ustxtxb_obs_1968_04_26_50_00001-00000_000.pdf

The Texas Observer APRIL 26, 1968 A Journal of Free Voices A Window to The South 25c Editorial or a Reiter .7exaJ: riorough and gachlen Austin The election of Don Yarborough as gov ernor of Texas is an achievable goal this year. This event would be a significant change in Texas history. It would result in material changes in the lives of the poor, a new framework for the public life that affects the lives of ten million Tex ans, and a revived liberal movement. It would liberalize the most conservative of the six largest industrial states in the union. Yet one finds few people excited or interested. There are a variety of reasons why. National events have stunned and dazed the people. We have hardly had time to assimilate the president’s withdrawal. The McCarthy and Kennedy campaigns have captured the enthusiasms usually devoted to the governor’s campaign in Texas. Don Yarborough has run a dull, lowkeyed campaign. He has been more cautious about discussing controversial issues than before. Out of the country during a crucial period, he is still operating as though liberalism were controversial among the kind of Democrats who will back him in Texas. His mood is behind the times. The evangelical style which once served him fairly well turns a lot of hard-minded people of the late 1960’s off instead of on. They do not like to be exhorted; they know more than their getting preached at implies they know. And there are too many candidates. Ask “Which way is the governor’s race” and people point four directions. It’s nowhere. THE REQUIREMENT of seriousness about improving society, however, is that momentary and personal factors be set aside so that one may see, and think clearly about, the realities that are there. In the foreground of these realities is Don Yarborough’s continuing liberalism, and in this present campaign he is indisputably the most liberal candidate running. Here are some of the things he has said this spring: “Payments of $35 a week to an injured worker while he is recovering is a disgrace …. As governor I will recommend to the legislature that a new law be passed to require a worker with twothirds of his base salary without limitations while he is unable to work because of injuries sustained at his job.” \(Every year in Texas, about 250,000 workers are “I call for a state minimum wage of