You mean after starting out somewhat as a liberal? Well, I married a
Texan. That's one thing that helps. Turned me into a conservative and
literally moving to Texas to see how much individual initiative does
count. But by 1952 I was a precinct organizer for Taft. So that would
tell you where I was in the spectrum of Republican politics. But being
what most people are in Texas. I was a Democrat in May and a Republican
in November, meaning that you vote a split ticket. I would work for
candidates of both parties, up until 1964, when, in my particular
precinct, even though it had the national committeeman and a tremendous
amount of Republican money in it, they couldn't find anybody to hold an
election. So I agreed to hold the election. That was the original
Bush-Cox Senate race and the Goldwater race. And we were in a fight as
to whether the Texas delegation would be pledged to Goldwater. Since '64
I have worked in the Republican organization as a precinct chairman and
an area chairman and as a vice chairman and then, for about the last
seven years, as a county chairman. And I do think I have organizational
ability. It is not even my favorite type of, or my main interest in
politics. My main interest is philosophical, rather than simply getting
the people registered and turning out the vote or in the actual
campaigning. But strangely enough, it has worked itself around to where
under Texas law as chairman of the party supporting a ticket, I am
technically the campaign manager for all the Republican candidates in
Harris County. So I have done an awful lot of strategy work and
production of campaign literature. And then I
do think also one of my chief values to the party and the reason I have
been effective is that I am able to work with the media. Because I have
a media background. I worked my way through school as a person in the
news release office and then did public relations work for the Harris
County medical society. Which, during that period, was the most potent
political force in the county. So I had a countywide basis of contacts
before I ever moved into countywide Republican politics.