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h AUSTIN (AP) — Peace, prosperity
. And George Bush’s popularity among his
fellow Texans proved too tough a combi-
itation for Democrat Michael Dukakis to
overcome, election analysts said
•Wednesday.
I “In our history, you just don’t turn out
in incumbent party with a popular in-
umbent (President Reagan), which is
omething we haven’t had for a while,’’
eorge Christian, political consultant
ind former press secretary to President
yndon Johnson, said.
“We do have peace,” Christian said.
|‘We have arms control negotiations
tarted. The prosperity, while it’s spotty,
as created at least an air of optimism,
nd I think the Democrats had the as-
umption that Reaganomics is unpopu-
ar. Reaganomics is not unpopular.’’
Both Republicans and Democrats also
aid Dukakis waited too long before re
ponding to Bush’s well-honed attacks,
ind they said the Bush campaign was
iuccessful in painting the Massachusetts
;ovemor as an out-of-touch liberal.
Not even Texan Lloyd Bentsen’s
omination as vice president could offset
ll that.
Final election returns compiled by the
ecretary of state’s office showed the Re
publican ticket of Bush and Dan Quayle
defeating the Democrats by a 56 percent
to 43.4 percent margin. Bush received
3,028,528 votes to Dukakis’ 2,345,989.
. “Electing a Texan president is a ban
ner, banner day for all Texans, not just
us Republicans,” Gov. Bill Clements, a
co-chairman of Bush’s state campaign,
said.
Bush has been involved in Texas GOP
politics since 1962. He represented
Houston in Congress and lost a 1970
U.S. Senate bid to Bentsen.
A jubilant Clements credited Bush’s
strong showing in Texas with helping
elect an unprecedented three state Su
preme Court justices and a railroad com
missioner who are Republican. “I now
have some company,” said Clements,
who until now was the only Republican
in 100 years to win a statewide office in
state government.
The governor had his interpretation of
Dukakis’ performance. He lost, Clem
ents said, “because he’s a flaming lib
eral.”
Republican political consultant Karl
Rove of Austin said the vice president’s
conservative campaign theme struck a
responsive chord with Texas voters.
“He had a consistent, understood
message that resonated with what people
felt and wanted,” Rove said. “They were
happy with the peace and prosperity they
have with Reagan. Bush was able to say,
‘I’ll preserve that and improve on it. ’ ”
Although Dukakis’ choice of Texan
Bentsen for a running mate was designed
to give the Democrats a fighting chance
in the nation’s third-largest state, Rove
said it backfired.
“Fundamentally, the presidential race
is a choice about the presidency,” Rove
said. “When the choice became Bent-
sen-Bush instead of Dukakis-Bush, what
that said was the Democrats admitted the
guy at the top of the ticket was unpalata
ble.”
Texas Democrats found some mis
takes in the Dukakis strategy and were
highly critical of what they called Bush’s
negative campaign.
State Treasurer Ann Richards, key
note speaker at the Democratic National
Convention, said Dukakis was riding
high after that gathering but didn’t capi
talize on the surge.
“Our problem was immediately after
the convention,” Richards said. “There
was no real organization for about five
weeks. There was a lot of down time that
we lost. We lost the momentum. ’ ’
Christian said Bush was able to dictate
the direction of the early debate by de
scribing the race as a conservative-liberal
matchup.
“The Bush campaign was smart
en9ugh to try to turn the Dukakis image
left, and they succeeded in doing it,”
Christian said. “Bush turned out to be a
very good candidate . . . They hammered
Dukakis to death. They pushed him as
far left as they could with the facts at
hand — then they just kept pushing. ’ ’
Ed Martin, executive director of the
Texas Democratic Party, said he thinks
the Republicans pushed too far. But he
also said Dukakis failed to respond
quickly to Bush’s tough talk.
“I think the reason that Dukakis-Bent-
sen lost in Texas is Dukakis’ failure to
ever clear the record and the distortions
on things like crime, gun control and
such issues,” Martin said.
State GOP ecstatic with gains on bench
AUSTIN (AP) — The first election of Republicans
to the Texas Supreme Court was greeted Wednesday
with jubilation by Gov. Bill Clements and GOP cam
paign officials.
Though Democrats came out with a 6-3 majority on
the high court, Clements predicted the three GOP
members will join forces with Democrats Raul Gonza
lez and Jack Hightower to forge a new conservative
majority led by Chief Justice Tom Phillips.
“The chief justice here has a working group in
which he is simpatico, and that is a vast, vast differ
ence in what it has been in the past, believe me,”
Clements said.
The governor introduced the three victorious Repub
licans — Phillips and newly elected justices Eugene
Cook and Nathan Hecht — to a news conference
Wednesday.
Clements credited the coattails of President-elect
George Bush for their success.
“I was the first statewide candidate that we Republi
cans have elected, and I’m certainly pleased that I now
have some company,” Clements said.
GOP campaign consultant Karl Rove was even more
euphoric, calling the Republicans’ Supreme Court
showing “terrific, fabulous, beyond our wildest ex
pectations.”
The GOP placed Democratic Justices Ted Robertson
and William Kilgarlin square in their sights and picked
off both of them, according to unofficial returns from
Tuesday’s election.
Phillips’ victory gave the 39-year-old Harvard law
graduate a place in history as the first Republican chief
justice elected since the Reconstruction era. Cook and
Hecht are the first elected GOP justices.
“We’ve had some difficult races for the Supreme
Court this year — really unparalleled in our state’s his
tory, and now it is time for the court to go back to work
to resume doing the job that we are constitutionally ob
ligated to do,” Phillips said.
Cook, who like Phillips was appointed to the court
before the election, said “(he had) preached the gospel
of integrity, fairness and reform all across this state,
and that message was heard by the voters of this
state.”
But the GOP advances were tempered by the Demo
crats’ three Supreme Court victories.
Incumbent Democrats won all three Court of Crimi
nal Appeals races, defeating two Republicans and one
Libertarian.
exas voters support GOP, Democrats at polls
AUSTIN (AP) — Maybe Texans went
a little schizophrenic in the voting booth.
Or, maybe, the state finally is reaching
that elusive two-party status Republicans
have talked about for so long.
But one thing is certain after Tues
day’s vote: Both sides had winners and
losers, gains and losses.
Texans delivered their presidential
vote to adopted son George Bush but re
jected native son Lloyd Bentsen for vice
president.
They still like Bentsen, though, and
overwhelmingly handed the Democrat a
fourth term in the U.S. Senate.
Republicans scored a 20th century
first — electing three justices to the
Texas Supreme Court.
Democrats picked up two seats in
Congress, as voters ousted Republican
incumbent Mac Sweeney in the 14th Dis
trict and elected Democrat Bill Sarpalius
to replace Republican Beau Boulter of
Amarillo, who lost the Senate race to
Bentsen.
Republicans claimed at least three
seats on the new State Board of Educa
tion.
Democrats held their own in the Texas
House of Representatives, retaining a
majority that will be near the previous
94-56 split. Republicans gained two
seats in the Texas Senate, however.
And Kent Hance — a Democrat-
tumed-Republican — finally claimed
victory in a statewide race, becoming the
first GOP candidate to be elected to the
Railroad Commission this century and_
breathing new life into rumors about his
plans for another statewide office, pos-
sbily governor, in 1990.
NBC-TV exit polls of 2,915 Texas
members, families with incomes of more
than $20,000 and those who call them
selves conservatives.
Dukakis won the majority of blacks.
“The philosophy of the people of Texas is consistent
with the Republican Party philosophy and our Re
publican candidates.”
Fred Meyer
State GOP Chairman
voters showed Bush winning a majority
of men, whites, professionals and man
agers, white-collar workers, non-union
Hispanics, blue-collar workers, union
members, those with family incomes un
der $20,000 and those who described
themselves as liberals or moderates. He
also won a narrow majority of women
voters, the poll found.
Bush won several regions of the state,
and stayed close to Dukakis in two areas
deemed criticial for Democratic success
— East Texas and South Texas.
“The philosophy of the people of
Texas is consistent with the Republican
Party philosophy and our Republican
candidates,” said Fred Meyer, state
GOP chairman.
Meyer said the GOP is growing
stronger. No longer does the party only
win presidential races, he said.
“We’re picking up across the board in
this state — both at the local level and
the statewide level.” Meyer said.
“We’re making substantial progress. ”
Tom Loeffler, former congressman,
gubernatorial candidate and Bush cam
paign official, said Bush’s big win was
due to his conservative philosophy and
political skills.
“We have had in both the primary and
the General Election in Texas the great
est political support base of any poli
tician in our history, including Lyndon
Johnson,” Loeffler said.
Democrats saw it a little differently.
Since Texas joined the Union in 1845,
no Democrat has ever been elected presi
dent without carrying the state.
Some Texas Democrats said this
year’s problem was at the top of the
ticket, with Massachusetts Gov. Michael
Dukakis not quite used to Texas ways.
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THE m BLOOD CENTER AT WADLEY V
November 7
1988
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THE
BLOOD CENTER
at Wadley
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PARTHENON
presents
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Thursday
8-11
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