ustxtxb_obs_1980_10_31_50_00002-00000_000.pdf

wiz aysE R 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. Writers are responsible for their own work, but not for anything they have not themselves written, and in publishing them we do not necessar ily imply that we agree with them because this is a journal offree voices. BUSINESS MANAGER Cliff Olofson The Texas Observer In addition to the candidates endorsed in our last issue, Oct. 17, we recommend you vote for the following on Nov. 4: Texas Supreme Court Place 4. C. L. Ray, Democrat Place 1. Jim Wallace, Democrat Texas Railroad Commission Two-Year Term David Hutzelman, Libertarian On the Supreme Court, Ray is opposed by incumbent Will Garwood, a Republican appointed by Gov. Bill Clements. Garwood is a multimillionaire with extensive bank stock holdings, and recently broke the tie on a court decision which favored banks over consumers. Ray, of Marshall, has served on the Court of Criminal Appeals in East Texas for 10 years. In Place 1, Jim Wallace is a former state senator and an appellate judge in Houston with a reasonable record as a moderate. Both Ray and Wallace are endorsed by the Texas AFL-CIO. The Railroad Commission race is a big clunker. We’re unmoved to endorse Democrat Buddy Temple because of his unashamed acceptance of lobby money. We can’t find any charity at all for Jim Nugent, and urge that either you not vote in that race or cast your ballot for Libertarian David Hutzelman, who has one of the better ideas we’ve heard about the RRC. “I want to abolish it,” he told us. We’d like to remind you that your vote is also desperately needed to support these candidates [Obs., Oct. 17] who face heavy Republican money in the general election: Congressman Bob Eckhardt in Houston and Jim Mattox in Dallas; and state Senators Babe Schwartz in Galveston and Ron Clower in Garland. Bill Patman, running for the 14th congressional district in Corpus Christi, also needs help, as does Mike Andrews in Houston’s Dist. 22. All are Democrats. In the Texas Senate, we add to our endorsements, Sen. Carlos Truan, Dist. 20; Ron Kessler in Dist. 16, Dallas, and Gene Jones, Dist. 7, Houston, all Democrats. Kessler is a moderate former party chairman of Dallas County. Jones is embroiled in legal problems, but they seem to be inspired by his political opponent and we don’t think that’s a basis for his rejection. In local races in which you are undecided, we believe it is best this year to give the benefit of the doubt to Democratic candidates. The GOP is in the hands of its reactionary ‘rightwing and although we favor a two-party state, we are concerned with the bent of the Texas Republican Party, whose platform denigrates women, minorities, organized labor, and social justice. A final word on the presidential contest. In our endorsement of President Carter and Vice President Mondale, we did not mention the minor candidacies of Barry Commoner and LaDonna Harris of the Citizens Party and Andrew Pulley/ Matilde Zimmermann of the Socialist Workers Party. Because of the heavy-handed, openly partisan interpretations of the Texas election code by GOP Secretary of State George Strake, neither the Citizens Party nor the SWP are on the ballot in Texas. We know that, despite our patient explanations, some of you do not understand that it is necessary this year to vote Carter as a Reagan preventative. If you wish to register a protest vote, then have the good sense not to waste it on John Anderson, who is no third choice at all. Write in Commoner/ Harris or Pulley/Zimmermann. But with Texas’ outcome so critical in 1980, we still urge you to vote for Carter/Mondale and then work very hard to bring them back to their senses. 2 OCTOBER 31, 1980 PUBLISHER, RONNIE DUGGER e The Texas Observer Publishing Co., 1980 Vol. 72, No. 21 October 31, 1980 Incorporating the State Observer and the East Texas Democrat, which in turn incorporated the Austin Forum-Advocate. EDITOR Rod Davis ASSOCIATE EDITOR Laurence Jolidon LAYOUT: Beth Epstein STAFF ASSISTANTS: Susan Reid, Bob Sindermann Jr. CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Warren Burnett, Jo Clifton, Chandler Davidson, John Henry Faulk, Bill Helmer, Jack Hopper, Molly loins, Maury Maverick Jr., Kaye Northcott, Dick J. Reavis, Laura Richardson, Paul Sweeney, Lawrence Walsh, Alfred Watkins CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Keith Dannemiller, Roy Hamric. Hans-Peter Otto, Alan Pogue, Bob Clare, Phyllis Frede, Russell Lee CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS: Berke Breathed, Jeff Danziger. Dan Hubig, Ben Sargent, Mark Stinson A journal of free voices Editorial and Business Office 600 West 7th Street, Austin, Texas 78701 Publisher’s Office P.O. Box 6570, San Antonio, Texas 78209 Published by Texas Observer Publishing Co., biweekly except for a three-week inter.. val between issues twice a year, in January and July; 25 issues per year. Second-class postage paid at Austin, Texas. Se prepaid. One year, $18; two years, $34; three years, $49. One year rate for full-time students, $12. Airmail, foreign, group, and bulk rates on request. Microfilmed by MCA, 1620 Hawkins Avenue, Box 10, Sanford, N.C. 27330. POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to: 600 West 7th Street, Austin, Texas 78701. Cover photo: Grant Fehr , Ve.