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Williams addresses convention before Palin tonight
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| Michael Williams, chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, and Midland graduate, address the 2000 Republican State Convention in Houston. Photo by Tim Fischer |
Native Midlander maintaining Tall City's political prominence with no Bushes on ballot this fall. He is set to speak at 7:15 p.m.
By Bob Campbell
Midland Reporter-Telegram
Before a massive prime time TV audience, Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams will question Barack Obama’s qualifications and extol John McCain’s prior to vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech tonight at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.
Wearing his trademark bow tie, the native Midlander had been set to follow Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and precede Florida Gov. Charlie Crist before McCain’s acceptance speech Thursday night.
But Hurricane Gustav had forced the convention “to squeeze four days into three,” a Williams spokesman said.
“The commissioner had a great spot before, but it’s still an honor to have a role in this historic convention and speak at 7:15 p.m. on the same night as Gov. Palin,” he said.
Williams had said earlier that addressing 45,000 delegates, alternates and media in Xcel Energy Center is “a fabulous honor.
“I want to make sure when the speeches are over with, people know Sen. McCain is in favor of drilling off shore and creating 700,000 jobs by building 45 nuclear plants while Sen. Obama is opposed to both. Obama has a great life story and can give an outstanding speech, but he is not ready to be president.
“Despite his soaring rhetoric, he hasn’t shown over the course of his career that he is prepared. He was only in the Senate for 143 days before announcing his exploratory committee to run for president. I’ve driven from Dallas to Austin more times than that since then for Railroad Commission meetings.”
A 1971 Lee High graduate who took bachelor’s, master’s and law degrees at the University of Southern California, Williams addressed the 2004 convention in New York City and was a keynote speaker at his party’s state convention June 12 in Houston.
“These are challenging economic times, but Obama supports increasing taxes on coal, oil, natural gas and electricity,” he said last Thursday. “Sen. McCain is ready to lead this country in an uncertain and dangerous world.”
Williams said he, too, would be unqualified for the presidency after serving as a state and federal prosecutor, deputy assistant secretary for law enforcement at the U.S. Treasury Department, assistant secretary for civil rights at the Education Department and railroad commissioner for nine years.
However, Republican Party of Texas spokesman Hans Klingler said Williams would be better prepared than Obama.
Klingler said Tuesday in St. Paul that Williams’ prominence at the convention is evidence of “the large institutional footprint he has nationally with the Republican Party.
“I couldn’t be more ecstatic because Commissioner Williams has been on the scene for 20 years as an elected official and grassroots leader,” he said. “This is the first time in 25 years there hasn’t been a Bush on the ballot in Texas.
“It’s a change of the guard and he is one of the people, along with state Sen. Florence Shapiro of Plano, that we are putting forward as our new leaders.”
Klingler said the Democratic Party will have increasing trouble promoting Obama because he embodies too many unknowns. “Every time we peel back another layer of this individual, we find out something new,” he said.
“His half brother George lives in a slum outside Nairobi, Kenya, on $1 a week, but Obama has only met him twice. We’re incredulous that he keeps talking about being his brother’s keeper because his charity should start at home.”
Midland County Republican Chair Sue Brannon said viewers elsewhere may be taken aback by the 55-year-old Williams’ eloquence, but his talents are well known here. “He is a dynamo -- one of the best they will hear,” she said, noting Williams’ state convention call for the GOP to work hard through the Nov. 4 election.
“Michael has bigger horizons for his Texas political future,” Brannon said. “His wife Donna and he are not interested in going to Washington, but I think he will run for attorney general if Greg Abbott runs for the U.S. Senate.
“He tells the truth. He is proud that Obama, as an African-American, has gone this far but says he is not qualified.”
Midland sent three of the 11th Congressional District’s six delegates to the colorful whirligig of political and media celebrities and grassroots enthusiasts -- delegate Brandon Pinson and alternates Caleb Weatherl and Mike Kaufman. “It’s exciting,” Kaufman said Tuesday.
“Michael had the best speech at the state convention and he’s going to wow the crowd here. The Texas delegation had Laura Bush, Karl Rove, U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Roberta McCain, the senator’s mother, at our breakfast this morning. We’re not talking about the Democrats. We’re talking about what we want to accomplish.”
Kaufman said the Texans are delighted with McCain’s choice of conservative Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for vice president and unimpressed with stories about her teenage daughter’s pregnancy and husband’s 1986 DUI arrest.
“McCain blew Obama away at the Saddleback Church with the Rev. Rick Warren,” he said in reference to an Aug. 16 forum in Orange County, Calif. “A lot of people had concerns and after that, those concerns went away. We’re comfortable with his stands on the war on terror and appointment of three Supreme Court justices.
“Sometimes the media focuses on irrelevant stuff.”
Bob Campbell can be reached at campbell@mrt.com.
Wearing his trademark bow tie, the native Midlander had been set to follow Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and precede Florida Gov. Charlie Crist before McCain’s acceptance speech Thursday night.
But Hurricane Gustav had forced the convention “to squeeze four days into three,” a Williams spokesman said.
“The commissioner had a great spot before, but it’s still an honor to have a role in this historic convention and speak at 7:15 p.m. on the same night as Gov. Palin,” he said.
Williams had said earlier that addressing 45,000 delegates, alternates and media in Xcel Energy Center is “a fabulous honor.
“I want to make sure when the speeches are over with, people know Sen. McCain is in favor of drilling off shore and creating 700,000 jobs by building 45 nuclear plants while Sen. Obama is opposed to both. Obama has a great life story and can give an outstanding speech, but he is not ready to be president.
“Despite his soaring rhetoric, he hasn’t shown over the course of his career that he is prepared. He was only in the Senate for 143 days before announcing his exploratory committee to run for president. I’ve driven from Dallas to Austin more times than that since then for Railroad Commission meetings.”
A 1971 Lee High graduate who took bachelor’s, master’s and law degrees at the University of Southern California, Williams addressed the 2004 convention in New York City and was a keynote speaker at his party’s state convention June 12 in Houston.
“These are challenging economic times, but Obama supports increasing taxes on coal, oil, natural gas and electricity,” he said last Thursday. “Sen. McCain is ready to lead this country in an uncertain and dangerous world.”
Williams said he, too, would be unqualified for the presidency after serving as a state and federal prosecutor, deputy assistant secretary for law enforcement at the U.S. Treasury Department, assistant secretary for civil rights at the Education Department and railroad commissioner for nine years.
However, Republican Party of Texas spokesman Hans Klingler said Williams would be better prepared than Obama.
Klingler said Tuesday in St. Paul that Williams’ prominence at the convention is evidence of “the large institutional footprint he has nationally with the Republican Party.
“I couldn’t be more ecstatic because Commissioner Williams has been on the scene for 20 years as an elected official and grassroots leader,” he said. “This is the first time in 25 years there hasn’t been a Bush on the ballot in Texas.
“It’s a change of the guard and he is one of the people, along with state Sen. Florence Shapiro of Plano, that we are putting forward as our new leaders.”
Klingler said the Democratic Party will have increasing trouble promoting Obama because he embodies too many unknowns. “Every time we peel back another layer of this individual, we find out something new,” he said.
“His half brother George lives in a slum outside Nairobi, Kenya, on $1 a week, but Obama has only met him twice. We’re incredulous that he keeps talking about being his brother’s keeper because his charity should start at home.”
Midland County Republican Chair Sue Brannon said viewers elsewhere may be taken aback by the 55-year-old Williams’ eloquence, but his talents are well known here. “He is a dynamo -- one of the best they will hear,” she said, noting Williams’ state convention call for the GOP to work hard through the Nov. 4 election.
“Michael has bigger horizons for his Texas political future,” Brannon said. “His wife Donna and he are not interested in going to Washington, but I think he will run for attorney general if Greg Abbott runs for the U.S. Senate.
“He tells the truth. He is proud that Obama, as an African-American, has gone this far but says he is not qualified.”
Midland sent three of the 11th Congressional District’s six delegates to the colorful whirligig of political and media celebrities and grassroots enthusiasts -- delegate Brandon Pinson and alternates Caleb Weatherl and Mike Kaufman. “It’s exciting,” Kaufman said Tuesday.
“Michael had the best speech at the state convention and he’s going to wow the crowd here. The Texas delegation had Laura Bush, Karl Rove, U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Roberta McCain, the senator’s mother, at our breakfast this morning. We’re not talking about the Democrats. We’re talking about what we want to accomplish.”
Kaufman said the Texans are delighted with McCain’s choice of conservative Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for vice president and unimpressed with stories about her teenage daughter’s pregnancy and husband’s 1986 DUI arrest.
“McCain blew Obama away at the Saddleback Church with the Rev. Rick Warren,” he said in reference to an Aug. 16 forum in Orange County, Calif. “A lot of people had concerns and after that, those concerns went away. We’re comfortable with his stands on the war on terror and appointment of three Supreme Court justices.
“Sometimes the media focuses on irrelevant stuff.”
Bob Campbell can be reached at campbell@mrt.com.
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