“Hotter than a Laredo parking lot” (Dan Rather, election night 2000)

Dan Rather (from Wharton, TX) was the anchor of the CBS Evening News from 1981-2005. On election night 2000, he let loose a slew of “Rather-isms”—folksy sayings, both borowed and invented.
 
The 2000 Presidential race was very close and “hot.” Does Dan know Laredo parking lots from experience?
   
   
Wikipedia: Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin Rather, Jr. (born October 31, 1931 in Wharton, Texas) is the former longtime anchor for the CBS Evening News and is now under contract and scheduled to serve as managing editor and anchor of a new television newsmagazine, Dan Rather Reports, on the new cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9, 1981 to March 9, 2005.
   
Election Night Dan Rather Quotes
Quotes from Dan Rather on Election Night 2000
(...)
“The presidential race still hotter than a Laredo parking lot.”
     
Google Groups: rec.models.scale
Dan Rather has become unhinged
From:  Kurt Laughlin
Date:  Wed, Nov 8 2000 1:07 am
 
“Hotter than a Laredo parking lot. . .”

“Madder than a rained-on rooster. . .”
 
“You’re more likely to see a hippopotamus run through this room than Ralph Nader in a Bush cabinet. . .”
 
“He’s still in the hunt. . .”

“He’ll have to run the table. . .”
 
“The race is spandex-tight. . .”
 
“What’s the frequency, Kenneth?. . .”
      - No, wait, that one was from Leslie Stahl.
KL
 
30 November 2003, New York Times, “At 72, a Dogged Rather Is Not Yet Ready to Yield” by Jacques Sternberg, pg. N1:
Flanked by images of himself projected on oversized screens, Mr. Rather sang the praises of KTVT (Dallas—ed.), the local CBS station he had come to visit, and to help. “KTVT is hotter than a Laredo parking lot in this market,” he told the crowd of advertisers, both actual and prospective.