Claytie: The Roller-Coaster Life of a Texas Wildcatter

24. "He made mistakes along the way,but he's a class act who took his lumps with dignity."

It is ironic that the best definition of “Bubba” as it pertained to the 1990 election sprung not from the pen of a Texas writer but from a Canadian reporting on the Williams phenomenon for The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper. “To fully understand Clayton Williams’s campaign for governor of Texas, it is necessary to dwell for a moment on the concept of Bubba,” Colin MacKenzie wrote in a front-page story from San Marcos. “A Texas variant of the southern redneck, a Bubba is a straighttalking , hard-drinking, hunting and shooting kind of guy whose views on most matters of social policy tend to rigidity. Bubbas are a distinct part of life here, and while they are patronized in some circles , there is a general feeling that Texas would not be Texas without them.” The article appeared in June when, as MacKenzie put it, Claytie had transformed his populist appeal for a return to traditional Texas values beyond the Bubba vote into a twelve-point lead on his Democratic rival. “Along the way, he has committed monumental gaffes, swept aside his buttoned-down Republican rivals, spent a fortune, and, apparently, had a great time,” MacKenzie wrote. “He also seems to have won the heart of Texas.” A day after the election, Rena Pederson, editor of the Dallas News editorial page, knocked out a column pinpointing the “highs and lows” of the long, volatile statewide campaigns. Naturally, it focused on the governor’s race and was generally lighthearted. But some of He made mistakes along the way, but he’s a class act who took his lumps with dignity.” 24 “ 310 P A R T F O U R her observations bear repeating because they tended to highlight certain voter perceptions, for better or worse. Best new buzzword: Business Week’s profile describing Claytie’s “cowrisma.” Best bumper stickers: “I’d Rather Smoke Dope with Ann than Have Sex with Claytie” and, second place, the maroon-and-white sticker “Better a Roper than a Doper for Governer” (complete with Aggie misspelling). Third place: “I’ll Shake Hands with Ann.” Best TV coverage: KERA-TV’s Voter’s Revenge broadcast, with homemade videos from voters. “Especially apt,” Pederson said, “was the pseudo-candidate with the last name Neither, whose slogan was “Neither is the best candidate. If you must vote, vote for Neither.” Dumbest macho comment: Claytie’s purported brag that he would “head and hoof her and drag her through the dirt.” Most flagrant appeal for the Bubba vote: Ann’s dove-hunting trip and fliers showing her with a rifle and camouflage ammo vest. Most incredible campaign scene: At a Richards rally at the University of Texas at Austin, rowdy students reportedly alternated chanting “[bleep] Ann” and “[bleep] Claytie.” Meanwhile, Pederson said, representatives of the gay caucus tossed condoms into the crowd with their own chant, “[bleep] safely.” Best exit line: Claytie, explaining why he would not run again in 1994: “I may be an Aggie, but I’m not crazy.” Best campaign advice: Claytie’s mother, Chic, who told her outspoken son: “Keep your mouth shut.” (Hardly had those words been uttered when Claytie confided to a reporter about one of his personal flaws: “I would have made a horrible girl—I can’t tell anybody ‘No!’”) Perhaps significantly, in view of the women’s vote, was this verbatim observation: Least-known candidate info: “That despite his tough-guy image , Clayton Williams cried when he had to fire longtime employees during the steep slump of the 1980s. That despite his ‘insensitive to women’ image, Mr. Williams has over the years entrusted female employees with key responsibilities in his business operations. The P O L I T I C A L A D V E N T U R E S 311 first of his fourteen employees to become millionaires was a woman who had worked for his company twenty-three years.” As distressed as he was over the election, Claytie handled the loss much better than Modesta. After all, he was “used to drilling dry holes.” Not so, Modesta. “I took it awfully hard,” she said. “It really broke my heart.” As bad as she felt, Modesta reserved her deepest disappointment not for herself but for her husband and those who worked so hard on his behalf. “He is such a good man, such a good person...