Bill White, the Democrat running for Texas governor, has a message for President Barack Obama: Call me.
Obama is scheduled to come to Texas for fundraisers on Aug. 9, but White has said he’s too busy to meet with the president.
He said he’d happily take a call from Obama.
“I’d be available to talk to the president, whoever the president of the United States is, at any time,” White said Friday. “I’m available to talk to anybody by telephone.”
Republican Gov. Rick Perry, eager to associate White with Obama in staunchly conservative Texas, has said he would like to meet with Obama about border violence while the president is in town — a statement widely seen as a political gimmick. Obama is holding private fundraisers in Dallas and Austin and has announced no public events during a trip that is part of a series of fundraisers around the country.
White, the former Houston mayor, has repeatedly criticized the Obama administration on spending, health care, border security and other initiatives. He said Perry wants to tie him to Obama because “he knows that he can’t beat me.”
At a news conference in Austin, White was asked if he would reconsider his decision not to appear with Obama in Texas.
“No, I’m continuing my schedule,” White said. “I’m campaigning for governor of Texas and that means meeting the people of this state and listening to what they have to say.”
Democrats in Texas were planning a pair of fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee in Austin, a liberal enclave, and another in Houston for Democratic Senate candidates.
Tickets to the high-dollar lunch in Austin start at $5,000 each and go up to $30,400 for a couple to have a photograph with the president. A tentative invitation to the event says “some of the proceeds will remain in Texas to help elect Democrats in Texas, including Bill White as our next governor.”