ustxtxb_obs_1982_10_15_50_00009-00000_000.pdf

INTELLIGENCE name remains on the ballot. Dean says that the 45th day was Saturday, Sept. 18, so Wilson’s name remains on the ballot. If the voters cast more ballots for Wilson than for his Republican opponent, Dr. J. Everett Ware, then the Senate seat will be declared vacant and a special election held to fill the office. Democrats contend that another section of state law moved the deadline to Monday midnight, since the regular deadline fell on a weekend. Meeting at a caucus in Lockhart, the 18 county chairmen from the 18th state senatorial district picked Rep. John Sharp of Victoria to succeed Wilson as the Democratic candidate. The other serious contender for the position was Rep. Tim Von Dohlen of Goliad. Sharp was turned away when he tried to get Dean to accept papers naming him to the ballot. To further complicate matters, Sharp, who was a candidate for re-election to the House, resigned to make the Senate race, and the three county chairmen from his aistrict picked Ronald B. Walker to replace Sharp on the ballot. Dean also refused to certify Walker. Now Gov. Clements has called a Nov. 6 special election. Buoyed by a League of Women Voters poll showing him leading Gov. Clements by 4 percentage points, Mark White called a press conference to announce the endorsements of Tony and Ruben Bonilla. Tony Bonilla, national LULAC president, conceded that he and White have had disagreements but that he supports White “as an alternative to the arrogant, egotistical dirty-political-playing governor we have now.” Conceding that Clements has made many Hispanic appointments, he accused the governor of opposing many of the programs that are beneficial to Hispanics. “There is 14.6% unemployment among Hispanics across the country,” he said, “and it is even higher in South Texas. This governor has embraced Reaganomics; he should sink with Reaganomics.” Ruben Bonilla, formerly national LULAC president and now the group’s legal counsel, told the press that the Hispanic community in Texas represents perhaps 900,000 votes. He also contended that those Hispanics who have endorsed Clements have always been Republicans. “It is true that we have had our differences with General White,” he said, “and I think our differences make our endorsement even more impressive. He has been willing to work with us, his door has always been open. That’s better than a governor who is arrogant, brash, vindictive, and insensitive to working people in Texas.” The Bonillas said their major difference with White had been on the bilingual education issue although they said they realized that as attorney general, he was representing the state of Texas. “We didn’t differ on concept,” Ruben Bonilla said, “because we both support it, but on extent and duration in the public schools.” Ruben Bonilla also criticized Clements’ advocacy of a guest-worker program, calling it “dangerous, unrealistic, and economically volatile.” Hispanics, he said, “will be most devastated by this guest-worker program.” White also contended that he has supported the extension of the Voting Rights Act “in its strongest form.” He said Bill Clements and David Dean “have spent more time and more money trying to drop people from the rolls than trying to add people to the rolls.” The notorious Texas Spectator, the sleazy little tabloid published by the Clements camp, has observers wondering if the governor is running scared, although it’s similar to the publications the Clements campaign distributed in 1978. Mark White says that Clements’ representatives first tried to float the Spectator story about his arrest for drunken driving while a 23-year-old Baylor law student by offering it to an East Texas newspaper publisher. The publisher would have nothing to do with it so they printed the Texas Spectator and tried to distribute the paper at the state Democratic convention. An item in a publication called Campaigns and Elections: The Journal of Political Action might offer some clues regarding Clements strategy. The publication offers a review of a study written by Clements’ favorite pollster, V. Lance Tarrance. The study is entitled “Negative Campaigns and Negative Votes: The 1980 Elections,” and is published by the Free Congress and Education Foundation, a right-wing think tank directed by Paul Weyrich, a prominent right-wing strategist. According to reviewers Victor S. Kamber and Steve Rabin, Tarrance admits that he has no conclusive evidence that negative campaigning wins elections, but he does make the following points about negative campaigning: -1. Though people may dislike negative advertising, the message still gets across. Tarrance mentions a particularly obnoxious toilet-paper commercial that resulted in an avalanche of letters from viewers complaining about the ad’s bad taste. Though the public hated the commercial, sales of the offending brand increased when the ad was shown. 2.Just swaying a small number of voters can be crucial. Tarrance uses the Idaho race where Stephen Symms defeated Frank Church by 4,200 votes out of 433,000 cast, and NCPAC spent over a quarter of a million dollars on negative campaigning. Tarrance argues that even if negative campaigns are marginally effective, they can be decisive in determining the outcome in a close race. 3.People often vote AGAINST a candidate rather than FOR. Citing results from polling done in several Senate races and the 1980 presidential race, Tarrance points out how a substantial percentage of the electorate cast their ballot not so much in support of any one candidate, but against another. Tarrance concludes that anything that builds on a candidate’s negative image can only help contribute to that candidate’s defeat. 4.Most people get their information from television. 5.People like information on candidates, not slurs. Tarrance feels that those television commercials that were most effective provided details on a candidate’s voting record, rather than general information. As the reviewers point out, instead of labeling an opponent a liberal, for example, it would be more effective to say that he favors abortion. Several weeks ago, Mark White’s campaign director David Doak expressed surprise that Clements came out slinging mud so early. He was referring specifically to radio ads focusing on White’s alleged incompetence as attorney general. Though Tarrance doesn’t mention any Texas campaigns in his study of negative campaigning, Texas voters may be seeing a textbook case in action. Here’s a big one folks: The Clements campaign office has just announced creation of a statewide DENTISTS FOR CLEMENTS group. Neil Morgan, the San Antonio dentist heading the group, is quoted as saying that “Through his appointments to the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners, Governor Clements has brought to the people of Texas the fullest protection possible in the areas of dental care.” THE TEXAS OBSERVER 9