ustxtxb_obs_1967_11_24_50_00014-00000_000.pdf

At a Juncture home are proud of him. He is our contemporary and like the people of a small town we react with heat when he is abused. But he is tougher than he used to be, and a damn good thing. He got a missive from West Texas maliciously insulting Austin Gov. John Connally’s decision not to run again has had the effect of an electrical storm, startling us all and clearing the political climate. In the freshened air we are looking around, those of us liberals and Republicans, mostly’ who have not approved of the way our state has been governed these many years but who had also despaired, until Nov. 10, of doing much about it for a couple of years more. Now things are much changed and the Outs are more hopeful than they have been in many years that they may at last become Ins. There is good cause for hope. The Establishment, as we have justifiably called the Connallycrats \(or Shiverswell its partisans know it. They could most likely have held the line another two years with Connally, but the governor was genuinely tired of his job. It is said now that he had, essentially, made up his mind not to seek reelection three months ago, and has, since then, been giving people the chance to offer persuasive reasons why he should run. It would have taken much to get him to run again. The President could have probably persuaded him to make the race, but evidently left the decision entirely to the governor. This is the one thing about the situation that puzzles me why Johnson did not ask Connally to run in ’68. Connally’s name on the ballot would mean votes for LBJ next year, though Johnson is likely to carry Texas anyway. It had been thought that Connally would work for the President’s renomination and reelection next year. From an answer the governor gave on 14 The Texas Observer Since 1886 The Place in Austin GOOD FOOD GOOD BEER 1607 San Jacinto GR 7-4171 him, wrote back a letter meaner by some degrees, and asked me how big the guy was. Have a hotdog, and hoist a beer to old Willie. We are still here, and his coming back helps us know it again, R.D. this point at his press conference \(see nally will take any role in the national Democratic campaign. Probably the decisive factor in the governor’s mind as to not running was the fact that LBJ didn’t ask him to. Connally is a proud man, as we know, and may have been stung by Johnson’s silence on this matter. Johnson, on the other hand, also a proud man, may not have wanted to ask Connally to run, as in so doing he would have tacitly admitted that he needed the governor to help hold his home state. Connally is a devoted family man; he will enjoy spending more time with his wife and children, and will like life at his Floresville ranch, perhaps practicing law in San Antonio, as one report has it. Mrs. Connally’s recent operation, for removal of a tumor, almost certainly played a role in the governor’s decision. State political f actors also loomed large in the Connally decision. Having to ask a special session of the legislature to raise perhaps more than $100 million in new taxes during an election year is not easy. There is the growing disaffection and political activity of the MexicanAmericans; Connally has become for them a symbol of the Anglo indifference to the plight of the mexicanos. The demise of the poll tax and the advent of free voter registration will make political activity easier for many new voters, most of whom will not identify with the Establishment’s candidates and approach to government. The impending nature of the two party system is more and more unmistakable, as the GOP’s impressive showing in the recent special legislative races demonstrated. What To Do? How, then, shall liberals exploit the changing climate? I incline toward the view that Sen. Ralph Yarborough should CLASSIFIED BOOKPLATES F1tEk.1 CATALOGUE—-Many beautiful designs. Special designing too. Address BOOKPLATES, Yellow Springs 24, Ohio. ANNE’S TYPING SERVICE: Duplicating \(multiNotary. Specialize in rush jobs, including Sundays. Formerly known as Marjorie Delafield Typing and Duplicating Service. Call HI 2-7008, Austin. run for governor next year. I know liberals could very possibly lose his Senate seat, should he win the governorship, to a Republican or a conservative Democtat. But I am presently persuaded that we need Yarborough far more in Austin than in Washington. He is an influential Senator, it’s true, with more than a decade of experience and seniority there. He has done great good for this country. But he has many allies in the US Senate. They are likely to prevail in the years ahead. In Texas there are few like Yarborough in the state government; there have been none like him in the governor’s office since before World War II. I believe the US Senate is in good hands and will remain so. I believe, taking the national view, that Yarborough can do more for America by returning to Texas and overseeing the establishment of a government that is, as he himself said here last week, compassionate and concerned not with corporations so much as with people. I believe the senator’s remaining years of public service can be most effectively spent devoted to the challenging task of moving the Texas government ahead to an era of social concern and fair fiscal policy. I firmly believe that Ralph Yarborough, though his position in our nation’s history is secure, can be remembered more by future generations not as the great liberal senator of the mid-20th century from this state, which he is, but rather as the governor who made the government of an important state become responsive to the too-longignored needs of its people. He is the one man who can unite the disparate factions of the Texas liberal community, a community that has splintered often because it has not been in power in our generation. And the senator gets the votes of many Texans who otherwise do not support liberal candidates. I believe Don Yarborough could win the governorship next year, but I believe the senator would more certainly win. And I believe the state would benefit more at this time because of the senator’s extensive experience in public life. There is time enough to put Don. Yarborough to work for the people. He is still a young man just now reaching the peak of his powers. This decision will not be an easy one for Sen. Yarborough; stepping out of the most exclusive governing body in the world is nothing to be taken lightly. But I am grateful and heartened that a man of Ralph Yarborough’s calibre is earnestly considering it. And he is. That he is doing so is a sign to me that he suspects that his remaining time in public life may be best spent at the Texas Capitol. I hope he will make the race, G.O. ATHENA MONTESSORI SCHOOL CHILDREN 2-6 Red River at 41st GL 4-4239 or GR 6-9700