Newspaper clipping headlined, "Clements recycles dirt on White in tough tabloid," September 27, 1982, by Dave McNeely, Waco Herald-Tribune, September 27, 1982. Clements is derided for circulating a tabloid piece about his rival for Texas governor, Mark White, regarding White's fine for driving drunk in 1963.
S • • 718 WEST 5th ST. AUSTIN. TEXAS 78701 4/1755 Tribune-Herald Waco, Texas QFP 2' 1982 Clements recycles dirt on White in tough tabloid AUSTIN — Gov. Bill Clements took a calculated risk last week. He mailed out a tabloid newspaper de- signed to cut up Attorney General Mark White. The tabloid men- tioned, among other things, that White paid a fine for being drunk in public, after his car crashed into another — in 1963. The publication, which Clements approved and which his staff mailed out to more than a million voters, has caused some backlash among people who think that Clem- ents is digging a bit deep to go back so far. Some Democrats also are surprised that the scandal sheet went out six weeks before the elec- tion, giving White plenty of oppor- tunity to respond. For Clements, it's a repeat of the tough tabloids that he used effec- tively against Attorney General John Hill in 1978. But there's a dif- ference this time, with Clements as the incumbent governor. It's sort of like someone in a business suit get- ting into a street fight. Coupled with the massive foul-up by Clements' secretary of state, David Dean, in mailing out com- puter lists of "felons" to be purged from voter lists, when actually there were lots of innocent people on them, may cause the governor some problems. The Dean esca- pade certainly gives White some rebuttal testimony for Clements' contention that White is incompe- tent. One Democrat, who complained DAVE McNEELY that he didn't like Clements but had real difficulty in voting for Mark White, said Dean's actions finally had given him a reason to vote for White: simply to get rid of Dean. DOD Speaking of campaign dirt, the Bill Meier for attorney general campaign says Meier will refrain from using a picture of Jim Mattox in handcuffs. John Hannah also had the picture during his near-miss try for the Democratic attorney gene- ral nomination against Mattox this spring. Hannah resisted all entreat- ies from his supporters that he use the picture, despite continued below-the-belt punches from Mat- tox. The picture comes from a much- criticized massive drug search by police in 1971 in Dallas' Lee Park. Mattox was there defending clients, vociferously enough that he wound up restrained by the cuffs. Dave McNeely Is political editor of the Cox News Service Austin bureau. His col- umn appears Monday In the Tribune-Her- ald.