Maverick’s bizarro attack on Ed

As reported in the Chronicle

By RICK CASEY Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
June 9, 2009, 8:14PM

In a frantic run-up to Saturday’s runoff for the District H City Council seat, Maverick Welsh has flooded voters’ mailboxes with slick mailings with the usual campaign promises, but also with a series of accusations against his opponent.

One mailing shows an African-American boy with the line: “I’m tired of not having clean water to drink.”

On the other side, Welsh promises to “fight illegal dumping” that “can cause unhealthy, unsafe drinking water.”

Then this: “Ed Gonzalez says he works for us, but why aren’t our streets cleaner?”

Another shows an Hispanic girl with the line: “I’m tired of feeling scared walking home from school.”

Welsh promises to “strengthen sexual predator laws and reduce local crime.”

Then this: “Ed Gonzalez talks about stopping crime but our kids and property are still not safe.”

A third shows a middle-aged Hispanic man with the line: “I’m tired of politicians who don’t listen.”

On the other side: “Ed Gonzalez says he works for us, but are our streets safer? Has the City cleaned up the trash that endangers our kids? What has he really done?”

A fourth mailer shows a gray-haired woman with a densely lined face. Her beef? “I’m tired of the same old politics as usual.”

On the other side we’re told in big, bold all-capital letters that “When Maverick Welsh says something will get done, it gets done.” But “Ed Gonzalez just says what we want to hear” and is “too busy making backroom deals.”

Not an incumbent
Each of the four mailers (as of Monday) contains a variation on the charge that Gonzalez is “part of the same old broken system that has consistently failed us.”

So what’s the rap on Gonzalez? Is he a long-time politician who’s been feathering his nest while ignoring the problems of his constituents? Is he a City Hall bureaucrat with political connections that mask his failure to perform?

Actually, for the past 18 years he’s been a Houston cop. He’s now a homicide sergeant and a member of the hostage negotiating team.

Given the demands of that job, it’s understandable that he hasn’t stopped illegal dumping throughout the city, or cleaned up the trash or made all our children safe from pedophiles.

“It almost makes me sound like the incumbent,” said Gonzalez with a laugh.

Meanwhile, with no apparent sense of irony, Welsh on his campaign Web site touts his own City Hall experience.

“As Chief of Staff (for Councilman Peter Brown), Maverick helped form Council Member Brown’s agenda and worked tirelessly for the people of the City,” the site says. “Maverick’s work helped lead to the creation of the Mayor’s Task Force for Electric Reliability.”

An impressive accomplishment, helping to lead to the naming of a task force.

Interestingly, Welsh hasn’t attacked Gonzalez on these matters in any of the campaign’s many public forums. It appeared to be a genteel contest between two good candidates.

Welsh said he did so because while knocking on doors he’s heard a lot of complaints about these issues.

Sling mud, get dirty
That’s a good argument for campaigning on the issues, but not for attacking one’s non-incumbent opponent for not having solved them.

Welsh said, rather lamely, that Gonzalez deserves the blame because he has described himself as a “volunteer district liaison” for former councilman and now Sheriff Adrian Garcia.

So is Garcia responsible for the problems?

“I’m not going to talk about him,” Welsh said.

The political reality is that candidates go negative only when they feel they must. Studies show that a portion of any mud that is slung stays on the slinger’s hands.

As a former high school government teacher, Welsh must know that, though he denies he is losing.

He should also know the wise words of the late Adlai Stevenson, who said the “hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning.”