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Antonio started to cry about it. They tabled an anti-war resolution. They passed a resolution honoring Frankie Randolph. And they passed a resolution condemning, censuring and otherwise kicking John B. Connally’s rear end. But Will Davis saw no point in bringing on floor fights about these resolutions, and neither did Billie Carr nor Hall Timanus and besides the libs appeared to have control of the floor and besides it was getting late, so they just adjourned the convention without a report from the resolutions committee. The new, improved SDEC commenced to meet right after the convention was adjourned. There are more liberals on it than there used to be. There are some excellent new women on it, including Juanita Canfield of San Angelo, Margaret Carter of Fort Worth and Joyce Peters of San Antonio, not to mention the unsinkable Carrin Patman. One of the libs’ big worries was that they mightn’t be able to field 17 SDEC members, meaning that the conservatives would have the three-fourths majority necessary to repeal the reform rules. But there are about 25 solid libs on the new SDEC and a few moderates who will sometimes vote with the libs. After the June convention adjourned at 4 a.m., Briscoe’s boys called together the newly elected delegation to the national convention and passed a slew of curious assignments without giving anyone time to think about them or propose alternatives. That gambit was so successful, they did it again this time. Gordon Wynne of Dallas got up and announced the formation of a new Texas advisory commission to lobby for the state’s interests with the national committees. “It will have no voting power, no official function,” said Wynne soothingly. \(It won’t cost you a penny, folks, three days free trial, satisfaction guaranteed or your money back, no salesmen will call and this won’t hurt a Guest wasn’t too articulate about the results, several libs left under the impression that they had won the vote. Plus ca change . . . A closer post mortem of Wynne’s little late-in-the-day slight-of-hand makes it look just as ominous as one might have suspected. In fact, one knowledgeable SDEC member thinks the move may have already wiped out the liberal gains on the national committee and the SDEC. This allegedly advisory committee is to have as its premier component the members of all the permanent national committees, i.e., those appointed by Briscoe in June, and with a few exceptions, that’s an honor roll of cretins. The advisory committee will undercut the power and the influence both of the national committee members and of the SDEC itself, since the SDEC as a whole will be presumed to have delegated its responsibilities to this smaller group. One doubts that even most of the new conservatives on the SDEC would have voted for the thing if they had understood what it meant, but then, that’s the beauty of rushing these things through at the end of a long day. On the whole, Briscoe came out of the convention better off than he went into it. Calvin Guest complained after the convention was over that his camp had been tricked by both the McGovern and the Wallace groups. True, they were out-maneuvered by the McGoverns on the question of the national committee seats, but there was no visible fracas caused by the Wallaces, unless Guest was referring to the walkouts. Briscoe certainly stands in better grace with the blacks and the McGovernites than he did after Miami, simply because they feel that they won something off him. If they felt they hadn’t gotten anything from him, they’d be just as mad as they ever were. On the whole, liberals had cause to be pleased with the convention results unless the new advisory commission turns out to be a slouching monster they got more spots on both the national committee and the SDEC than they had hoped for. However, there was a sort of brooding presence at the convention, what Bill Ballew, the Houston lawyer, calls “the Trojan Horse,” the enemy within, the Wallace forces. Texas liberals and Texas conservatives are accustomed to fighting one another and, one sometimes suspects, rather enjoy it. Liberals have long held that many Texas conservatives belong in the Republican Party, but they had in mind conservatives like John Connally. The Wallace folks are something else again. One doubts that they properly belong in the Republican Party that’s like Porter Waggoner singing at the River Oaks Country Club. But there is no third party to draw them off this year have the Democrats produced one of their rare, over-arching candidates like Bobby Kennedy who can include them in the Democratic Party. Dolph Briscoe is not likely to give them any meaningful representation, and a lot of liberals, who frequently confuse style with things that matter, can hardly bear to talk to them. It’s a shame. M. 1. Hardness The heart’s surface hardens spontaneously To protect inner tenderness From self-created knives Which rebound most acutely From soft objects. DENNIS VAIL Lubbock IDA PRESS 901 W 24th St Austin Multi copy service. Call 477-3641 October 6, 1972 5 an invaluable reference Texas Precinct Votes 1970 General Election Precinct Returns, Analysis, and Maps Compiled and Edited by V. Lance Tarrance, Jr. 192 p., 81/2 x 11 in., 80 maps Cloth $10.00 paper $7.50 University of Texas Press Box 7819 Austin. Texas 78712 Street corner newsracks in need of a little loving care and attention The Observer is looking for friends in Houston, San Antonio and Denton who would be willing to attend to the newsrack routes for a commission based on sales. The Houston job involves making the rounds of the 25 racks every two weeks to stock the new issue and collect the money, plus occasional mechanical adjustments to the racks and, whenever appropriate, relocating some of the racks to more profitable corners. It takes about four hours every other weekend to stock the Houston racks and the income ranges from $10 to $20, depending on sales. The routes in San Antonio and Denton are much smaller and involve less time and commission income. The two Denton racks are located on the NTSU campus; and in San Antonio the racks are at SAC, Trinity, and St. Mary’s. Please write the Observer business office including your telephone number for additional details. The Texas Observer, 600 West 7th Street, Austin, Texas 78701