ustxtxb_obs_1976_06_04_50_00006-00000_000.pdf

“Do you think it’s a contagious disease?” she continued. “Yes I do.” “Does the gentleman think he’s gonna catch it then?” Ms. Noble said she got along fairly well with most of her colleagues, including the speaker, who once told her, “Ya got more balls than most of the guys in here.” She said she corrected him: “The word is eggs, sir.” She flung a few barbs at Mayor Cockrell and other local pols who chose not to ac fed ,41 Secretary of State Mark White is say ing ing that the 98 Texas delegates elected by the presidential primary cannot participate in the Democratic September state convention. The primary delegates will attend the June 18-19 state convention in HoustOn, along with the delegates elected from county and senatorial districts. White says he had to strain to interpret the presidential primary law to allow them to attend the June gathering, but “there is no way you can stretch it any further.” National Democratic Committeewoinan Billie Carr says that White’s position is twaddle, that the state Demo rules stipulate that the September delegates will come from the conventions and the primary. Carr speculates that White and Governor Briscoe fear that if the Carter primary delegates get to go to the September convention, which is called the “Governor’s Convention,” Calvin Guest might not be re-elected as state party chairman. White says that Carr’s position is just politics and that if Sen. Lloyd Bentsen had won the primary she wouldn’t be wanting the primary delegates to attend the September convention. Carr says White’s position is the partisan one. Closer at hand is the June meeting. Some blacks in Houston ‘low as how the convention should be postponed in honor of Juneteenth, the 19th, the day on which Texas got the news that slavery was abolished. Not so, banter the Jews. The convention wasn’t postponed last year because of Rosh Hashana, so why should it be postponed because of Juneteenth? 6 The Texas Observer knowledge the conference. “Don’t let her off the hook,” she said, “Invite her to change politely, but don’t give up the pressure.” Indications were San Antonio gays would do just that. For too long, politicians have pretended the gay community doesn’t exist, and if the feelings generated by this conference can last, they won’t be able to get away with that anymore. For my part, the tax money was well spent. If our media celebrities would bother to learn some toleration, they’d think so too. 404,440,0 The seven national committee mem be chosen in June. Carr has announced that she is running for re-election. Jess Hay, a Briscoe man, also wants to stay on the committee. His chances were no doubt boosted by the fact that he has signed on as Carter’s top fundraiser in the state. Hay did some questionable fundraising on behalf of Briscoe in 1972 and 1974 and eventually paid $125,000 to settle a civil suit Sissy Farenthold brought against Briscoe and Hay and the 1974 campaign \(see Obs., Aug. Bob Wieland Governor Briscoe Hay let it be known that he has a list of 50 people who could raise $3,000 each for Carter, primarily through dinners in Houston and Dallas. \(It’s the same framework he Commissioner Bob Armstrong, who heads the Carter forces in Texas, remembered the Observer’s stories on Briscoe’s contributions from Hay’s firm, Lomas & Nettleton, and from Cloyce Box’s corporation, but he felt Hay’s offer was too good to ignore. He stipulated that Hay could be chairman of Texas’ fundraising committee as long as he wasn’t Carter’s only fundraiser in Texas. Armstrong says that no deal has been cut concerning Hay’s seat on the national committee. He figures that the Briscoe, Bentsen, and Wallace troops are entitled to three of the seven committee seats. Carter and uncommitted should get four. Armstrong adds that Billie Carr hasn’t been promised a seat either. The actual strength of the various factions will not be known for sure until the delegates register at the June convention. Hay is not a mover and shaker on the national committee. Carr says she can only remember seeing him at one meetingback in 1972 when he dropped by to vote for fellow Texan Robert Strauss for party chairman. His proxy is usually cast by Texas Committeewoman Jane Blumberg, Carr says. Blumberg reportedly also wants to keep her seat. Claudia Brummett, another Briscoe ally, is said to be willing to step down. Jon Ford says Lem Allen doesn’t want to remove himself from the committee, contrary to popular speculation. Leo Riddell is expected to be elected as labor’s man on the committee. “Riddell is the one person everybody agrees should be on,” Armstrong says. Governor Briscoe leaves the convention brokering to Calvin Guest, the state Democratic chairman. Complained one Observer source, “I didn’t realize what a bastard Calvin Guest is until I really started having to deal with him. He’s tough. Now Dolph Briscoe is okay, one on one. When you get to him you find he’s got some sensitivity. some sense of fairness. The trouble is you can’t get to him one on one. He leaves it all up to this crew of his. And they’d rather screw Billie Carr than win.” Four more years? Since January the Observer has been getting the word that Gov. Dolph Briscoe’s aides were drumming up support for a third term. On April 29 in Corpus Christi, Mrs. Briscoe said she thinks “we will be running again” in 1978. There’s a story out that Briscoe and Atty. Gen. John Hill got together and agreed that Briscoe would run for reelection and Hill would run against John Tower for the U.S. Senate. But Mary Jane Bode, Hill’s press aide, says not so. Bitsy Hill hates Washington. Comptroller Bob Bullock says he’ll run for re-election or for governor. Insurance Chairman Joe Christie