ustxtxb_obs_1973_08_24_50_00006-00000_000.pdf

Low-life campaign Democratic barbecues, which Dolph Briscoe was using to push Lloyd Bentsen for president until some angry Wallaceites from Dallas told the guv to cut it out. The barbecues are not and were never planned to be anything more than “let’s all get together, have a good time and remember that we’re all Democrats” type wingdings. The members of . the commission seem likely to leave the McGovern-Fraser guidelines pretty much alone, while clarifying the no-quotas section. There was considerable discussion about how to guarantee that party leaders and elected officials don’t get left out at national convention time, perhaps by making them ex-officio delegates or by reserving some set portion of seats for them. The highlight of the presentations made by Texans came dufing a profound address by Lem Allen, chairman of the Democratic Party in Guadalupe County. Allen denounced the idea of quotas most roundly. He was then asked about the racial composition of the party in his county. “Why,” he said, “we have Germans, Czechs, Polish, blacks, Irish and Texans.” M.I. 6 The Texas Observer When you move, it isn’t enough just to furnish the Post Office with your new address. Please drop us a change of address card, too; and send along an old mailing label from your Observer, if you have it. This way, you’ll be assured of having the next issue properly mailed to your new address, since we can implement an address change up to two days before an issue is printed and mailed . . . provided we hear directly from you. Thanks. THE TEXAS OBSERVER 600 W 7, Austin Texas 78701 As the Observer went to press, the special Senate election runoff between Lloyd Doggett and Maurice Angly lurched into its final 36 hours. The campaign has not changed much since the beginning: Doggett has continued to pick up endoresements from every Democratic honcho within hailing distance \(the list now includes Dolph Briscoe, Lloyd Bentsen, Calvin Guest, Robert Strauss, Bill Hobby continued to attack profligate welfare spending, registered lobbyists and George. McGovern. Angly’s media campaign started off with an ad accusing Doggett of wanting “to take a-l-1 limits off welfare spending,” and appealing to “those of us who are taxpayers” to rally round the work ethic. The ads have gotten more lugubrious every day. A nifty TV job, featuring fade-out shots of McGovern \(“George McGovern,” the hyper-male voice repeats, “discredited about Angly’s record as a Dirty Thirtian, concluding with the candidate’s assessment of what he learned: “My experience taught me the job cannot be entrusted to a registered lobbyist” \(Doggett registered last session as the president of the Texas Consumers If any real issue has managed to color Angly’s campaign, it is no-fault insurance. Angly has pointed out that Doggett did not support no-fault last session. Doggett has waffled, replying that he did work for competitive rates and that there are bad no-fault plans, after all. But even on no-fault Angly has taken the ad hominem way, charging that Doggett is he was endorsed by the Trial Lawyers’ Association, which opposes no-fault \(he was; Angly sought the endorsement and the TLA make up most of Doggett’s financing \(in fact, the TLA has not committed money to the campaign, though Doggett has received much of his funding Doggett has worked hard to portray Angly as a mud-clinger, but has not refrained from mentioning his opponent’s party label and presidential candidate. At least one Hill Country weekly, The Highlander endorsement of Doggett directly to the “senseless, demeaning campaign” run by Angly. The Austin American-Statesman has endorsed Angly. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down one of the more obnoxious stepsons of the poll tax, Texas’ “presumption of non-residency” for prospective voters who are students. The Political Intelligence Election Code had dictated that students be required to intend to reside permanently in their college towns before registering to vote there. The Court found, in upholding Dist. Judge Wayne Justice’s decision, that an infringement on the equality of student registrants’ protection under, the law, which requires no such intentions for non-students. The case was brought by students from Denton \(represented by David Richards for most notorious examples of refusal to register students came from Waller County, where Prairie View A&M is located. The white registrar had designed a questionnaire asking not only “Do you intend to reside in Waller County indefinitely?” but also “Do you have a job .. . home or other property . .. automobile . . . telephone . . . belong to a church, club” in Waller County. Student voters have already made their presence well known in Austin politics. There are indications they could change the face of Waller County voting as well. In 1970, the county had a population of 14,000 and total registration of 4,600. In that year, Prairie View had 4,000 students. The Court of Appeals decision does not immediately apply to Waller County, though it does apparently recognize “a statewide class” of persons injured by the law. A Waller County case decided in favor of county officials is being appealed to the Fifth Circuit. Were Number One! With Texas up for yet another Number One honor first among the fifty in mass murder the Texas press responded with appropriate overkill. As all hands waited anxiously through the weekend to see if more bodies were to be found, the state’s media kept pointing out that California’s Juan Corona had outscored Charlie Whitman as though t’were a defeat by O.U. to be avenged. Roget’s lists 16 synonyms for grisly, but even the obvious gruesome got no play. The Houston Post gets an hon. men. for the tasteful sidebar “Mom Can’t Bear TV Reports,” \(although the Houston Chronicle still holds the all-time award in the sidebar category for a cheerful and informative feature run in conjunction with the last