Obama coming to Houston; Bill White not thrilled about it

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Barack Obama plans to come to Texas to raise funds for his fellow Democrats in the Lone Star State. There's just one small problem. His party's gubernatorial candidate complained Tuesday that he believes the beneficiary of the president's efforts will be his GOP opponent. Furthermore, the former Houston mayor said that he would not join Obama at the event scheduled in the city that he used to run:

White told The Associated Press that he couldn't block Obama from supporting his campaign to become the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas since 1994. But he also suggested that Obama's visit opens the door for Republican Gov. Rick Perry to continue running against Washington insiders — an unwelcomed distraction in the Democrats' best chance to win the governorship in years.

"I believe Rick Perry will try to run against President Obama because he knows that he can't beat me," White told the AP during an interview in San Antonio. "He will try to say — unfairly — that somehow voting for him will somehow change the administration in Washington."

White is hardly the first candidate to ditch an Obama event.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, running for an open Senate seat, skipped public Obama appearances. Senate candidate Robin Carnahan flew to Washington to avoid appearing with the president in Missouri. And appearing arm-in-arm with the president cost Florida Gov. Charlie Crist his Republican nomination for a Senate seat, forcing him out of the GOP and onto the ballot as an independent candidate.

The value of an Obama endorsement is perhaps best measured on a Geiger counter, so high is the level of radioactivity it carries. The president backed John Corzine in New Jersey, Creigh Deeds in Virginia, Martha Coakley in Massachusetts and Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania, all of whom lost to their Republican opponents. His support for Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the Arkansas primary wasn’t enough for her to avoid a runoff. An Obama-endorsed candidate finally won one, but Mark Critz managed his victory by campaigning as a pro-life, pro-gun, anti-ObamaCare blue dog Democrat.

In sharp contrast, the value of a Sarah Palin is sky high. Forget Mitt Romney -- when it comes to primary elections, the GOP's first female vice presidential candidate is the real turnaround specialist.

Just two weeks ago Karen Handel was far behind in the GOP primary race for Governor in Georgia, but a late endorsement from Gov. Palin propelled Handel to a first place finish Tuesday night and an August 10 runoff against Nathan Deal. The final pre-primary Mason-Dixon poll taken in The Peach State revealed that 30 percent of Republicans said they were more likely to back Handel because of the former Alaska governor's endorsement, while just 2 percent indicated that they were less likely to back the Palin pick.

In neighboring South Carolina, it was a nearly identical story. State Rep. Nikki Haley, after getting a nod from the Mama Grizzly In Chief, rocketed past three other candidates into a top place finish with 49 percent of the vote. That was just one point shy of avoiding a runoff against Rep. Gresham Barrett, who got only 22 percent. "Gov. Palin has been fabulous at getting people to understand the power of their voice," Haley said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. "She gave us the push we needed at the time."

In California, Carly Fiorina was lagging behind moderate Tom Campbell until she received Gov. Palin's endorsement. The Fiorina campaign sent out a mailer highlighting the Palin endorsement to 900,000 Republican households. A daily tracking poll conducted during that week revealed a 13-point surge in Fiorina’s support literally overnight. The former Hewlitt Packard CEO not only went on to win -- she won big with 56 percent of the vote, leaving second place finisher Campbell far behind with just 22 percent. A Fiorina aide measured Gov. Palin's support as "at least an 8" on a scale of 10. Internal polls conducted by her campaign show Fiorina took her first lead in the race at the moment the mailer hit California mailboxes.

In her home state of Alaska, Sarah Palin's enemies claim that she is no longer popular. But Joe Miller, the underdog in the Republican race to unseat Sen. Lisa Murkowski argues to the contrary. The Fairbanks-based attorney says that Gov. Palin's endorsement has been a major plus for his campaign. "It's absolutely definite that her endorsement of this campaign has helped us," Miller told the hosts of the ABC/Washington Post "Top Line" program. "It's certainly given us national recognition."

While Democrats are running away from President Obama, Republican candidates are flooding Gov. Palin's team with requests for endorsements. As former GOP Senator Rick Santorum said to National Review's Robert Costa in June:

“Palin is the only endorsement anyone wants,” he laughs. “If you ask who the most influential endorsers are, Palin is numbers one, two, and three, with maybe Sen. Jim DeMint at four. Her endorsement is the only one that matters this year. Just look at what she did for Nikki Haley.”

What about Romney, the man Santorum supported in the 2008 presidential campaign? “No offense to Mitt, but he doesn’t carry the weight,” Santorum says. “Mitt can help you with some finance people, maybe in some small way, but his pull is insignificant compared to Palin’s.”

- JP