Texas Congressman Explodes Myth Of Conservative Invincibility in State

"In Texas," Democratic Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez said last night, "there is a myth that the spirit represented by General Walker and John Tower is rampant. Texas really has an ingrained liberal tradition."

Painting an acute picture of Texas politics, Gonzalez described his struggle to overcome the epithet "liberal" in the special 20th Congressional district election November 4. "Liberalism is equated with all the works of the devil. If you're a liberal, you're a profligate spendthrift or a Red. To say the Word 'A.D.A.' is treason."

Gonzalex received nation-wide prominence by defeating Republican John Gould in the election, despite three days of campaigning by former President Eisenhower on Gould's behalf. Gonzalez attributed his success to the fact that he was able to "weld together all ostensible Democrats."

As the election approached, he said, his opponent tried to switch the election from a party basis and put it on a conservative versus liberal plane. All of Gould's campaign literature proclaimed him as "a militant conservative"--but not a Republican.

But even after all the issues had been clearly drawn, Gonzalez said, Gould still found himself on the defensive, in spite of "Texas conservatism." He was then forced to "open the spigot of personal abuse" Gould encouraged a group of his supporters with the words, "Just remember, there are less than 30,000 Latin American voters in this country, and more than 108,000 of us."

In a question-and-answer session after his speech, Gonzalez assayed the Texas gubernatorial race and concluded, "If the election were held today, Price Daniel would be re-elected."