I've previously written about the U.S. Senate campaign of former ESPN sports analyst Craig James. James is running for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. As I mentioned in that article, James is a long-shot candidate in this race for a whole host of reasons, including the fact that he is somewhat unpopular among a key constituency in Texas -- college football fans.
Something that was of interest early in James's campaign was his effusive praise of Texas Governor Rick Perry in his first campaign advertisement. Generally, one would think that a candidate for U.S. Senate would want to introduce himself in a way that would encourage voters to think of that candidate as his own man. James decided not to do that in his introduction. But to be fair, Perry is the Governor of Texas, so I can see why James might want to emphasize his admiration of Perry for the local audience.
That having been said, now that Rick Perry's Presidential campaign is over (after a collapse that was truly amazing to behold), one might also think that James would want to focus on local issues in Texas and not tie his public image to other politicians, particularly those from faraway states who haven't spent much time in Texas. Well, it looks like James has found a new hero to praise and support. James has a new advertisement out in which he sings the praises of former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and he repeatedly says that he supports Santorum in that advertisement.
I wanted to make a homespun Texas-like comment about James hitching his wagon at this point, but unfortunately David Catanese at Politico beat me on that one. In any event, if current polls showing a decline in Santorum's popularity are accurate, it looks like Craig James's unique sense of timing has struck again. James may admire the demagogic and authoritarian version of conservatism that Santorum espouses and he is certainly well within his rights to do so, but loudly and proudly linking his fortunes to those of Santorum doesn't seem like the wisest move. If nothing else, it seems like the actions of someone who is desperately trying to get some attention by grabbing onto the coattails of others rather than by providing his own vision for why he should be in the U.S. Senate.
I've already stated that something tells me Craig James's campaign to be the new U.S. Senator from Texas won't end well. I haven't seen or heard anything to make me change my mind on that point.