With his broad rimmed cowboy hat and his broad
smile, 58 year old Clayton Williams seemed
to come out of political nowhere.
And I'll introduce him to the joys of trust and
rock
to coin the most memorable slogan of the
primary and to spend media millions
to create an image.
One of an old country boy made good from
Alpine, Texas, a newcomer to politics
who wants to use horse sense and goodness, know
how to get things done.
They want someone on the tiller who understands
business, an image that may remind you of
another plain speaking oil man, millionaire,
whose first political race sent him
to the governor's office in Austin.
One Republican political consultant sees
similarities between the two colorful Texans,
but says Williams is a much kinder, gentler
version of Bill Clements.
He really seems to care what people think about
him Bill.
Governor Clements, on the other hand, I think
is more concerned about getting a job done than
what anybody thinks about him.
During the SMU football scandal, for example,
Bill Clements showed the typical caustic candor
that seems foreign to Williams.
I made my statements and I'm not going to
change what is his aides say.
If you have you know, if you think we can't do
something about this, you haven't met Clayton
Williams. Well, that's basically what Ronald
Reagan was saying.
More like the message of hope and can do spirit
spread by another cowboy with his own wide
brimmed hat who had a sense of theatrics
the voters loved and Williams doesn't seem
to lack.
Shelley Koffler, Texas News 5.