ustxtxb_obs_2002_04_26_50_00019-00000_000.pdf

The US Ambassador to Venezuela Gets a Call from the Moral Clarity Department in Washington OK… ER… THE PRESIDENT HAS DECIDED THAT WE NOW SUPPORT THE GUY WHO USED TO BE PRESIDENT WHO WAS ELECTED BUT WHO WE DON’T LIKE .. BEFORE HE WAS ‘MOWN OUT BY THE GUY WHO WASN’T ELECTED BUT WHO WE DO LIKE BUT WHO WAS THROWN. OUT BY THE OTHER GUI WHO WAS UNFORTUNATELY ELECTED… AND.. TT, ERR … 11-IAT 15._ YOU KNOW_ SOMETHING_ cv o o cv CD tt rZI .AEDIA Sca . ., .:, I .-! www danzigercartoons.com _ 1′. 1 12th SI RETIIT BooKs lealte c,Aolscively oat o Aleillt 827 West 12th Street Austin, TX 2 blocks east of Lamar Monday-Saturday 10-6 512.499.8828 Johnson County, continued from page 9 Being ignored by primary voters was bad enough, but the biggest blow to the party hardliners was the realization that Wohlgemutha candidate so confident that in Burleson her yard signs read merely, “Arlene”won only 67 percent of the vote against challenger Ron Crook, who hadn’t even bothered to campaign. “That was very telling,” said former county chair Walter Mize. “I think it should tell her a tale about herself, that Crook got something like 2,500 votes. He only had one yard sign… and it was in his yard.” Wohlgemuth was in Austin and “too busy to talk to the Observer,” or forward a comment, an aide said. “Fortunately, the [Wohlgemuth] endorsements turned out to be the kiss of death,” said Crook, who said he wonders what happened to party icon Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment: Speak No Ill of Fellow Republicans. “It has to be obvious that the executive committee’s influence only extends to their own group,” he said. “That’s about 10 votes. I think we’ll get Republicans voting Democrat against Arlene, in November.” Republican Party Chairman Jeff Judd says if there are disgruntled Republicans, they are few He acknowledged that the controversial resolution was unusual and may have brought out a split between the conservatives and the moderates in the party. But he claimed the reason for the defeat of the endorsed candidates was the Democrats who “crossed over” to vote in the Republican primary for Bridewell and Harmon. “The reason for doing endorsements is that the executive committee felt there was such a clearcut choice,” Judd said. “Some of the candidates were Democrats who had changed parties and we felt like there wasn’t any change in them personally, but that it was politically expedient for them to be Republicans!’ At the latest committee meeting, after the primary, a resolution was passed declaring support for a ‘Vote Republican’ campaign in the fall. In other words, the committee would rather have Republicans than Democrats in all the area’s elected offices, but that doesn’t mean they’re happy about some of the candidates they’ve got. Nor should the onceshunned candidates count on any campaign funds from the party, Judd said. Some Johnson County pundits say more mudslinging can be expected this fall, when Wohlgemuth faces what could be a serious threat from Democratic challenger Greg Kauffinan, a real estate manager who also lives near Burleson. Democrats say they would expect no less. “We’ve got a chance for a good showing, with all the widespread support for our statewide candidates,” county chair Gayle Ledbetter said. “Especially since we’re apparently going to be getting the votes of the disgruntled Republicans.” P.A. Humphrey is a freelance writer who lives in Burleson. She is currently hard at work on a book about a Johnson County murder. 4/26/02THE TEXAS OBSERVER 19