ustxtxb_obs_1963_07_12_50_00010-00000_000.pdf

main finding from a statewide survey just completed by the Texas Poll.” The political implications of Belden’s first paragraph can be perceived easily by suggesting an alternative first paragraph, based on the same data, which Belden might have written, but did not: “Both of Texas’ U.S. senators, Ralph Yarborough and John Tower, today receive a better than two-to-one vote of confidence from the people they represent who express an opinion. However, four out of ten voters express no opinion about them.” V Washington journalist Ruth Montgom ery made a startling statement in a column that appeared in the Houston Chronicle: “Such astute Democratic politics as Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson and Sen. Herman Talmadge predict that if the election were held tomorrow, Goldwater would carry the solid South, including their own states of Texas and Georgia.” . . . In Tyler, Gary Jackson, a member of the county Democratic committee, resigned to go to work for Goldwater. Peter O’Donnell, Jr., state G.O.P. chairman and national chairman of the draft Goldwater committee, has been appointing local Goldwater chairmen in Texas cities. . . . V.P. Johnson is opening an Austin office in Augusta routine development, say the Johnson sources. Cliff Carter will manage it. Goings-on there will be closely watched for evidence of Johnson activity in the pending Austin congressional race and next year’s presidential, senatorial, and gubernatorial contests. 160 Johnson is represented, by Felton West in the Houston Post, as having had a leading hand in urging Cong. Albert Thomas, Houston, to run again. This has naturally miffed liberals who had hoped Rep. Bob Eckhardt would get a shot at this job. West quotes “a source long identified with Congress,” who “would not permit use of his name”probably, although not definitely, Lyndon Johnsonas saying that everyone agrees Thomas is “the one indispensable person for carrying through on the U.S. space goals” and the most powerful Texan in congressional appropriations since -James Buchanan, who happens to be the congressman Lyndon Johnson succeeded in 1937. Thomas, according to the Chronicle, has received a favorable medical report about his cancer, concerning which he has had three operations, and will run if the people want him to. West’s “source long identified with Congress” is quoted as saying: “He won’t be in as much pain working like hell up here as he is 10 The Texas Observer down home in a rocking chair. But Texas will.” There is only one Texan long identified with Congress whom one can easily imagine saying that. vor Cong. Homer Thornberry, Austin, is expected to stay in congress several months after he is confirmed to his federal judgeship. V The Baptist Standard noted, “A de fense of the controversial John Birch Society by a Roman Catholic priest who has been a member for three years has been placed in the Congressional Record mayor Earl Cabella Democratwill not confirm or deny reports he will oppose Alger next year ; but it is assumed by knowledgeable Dallas people that he will, and that he could bring Alger down. V Rep. Charles Whitfield, Houston, has gone too far with his annuncement for mayor of Houston to back out now. He has announced a platform that includes criticism of incumbent Lewis Cutrer for refusing to appoint a biracial committee on race relations. Whitfield also implies criticism of Cutrer in his strong emphasis on preventing police brutality. Whitfield supports zoning; Houston is the largest city in the United States without it. fr0 Cong. Ed Foreman, Odessa, joins the lists of Republicans who would like to run against Ralph Yarborough. Already thereon : Jack Cox, Thad Hutcheson, and Desmond Barry. g e Or Bill Heatly, the authoritarian chair man of the House appropriations committee, may draw an opponent in ex-D.A. Jack Hightower of Vernon. There are some implications floating around that Gov. John Connally’s people may back Hightower. goOr And what, apart from helping the Goldwater boom, are Texas’ far-righters doing? Edwin Walker hinted in Colorado Springs, Colo., at Americanism rallies with Rev. James Hargis, that there might be an “American party” on the 1964 ballot with Goldwater its candidate, running against the two crypto-reds, Kennedy and Rockefeller. .. Austin Jaycees sponsored a July 4 Americanism rally with the principal speaker being Paul Harvey, the rightist news commentator. Harvey blasted Kennedy on civil rights. f o of A New York Times reporter, Joseph A. Loftus, came into Texas late last month to do some stories on Texas politics. In Austin he spent two days trying to get to see Gov. John Connally. He was turned over to an appointments secretary ; she not helping, he tried Scotty Sayers, but was not called back. His last day in Austin he was so disgusted, he tried no more. Loftus’ stories in the Times were written with a detached naivete that one seldom finds in the Texas press. For example, some excerpts: “Texas Republicans are planning a 1964 presidential preference primary. Liberal Democrats could not be more delighted. “To the liberals it means one more step toward a genuine two-party system, a development they devoutly hope for. They believe that the place for all good conservatives is in the Republican party. . . . Then the liberals could come into control of the Democratic party. “Leading conservative Democrats understand this thoroughly, but they are caught in a dilemma of their own making. Large numbers of them are presidential Republicans. They vote for Republican presidential candidates and for Democrats for state offices, and persuade others to do so. In short, they vote consistently conservative. “There is statistical evidence suggesting that the cross-over habit has turned into full conversion for many citizens. . . . The Democratic coalition, a liberal group . . . concluded that there has been, since 1957, a steady decline of conservative participation in Democratic primaries. . . . “The [G.O.P. preferential] primary . . . would demonstrate [Goldwater’s] strength in Texas among not only Republicans, but among the many conservative Democrats who would be expected to cross over to show their partiality to the conservative Arizonan.” In another article, Loftus wrote: “Some Democrats, particularly those of liberal leanings, are wondering about Vice President Lyndon Johnson’s value to a national Democratic ticket in 1964 . . . his position on civil rights is so far forward that his value to the national ticket is undergoing reappraisal here. . . . “[Johnson] may be getting into position to run for the Senate in case he is pushed from the national ticket or decides to jump. That would pit Johnson against Sen. Ralph Yarborough in a tight primary.” [As published in Texas, the story said “a rough primary,” but in the Times it said “tight.”] “Nobody in Texas politics is neutral about the vice president. He has influential ties and a foot in more camps than a man has feet. His enemies respect his resourcefulness and skill. They credit him with masterminding the nomination of Gov. Connally in 1962 and snatching victory from the liberal candidate, Don Yarborsuasive work among Negroes and Mexican-Americans. His strength is great among these racial and ethnic groups and yet he can look to many conservatives for strength, too,” Loftus reported. froo Jon Ford, in the San Antonio Express, said of the G.O.P. preferential primary idea, “Contrary to rumors making the rounds, the party has given no consideration to [this]. The suggestion came from a liberal Democratic quarter.” Presumably that refers to the Observer’s politically perverse little editorial of May 30, “An Inspiration,” the first public reference to such a primary, as far as we know. Ford added, in his report, “Some Republicans figure it’s a pretty good idea, all right. . . .” The Texas G.O.P. state executive committee meets in Corpus Christi Sept. 13-14. vor From Washington, Les Carpenter writes that the G.O.P. might fare better in congressional races with Goldwater than with Rockefeller running for president, and adds that the G.O.P.’s most likely Texas targets would be Cong. Beckworth, Casey, Rogers. and Pool.