ustxtxb_obs_1982_07_23_50_00007-00000_000.pdf

one of them if you don’t. So it was tough, but in the long run the argument that meant the most to me was twofold: one was someone is going to run against Warren Harding, and he is going to be defeated. This was before his troubles? No. The Saturday that it was front page of the Austin paper, and the filing deadline was Monday. The Second one was that I would be good for the Democratic ticket, that I would be able to cross a lot of party lines, and that I would interest a segment of the community in voting that might otherwise not be excited about voting. Who was making these arguments? Well, there were a number of friends, and before the whole thing was over, I had touched base with a really broad spectrum of people to see how they would respond to the notion of making the race. I wasn’t about to get in it and have a bunch of people say, “Well I told her not to,” or “I thought it wasn’t a good idea,” or “She didn’t even call me.” And I touched base across the board, conservative to liberal, before the Monday I said I would do it. And there was also the money. I know you’ve got to have money, and I don’t like it, but whether you like it or not, you cannot make a statewide race in this state, I don’t think anyone can do it, for less than $400,000. Just no way. What kind of assurances did you have by that Monday about money? Two hundred thousand dollars by six o’clock Sunday night was the deadline, and when I had that much pledged, I said that I would really think about it over Sunday night, and I would decide by Monday morning. How much did the primary end up costing? I think we spent between 550 and 600 thousand dollars. Three hundred and sixty or so of that was media. And how much will the general election cost? Probably $450,000 more. I would like to say that we could get by for less than that, but I don’t know how to measure what my opposition is going to do. I’m telling you, ideally for me, $450,000 would be great. How well do you know your opposition? Not at all. I went over to meet him when he announced, just went in and shook his hand. Has he been out campaigning? I don’t want my tax dollars to be used for Duke Embs to run for governor. How do you feel about the Democratic slate this time? I feel good about it. I feel real good about it. I am a pragmatist when it comes to politics. You are either there to win or to send a message. We just happen to be there at this point to win. And I think that you’re going to see an awful lot of enthusiasm on the part of rank-and-file people, and I think you’re going to see some enthusiasm from the middle and more conservative elements of the party, because first of all, they’re fed up with Bill Clements, secondly, they know Mark White, they have association with Hobby, and I really think that the ticket represents what the Democratic Party ought to be and says it is. Nationally and statewide, it is that this party is big enough for everybody. Is there anything else about the treasurer’s office you would like to talk about? Yeah, lots of stuff. I think the minority hiring is poor there and needs to be changed, but I also believe the important thing about minority hiring is, are those people moved up through the system and into positions of management, not just how many numbers do you have. I’ve experienced that as a woman, can’t get around it. We’ve been at the bottom rung of that thing forever, and we can’t seem to move past the coffeepot. I think that office should provide’ information in relation to banking and the banking commission about how to go about getting a bank charter. I think the office has to have a set of rules and regulations published in the Administrative Code of Texas. It’s virtually nonexistent now, and every other agency in this state lays out its rules on how its decisions are going to be made. That’s how you answer the first question that you asked about the politics of bank deposits. How are the decisions made on who gets how much money and when? You don’t know that because there are no policies or regulations written, and that has to be established for the banks to read, as well as the general public. Playing one bank off against another is not in the best interest of anybody. I guess the bottom line of all of it is that you really don’t know how much you can do until you’re there, and in this case, the most exciting thing about that office is that there’s so much to be done that you can’t miss. “‘LIU 11 1 \(ii…/111 : Immir Send the Observer to name address city state zip this subscription is for myself gift subscription; send card in my name S20 enclosed for a one-year subscription hill me for S20 name / address city state Zip THE TEXAS OBSERVER 600 W. 7th, Austin, Texas 78701 I don’t know. I’ve run across his tracks only one time, and that was just someone said “Oh yes, your opponent has been here to talk to us.” So we don’t really know how Ann Richards, treasurer, would differ from’ Allen Clark, treasurer. No. And the main reason we don’t know is because at his announcement, when he was asked about issues, he said on each of the issues, “I just don’t know yet. We’re going to form an opinion.” So I really don’t know what he thinks about anything. THE TEXAS OBSERVER 7