBS To Remove Gary Polland As A Scheduled Moderator Of The May 3rd Candidate Forum.”1
DALLAS, Texas, April 27, 2012 – Today, in response to a false and negative television attack ad released by the pro-David Dewhurst Conservative Renewal PAC, Texans for Tom Leppert released following statement:
“The Dewhurst attack ad released today by the Conservative Renewal PAC is riddled with false and misleading accusations in an attempt to smear Tom Leppert and distort his record as mayor of Dallas. The ad also attacks Ted Cruz.
“The Conservative Renewal PAC is led by lawyer Gary Polland, who is scheduled to be a moderator of Houston public television’s ‘Conversation With The Candidates’ U.S. Senate candidate forum on May 3rd.
“It is no coincidence that David Dewhurst is making a rare appearance at a forum where one of the scheduled moderators happens to be running his Super PAC—the very same Super PAC that just started running attack ads targeting other candidates at the forum. Only a career politician like David Dewhurst would see this as a fair debate format.
“It is clear that David Dewhurst and his Super PAC supporters are committed to making a mockery of this event and this election, creating their own rules as they go along.
“Texans for Tom Leppert has formally requested the immediate cessation of Gary Polland’s Super PAC advertisement, which contains unsubstantiated statements and deceitful allegations about Tom Leppert’s record.
“Houston PBS and Gary Polland should be embarrassed for presenting ‘The Conversation With The Candidates’ as an impartial event even as Gary Polland spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to air false and baseless ads against Tom, one of the event’s participating candidates.
“Today, Texans For Tom Leppert is calling on Houston PBS to remove Gary Polland as a scheduled co-moderator of the May 3rd candidate forum.”
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For more information, contact the Texans for Tom Leppert Press Office, (972) 977-4015.
LOL, how awesome is that? I’ve been trying for five years to kick Gary Polland to the curb, Tom Leppert does it in one day. Not bad for someone that wants to be your Senator.
If you missed the debate between the candidates to replace retiring US Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison this past Friday night, you missed a splendid showing by former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, a solid performance by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, a glimpse of what Craig James has to offer, and the continued meltdown of Ted Cruz. How’s that for a quick synopsis?
I don’t normally do a “pick the winners” post after a debate but since that is what everyone seems to prefer, I’ll do that plus my normal grading the debate based upon what each candidate needed to do to move his campaign forward. Without further ado:
Winner: Tom Leppert – Mayor Leppert continues to lap the field in solutions to problems. He was on point, precise, and presented his case like a statesman. He also got in the best punches against Lt. Gov. Dewhurst and Ted Cruz.
Runner-up: David Dewhurst – Lt. Gov. Dewhurst has a habit of pausing before answering, thinking about the question and his answer. Some people do not like that but I’m guessing that more people appreciate a guy that doesn’t foam at the mouth. His answers were solid and he again displayed a detailed grasp of the job of US Senator.
Show: Ted Cruz – Ted came across as petty and small. He keeps complaining about Lt. Gov. Dewhurst not participating in every podunk forum held across the state but when he is on stage with Mr. Dewhurst, he doesn’t land a blow.
Craig James – this is why I hate doing a winners/losers post, someone has to finish last and his performance wasn’t a “last place” performance. Mr. James has a great TV presence and is able to articulate his positions fairly well. However, he is pretty new to this game and it shows. He was far better than the first time I saw him but he couldn’t move out from the back of the pack.
Well, I’ll be – I agree with the viewers. Hey, it wasn’t that hard, trust me. If you watched it, and you are not a super-duper-supporter of one of the candidates, you’ll admit that the viewers, and I, got it right. Factor in that Tom Leppert has the weakest social media campaign of the three top candidates and his winning a poll like that just goes to show how well he did in this debate.
Now let’s do the fun stuff, grading the candidates on how well they did versus what they needed to do to move their campaigns forward. I’ll go in the order the viewers picked the winners.
Tom Leppert – A+ – This was by far Mr. Leppert’s best performance in the forums that I’ve attended. Recall that after the debate in Austin, I wrote that“his mission last night was to move voters his way and I just don’t see that happening based on this performance” and “He is going to have to attack Cruz and Dewhurst more overtly.” Apparently, he took that criticism to heart because my goodness he sliced Ted Cruz up and Cruz didn’t even realize it at the time. His line about Cruz being a “terrific staffer for Greg Abbott” goes to the heart of the Cruz campaign – Cruz has no record of doing anything on his own, it is always at the behest of a client. It was so effective that people on Twitter are now referring to Cruz as “stafferboy”. Ouch.
And while his jab at Lt. Gov. Dewhurst wasn’t quite as effective, he was able to remind people that the Lt. Gov. has raised huge amounts of cash from lobbyists in a direct and very effective way.
Leppert’s job was to move undecided voters his way and to show a little fire and personality, while remaining true to his core. He did that and for that he gets an A+.
David Dewhurst – A – Another solid performance by the Lt. Gov. Being the frontrunner, his mission is very different from Mayor Leppert’s – he needs to hold voters and you do that by not making mistakes. He made no mistakes. True, his “style” isn’t going to get him any points with people that want to see a Newt Gingrich like performance but he was solid with his answers and didn’t back down from an aggressive reporter or from the attacks thrown at him by the other three candidates. He was attacked so often by the candidates that KHOU’s Doug Miller’s headline referred to him as a “pinata”. And he still held his own.
He displayed the type of temperament that has made him such a successful businessman and politician, and will, should he ultimately win, allow him to represent Texas well as a US Senator.
Ted Cruz – C – I don’t even know where to start. How about this. When I was out at the Clear Lake Tea Party Tax Day rally, I asked everyone I could (a) if they watched the debate and if so (b) what did they think of Ted Cruz’s performance. Almost to a person they thought that he came across as mean and petty, small minded. And remember, the CLTP is one of his strong bases in Harris County. Most of these people were still inclined to vote for him but several were wavering, looking at Craig James. Some blamed the “liberal” debate moderators for his poor performance. But none of them showed the level of enthusiasm that Cruz needs to move into a run-off.
During the debate, I received a text message from someone that is very active in the Harris County Republican Party. The text read “Are you as shocked as we are about the real facts about Cruz’s dad?”
Obviously, I wasn’t shocked, as I wrote about that early on and have defended Cruz – he shouldn’t have to mention that his father fought side by side with Fidel Castro at every speech. But I do think that the exchange between Cruz and KHOU’s Greg Hurst highlighted the charge that some have made about Cruz sort of blurring the relationship between his dad and Fidel Castro.
To his credit, one thing that he needed to do was get attention and he managed that – getting a lot of airtime and his name is mentioned in many reports for his aggressiveness. We’ll see if that is the right kind of attention as the race progresses.
His mission was much the same as Tom Leppert’s and he didn’t get the job done. For that attention getting ability, I’ll raise his grade to a C but I really, really, truly miss this Ted Cruz. Come back!
Craig James – B+ – Yeah, I know, that seems like a high grade for someone I put at the back of the pack but remember, this grading is based upon what the candidate needs to do to move his campaign forward. Without a doubt, Mr. James moved his campaign forward at this debate. Of course, his campaign has a lot of room to move forward!
I was at the Driskil in Austin when he formally announced his campaign. And I was there when he participated in his first debate. And I’ve watched him get acclimated to being a candidate. He is a consultant’s dream candidate – articulate, passionate, handsome, great TV presence, etc. The only people that I’ve found that do not like him are hardcore male college sports fans from Texas Tech or SMU. And luckily for Mr. James, there aren’t too many of those guys.
After the debate, I tweeted that “Craig James positioned himself well for a run for Gov. tonight. I guarantee that a lot of Texans took notice.” I’ll stand by that because I know the Republican primary voters. Think of him as a more youthful, more articulate Rick Perry and you’ll understand what I’m saying. His unapologetic stance on contraception and gay marriage is like a fine wine to R primary voters. I saw again yesterday at the Clear Lake Tea Party rally that he really, truly has the ability to connect with voters one on one. If he’d been out there for three years as Ted Cruz has, it wouldn’t even be close as to who the Tea Party types would vote for.
US Senate candidate Tom Leppert continues to move forward in his quest to get in a runoff with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. From the very beginning of the campaign until now, his team has remained positive and produced some outstanding videos. This one is no exception:
NEW TV AD: “Didn’t Do”
“How Did I Do It? Well, I Didn’t Call People Like My Opponents: A Career Politician And A Lawyer. And I Certainly Didn’t Call Barack Obama.”
DALLAS, Texas, April 11, 2012 – Texans for Tom Leppert today began airing the campaign’s third television ad which will be running in major media markets across the state including Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin.
The ad highlights Tom Leppert’s conservative leadership in the private sector, contrasting his experience with the backgrounds of his opponents—a career politician and government lawyer.
Leppert, a conservative businessman, has grown companies, balanced budgets and produced results for over 25 years. During Tom’s tenure as CEO of Turner Corporation, the largest general building company in America, Turner’s revenue more than doubled and Tom helped create 2,300 jobs. He has also served on the Board of Directors at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and as Chairman of the Board of the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce.
As mayor of Dallas, Tom pursued an aggressive conservative economic agenda that helped grow the private sector and shrunk the size of city government. He launched the “Bold Move” initiative in 2009 that targeted out-of-state CEOs to relocate their companies to Dallas and take advantage of the city’s business-friendly climate. Under Tom’s leadership, the Dallas City Council also cut over 1,300 civilian government positions and eliminated or consolidated nearly one-third of the city’s government departments.
“Didn’t Do” TOM LEPPERT: As the only businessman in this race, I’ve created thousands of good jobs.How did I do it?
Well, I didn’t call people like my opponents: a career politician and a lawyer.
And I certainly didn’t call Barack Obama.
They don’t know how to create jobs.
But I do.
Let’s get government out of the way, so business can do what it does best: create growth and opportunity.
I’m conservative Tom Leppert, I approve this message because creating jobs…is my job.
If I were Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, I’d take exception to the “career politician” and the “they don’t know how to create jobs” lines but other than that, it is an accurate assessment of his competition. And I like the creative touch on the required “I approve” line.
Nicely done. I think that people are starting to take notice of the race and are beginning to see the clear differences between the top three candidates. It is going to get very interesting in a really short period of time.
Some people say it will take courage. I disagree. Courage is what my Dad did. All we have to do is what’s right.
I cringe every time I hear Ted Cruz say that Lt. Gov. Dewhurst is “timid”. What a joke – “timid” people don’t build companies and make fortunes – or join the Air Force to be a pilot. Perhaps he confuses “timid” with “disciplined restraint”. I was very impressed that the Dewhurst campaign responded to a blatantly false campaign ad aimed at them from the Cruz campaign with “disciplined restraint”. It was a pleasant change from the “politics of destruction” that we see all the time in Republican primaries.
Tom Leppert has run a positive campaign from the start and has refused to get down into the mud. Even when I baited him last summer, hoping to get him to say something negative about another candidate. He didn’t take the bait and never once in the four times he’s sat down to talk to me has he been negative on anything. He’s like a force of positive energy.
But don’t think he is afraid to point out differences. Heck, he is so confident of his vision and plans that he set up a website comparing his plans with those of Lt. Gov. Dewhurst and Cruz. Not a negative site, just a straightforward comparison, such as:
Tom Leppert compares his plan on personal income tax reform to his opponents.
To see more of his comparisons, visit his website (TomLeppert.com) or go straight to the comparisons site (TexasJobsPlan.com).
I have no idea if these two guys will continue to run positive campaigns all the way up to the primary date because we know from experience that dirt sells in Republican primaries. But every indication thus far is that they will remain positive.
