[Newspaper: It's my party and I'll run if I want to] Part: 3 of 6
This clipping is part of the collection entitled: LGBT Collections and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Special Collections.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 "00 00 "0 900 ""0O. . . . . . . "0 0"
to the party of choice and the party of prosperi-
ty," says Witherspoon, "and make people be
proud to be Democrats and make them come
back to the polls."
He adds that he's had considerable experience
handling himself in public, meeting with politicos
from Walter Mondale to foreign leaders, and
lunching with former President Gerald Ford.
"The fact that I'll be before these dignitaries is
no new thing," he says.
The big question is, who are the 18,481
Democrats who voted for Witherspoon last time?
No doubt the mainstream Democrats are con-
cerned, as evidenced in a letter making the par-
ty rounds that warns, "Don't take these
LaRouche clones lightly," and asserts that he
preys upon the good intentions of Democrats of
"low income and status" when in fact he "stands
for the most contemptible aspects of American
politics: division, racism, anti-Semitism."
Witherspoon says the people who voted for him
are Democrats who are unhappy with the party.
"It was a signal that unless we [Democrats]
decided to make a change, many Democrats
would shift from what was considered the par-
ty's choice," he says.
Other Democrats put forth different theories.
Kress speculates that a combination of factors
gave Witherspoon a strong showing. He was an
African-American who was first on the ballot in
a low-profile race. He also came out looking like
a nice guy in the midst of heated campaigning
between Kress and Bob Greenberg, says Kress.
And finally, Kress adds, there are some
LaRouche supporters out there who vote.
One Democratic campaign worker, who asked
to not be identified, puts forth another theory
making the rounds: that Witherspoon received
so many votes because his was the only non-
Jewish-sounding name on a ballot with Kress and
Greenberg. This hypothesis, if true, contains
some poetic justice: racists trying to avoid Jews
wind up inadvertently voting for an African-
77"I'm not into making the county
chair... into a pulpit for spouting
nonsense like the Queen of England is
a drug dealer...," says Witherspoon's
opponent, candidate Ken Molberg.American, and a LaRouchie to boot.
Whether the 21 percent was a fluke or a grow-
ing constituency will be settled on March 13.
With increased media coverage of Witherspoon's
activities, it is clear to more voters who he is
and what he stands for. Those voters will say
through their ballots if they fear Greg Wither-
spoon as much as the Democratic party leader-
ship does.
"They [party leaders] don't simply fear me
because of my affiliation with Lyn. They fear
me because I'm a young black man who has an
understanding of not only what politically must
happen, but a combination of political economics
of what must happen, in a position that has never
been held by anyone other than a white male
lawyer type," says Witherspoon. "Plus, if I win,
any deals that have been made, I have no
allegiance to those deals. That's what they're
more afraid of than me getting up in front of peo-
ple and espousing [controversial opinions]."
But Witherspoon certainly makes no effort to
hide his affinity for the controversial ideas of
Lyndon LaRouche. His association with La-
Rouchian activism came in 1985, when, at the
invitation of a LaRouche-sponsored group, he at-
tended a conference in Rome, Italy, to discuss
the development of Africa. "It was there that I
began to see the big picture," he says.
The "big picture" includes LaRouche's plans
to colonize the moon and Mars, as well as pur-
ported "intimate connections" between the Anti-
Defamation League of B'nai B'rith and the Ku
Klux Klan. "The Anti-Defamation League serves
as an information base and logistics base for the
Klan," Witherspoon says.
"I'm simply a Democrat who had an oppor-
tunity to look at Lyn's policies. . .and that's how
I felt the nation should move, so I associated
myself with those policies," he says. "I support
just about all of Lyn's ideas: his foreign policy,
agro-industrial, his banking policy, that whole
spectrum."
Molberg says a Witherspoon chairmanship
would make the Democratic party in Dallas a
joke. "I'm not into making the county chair posi-
tion into a pulpit for spouting nonsense like the
Queen of England is a drug dealer and the Jews
killed Lincoln," Molberg says.
Witherspoon counters that the theory is not as
ridiculous as it has been made out to be by the
media. "The way they make it sound is she was
pushing drugs," he says, explaining that she is
head of one of the families that associate finan-
cially with the organizations that import 85 per-
cent of the Asian heroin transported through
Canada. Reaction against the charge, he says, is
based largely on a taboo against criticizing royal-
ty that goes back past the time when American
revolutionaries accused the king of England of
mistreating Americans.
Witherspoon says he will not use the office of
county chair to preach the philosophies of
LaRouche, but says he will continue to defend
his mentor.
"Lyn is a personal friend of mine. He was
railroaded and quite naturally I will espouse
that," says Witherspoon, who maintains that one
of the judges who sentenced LaRouche to 15
years in a federal prison for conspiracy and tax
fraud (for cheating federal tax collectors as well
as his supporters whose loans were never repaid)
has changed his position on the case.
Witherspoon says the imprisonment of
Continued on page 43TANSYOU TANNING CENTRES
01
C
(0
0
Q
H'
0D
5A
"I
owt-" - -
Upcoming Parts
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This clipping can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this part or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current part of this Clipping.
Dallas Observer. [Newspaper: It's my party and I'll run if I want to], clipping, February 22, 1990; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc915842/m1/3/: accessed June 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.