ustxtxb_obs_1978_07_07_50_00020-00000_000.pdf

Relax, and take a break for lunch or dinner, and watch the river go by. The drinks are ample, and the cheesecake is our own. We have sandwiches to seafood, from 11:30 until 11:30 every day of the week ; open till midnight in the Metro Center, San Antonio, Texas. Zbel 4kan9aroo 20 JULY 7, 1978 GOP.. . from page 11 rematch this year. Milford, however, did not make the finals, losing to Martin Frost in the Democratic primary. In a departure from the normal rule, Berman’s chances were better against the incumbent than they are against his victor. In the 14th district, 22-year incumbent Democrat John Young, tarnished by Washington sex scandals and plagued by personal problems, was clearly vulnerable. Republicans fielded Joy Yates of Corpus Christi in the primary, but they gave little indication that her race was to receive serious attention. The opportunity did not escape the eye of Democratic state representative Joe Wyatt, however, who defeated Young in the run-off. Yates is now a decided underdog. The governor’s race Nola Haerle, Bill Clements’s campaign manager, has commissioned a poll, but the results are not yet in. “We don’t have to have a poll to know that we are underdogs,” she says, but she is quick to point out that both Bill Clements and John Hill were not the odds-makers’ choices when they began their primary campaigns. It requires little exposure to Bill Clements to learn that he likes to win. And it is not hard to get the impression that he finds winning all the more fun when he’s expected to lose. “I recognize how hard this is,” he says. “I recognize that I’m the underdog. But what I want you to know is that I’m going to do it.” That determination and singlemindedness are probably the most characteristic features of the Clements campaign, overshadowing the record expenditures for a Republican primary and the anticipated record-breaking general election outlays. “Money alone can’t beat John Hill this fall,” says a Republican with statewide campaign experience, “but money combined with the confidence exuded by that campaign can. Clements is just downright contagious in spreading his confidence. Doors are opening to Clements that have never been open to Republicans before. Trade associations are lining up to talk to him. State employees seek appointments to brief him on issues and problems. In Paul Eggers’s 1970 gubernatorial campaign, trade association representatives refused to return calls, and the few state workers who dared to help did so in private places, far from the eyes of those who should not see. Clements has moved his headquarters from Dallas to Austin and has set up shop in the old Briscoe headquarters, a site with positive and negative symbolic significance. The Clements people are focusing only on the positive, and they are actively cultivating the support of former Briscoe backers. David Dean, Briscoe’s campaign treasurer, is now deputy campaign chairman for Clements. Briscoe’s son-in-law is supporting Clements, as is Briscoe’s long-time partner in the cattle business, Red Nunley. Money alone can’t beat John Hill, but money combined with confidence can. Clements is downright contagious in spreading his confidence. “Project 230,” aimed at the recruitment of independents and Democrats in the small and medium-sized counties, is already underway. Omar Harvey, Clements’s manager in the primary, is heading this “Independents and Democrats for Clements” effort. He is constantly on the road in a Winnebago-style conveyance, taking leads on potential Democratic support from David Dean. The Clements campaign has two similar ventures out on the road in mobilehome vehicles. One features the candidate himself in a barnstorming effort that kicked off in Uvalde. Another stars Clements’s winsome and campaign-wise wife Rita, who maximizes exposure by headlining her own show. These programs are part of Clements’s drive to “press the flesh’: in rural, out-of-the-way counties during the summertime. After Labor Day, metropolitan Texas will receive most of his attention. Clements hasn’t restricted the hard work to the campaign trail. He is laboring mightily to correct one of his most apparent weaknessesknowledge of state issues and is said to be studying a broad range of state problems, seeking advice from a variety of professional sources. All of this activity takes money, but Clements proved during the primary that he could get itand spend it. However, fundraising slacked off after the primary as attention to building political alliances took pre-eminence. “We need to rev up the fundraising effort again,” reports a Clements volunteer with campaign finance responsibilities. “Money is a constant fight. Nobody is standing in line to give.” That is always true for Republican candidates, but despite the “constant fight,” the Clements organization is developing a plan that might bring in $3 to $3.5 million for the general election campaign. Says a Clements planner: “That’s a huge amount of money, but look what the Democrats have spent. And re