Mayor Bill White was on a roll last Tuesday as he spoke to a packed gathering of women real estate professionals at the Junior League of Houston.

In what can only be described as an early draft of a campaign speech for his bid to win the not-yet-vacated seat of U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, White began with an ovation and had to pause for repeated applause.

From time to time, though, he lost the crowd in the details, such as when he discussed his administration's rate of investment in drainage or efforts to reduce pollutants such as 1,3-butadiene.

Such it is with White, who many longtime politicos and communication professionals say has all but perfected the art of relaying the minutiae of government in a way that can inspire great confidence — or crushing boredom.

"That's what the public responds to about Bill White," said Nancy Sims, a Houston-based executive with Pierpoint Communications and former city political consultant. "When he starts talking about particles in the air by number, people may tune him out, their eyes may glaze over, but they also trust that he really knows what he's talking about."

But as White prepares this month for a speaking tour in which he will introduce himself to the broader Texas electorate, it remains an open question whether voters in McAllen and Dallas and El Paso will be listening with the same ears as Houstonians. Without the angst of a hurricane as a backdrop, will White's frequent pauses and stutters, interlaced with wonkish policy discussions, resonate the way they do here?

A speaking tour is largely believed to have worked for George W. Bush when he ran for governor in 1994. Not known as a great communicator, Bush visited rallies and civic groups all over the state, in settings large and small, much as White plans to do later this month or in early February.

Several analysts pointed out that White's race is not shaping up to be a contest of rhetorical grandeur, both because the candidates angling to run are not known as extraordinary communicators and because there likely will be so many of them.

Although Hutchison has said she may not resign before entering the race to unseat GOP Gov. Rick Perry, a gaggle of candidates already have said they are running or exploring a race.

Underestimated before
As the list grows, and many believe it will, White's speaking style may not be enough to stand out, analysts said. But it probably will not be a liability, either.

"He ain't no Barack Obama as far as public speaking is concerned, but he's a winner," said Joe Householder, a former communications director for U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton who now is a Houston-based managing director for Public Strategies.

"The deficiencies, if you want to call them that, are the same deficiencies he had when he ran for mayor," Householder said of White. "He has been underestimated time and time again because of that particular style he has, but it's worked out for him."

Even so, Householder said, White may be well-advised to "tighten it up a little bit in certain venues."

Sometimes too detailed
In two speeches this week, White repeated many of the same points included in the two-minute Web video his campaign used to unveil his Senate candidacy last month.

Both speeches lasted more than 30 minutes, leaving little time for questions. They included discussions of city finances and investments in pension plans, tax rate cuts, reductions in energy usage in spite of robust economic growth and an assessment of coming financial struggles.

White frequently delved deeply into statistics about economic growth, pollution reduction and energy consumption, and touted plans to introduce hybrid garbage trucks, often with excruciating detail.

Each audience seemed to receive the talks with enthusiasm.

Those close to White — who have watched him manage City Council meetings for more than five years — know that from time to time, he can speak almost in entire paragraphs, despite rarely using notes while addressing large crowds.

The two-term mayor's oratorical foibles also are well-known, and include repeating varying patterns of the words or phrases "OK," "well," "you know," "uh" and "let me just say" in a drawl, as well as long pauses.

Some activists may want him to be more slick, advisers said, but his style reflects who he is. And his speaking manner, they say, is exactly what it needs to be for his platform of details-oriented, private-sector style governance.

Bill Miller, an Austin political consultant and lobbyist, said any effort to change that style probably would hurt White.

"If you look at elected officials statewide, most of them — or a lot of them — are characters like Cactus Jack Garner and Sam Rayburn," Miller said. He suggested that White's challenge is "to be what the new Texas is, the smart, urban guy who understands issues in a deep way."

Ties biography to policy
Miller said White should learn to be more concise, noting that voters who ask what time it is need politicians to just tell them, not to explain how to fix a watch or build a Swiss village.

Paul Stekler, a professor at the University of Texas Department of Radio-TV-Film who has made several political documentaries, said White's speech-making has improved. Most notably, White has done a better job integrating his biography into his political worldview and rationale for seeking higher office.

"Mayor White is not a natural public speaker in many ways," Stekler said. "But he has clearly gotten better at subtly introducing the connection between his past biography and present policy. Running for office, you're sort of presenting yourself in a way that leaves an audience with an idea. That's what he has to do."