ustxtxb_obs_1976_07_02_50_00004-00000_000.pdf

Labor nominated Leo Riedel. Briscoe announced that he wanted two of his DNC members, Jane Blumberg and Jess Hay, re-elected. And that added up to seven. There was no slot left for an honest-to-God Carter committee member. But Pat Pangburn, a Dallas liberal who got behind Carter very early, was out campaigning for a seat. The convention’s DNC selection committee was chaired by Rick Johnson, a Carter supporter from Pangburn’s District 8 in Dallas. He had members of the committee name their top seven choices for the DNC..A number of votes had to be cast, but the choices in descending order were usually-Riedel, Leland, Bernal \(these three Pangburn, and Blumberg. Hay was number eight. When it became apparent that he wasn’t going to be nominated for a seat by the committee, he dropped out of the running. But the DNC question was far from settled. Briscoe was reported to be furious. He demanded that Hay be named a member of the DNC, come hell or high water. Saturday afternoon calls went out to both Jimmie Carter and DNC Chairman Robert Strauss. Strauss indicated that a DNC atlarge seat could be found during the national convention for some noble soul willing to step down in favor of Jess Hay. Hay told the Observer that Carter sent him a message via Frank Moore, a Carter aide, that Carter wanted him to reconsider his decision not to run. \(Hay, after all, is reputed to be one of the most able fundraisers in Texas, although his tactics prompted Sissy Farenthold to Meanwhile, behind the stage, where no Bob Wieland Carr: To the showers reporters or mere delegates were allowed, the forces of harmony were desperately trying to find someone willing to drop out in favor of Hay. Billie Carr was summoned back to the showers in the backstage dressing area for a meeting with Briscoe, Agriculture Commissioner John White, Armstrong, and various flunkeys. Briscoe spoke first. He told her that he felt “very strongly” that Hay should be on the committee and that he took the committee’s vote against Hay “personally.” Then the governor faded out and White took over. “We’ve got a problem,” White said. “Yes, you do,” Carr agreed. White told Carr that there would be wonderful things in store for the DNC nominee who stood aside for HayLan atlarge DNC post, a high position in the Carter campaign, and perhaps even more. Carr told White that she felt that such honors should go not to her but to someone who had been working really hard for Carter. At this point, all heads swiveled in the direction of Bob Armstrong. Armstrong and the Carter leadership eventually convinced Pat Pangburn to step aside for the good of the party. \(Pangburn got better treatment: she was taken to one of the air-conditioned trailers behind the uncommitteds went along with the deal after Pangburn assured Carr that she was content with the deal she cut. The last big fight concerned the 32 atlarge delegates and 70 alternates the convention got to choose for the national convention. A straw poll on presidential preference was used to determine how many of the delegates would be chosen by Under the Bentsen rules, delegates had to be approved by the various caucus screening committees; thus the delegate selection committee served merely as a rubber stamp. The problem was that no one explained this to the delegate selection committee. The committee members were duly elected from their senatorial districts and showed up at 7:30 a.m. Saturday with lists of nominations. Lynn Darden, a party regu THE TEXAS OBSERVER The Texas Observer Publishing Co., 1976 Ronnie Dugger, Publisher A window to the South A journal of free voices Vol. LXVIII, No 13 July 2, 1976 Incorporating the State Observer and the East Texas Democrat, which in turn incorporated the Austin Forum-Advocate. Editorial and Business Offices: The Texas Observer 600 W. 7th St., Austin, Texas 78701. Telephone 477-0746. 7411M-V! EDITOR Kay Northcott EDITOR AT LARGE Ronnie Dugger Contributing Editors: Steve Barthelme, Bill Brammer, Gary Cartwright, Joe Frantz, Larry Goodwyn, Bill Hamilton, Bill Helmer, Dave Hickey, Molly Ivins, Franklin Jones, Lyman Jones, Larry L. King, Georgia Earnest Klipple, Larry Lee, Dave McNeely, Al Melinger, Robert L. Montgomery, Willie Morris, Bill Porterfield, James Presley, Buck RamSey, John Rogers, Mary Beth Rogers, Roger Shattuck, Edwin Shrake, Dan Strawn, John P. Sullivan, Tom Sutherland. We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to the truth as we find it and the right as we see it. We are dedicated to the whole truth, to human values above all interests, to the rights of humankind as the foundation of democracy; we will take orders from none but our own conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent the truth to serve the interests of the powerful or cater to the ignoble in the human spirit. The editor has exclusive control over the editorial policies and contents of the Observer. None of the other people who are associated with the enterprise shares this responsibility with her. Writers are responsible for their own work, but not for anything they have not themselves written, and in publishing them the editor does not necessarily imply that she agrees with them because this is a journal of free voices. BUSINESS STAFF Joe Espinosa Jr. C. R. Olofson Published by Texas Observer Publishing Co., biweekly except for a three week interval between issues twice a year, in July and January; 25 issues per year. 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