Marty Akins and Tony Sanchez: an embarrassment to the Democratic Party
The major newspapers in Texas continue to ignore my (WorldPeace) campaign for governor. Who knows whether they are just following each others' articles, or if they are deliberately boycotting me, or if they simply refuse to acknowledge the impact of my 50,000 telephone calls per day in Houston and the implication of 200,000 telephone calls statewide beginning next month, or if it is because they can't understand the ultimate grass roots campaign: CALL EVERYONE. Who knows? But regardless, WorldPeace will be the next governor of Texas.
Consider the two candidates the major papers are reporting.
Marty Akins: An incurable liar/exaggerator.
He lied about his visits with LBJ, he lied about his rooming with three blacks in college, he lied about being endorsed by the unions, he probably lied about his "me too" death threat after Tony Sanchez said his life had been threatened. Per the below article, he quit the Republican party because Bush did not appoint him to the Railroad Commission. And I assume that he has used illegal drugs and he has hired illegal aliens to work his Marble Falls ranch because he has not denied it.
So is the Democratic party in Texas going to continue to encourage and to endorse a Republican liar who has broken the law as the best it can offer to oppose Rick Perry? It is time for Marty make the supreme sacrifice for the benefit of the Democratic Party in Texas and get out of the governor's race.
Tony Sanchez: Mr. Republican/Mr. negative baggage galore.
Mr. Sanchez would have us believe that as CEO of his failed Savings & Loan he did not notice $25 million of drug money going into his bank. What a lie. And if it is true, we surely don't need an inattentive governor. And Mr. Sanchez thinks no one is going to bring this matter up. (see the article below) Well Mr. Sanchez, I am going to bring it up and you can damn well bet that Rick Perry is going to bring it up.
And then there is the "death threat" letter and the ridiculous way Mr. Sanchez indicated that Mr. Cuellar was a homosexual. Hello! Is anyone paying attention? Mr. Sanchez's helpers are as fumbling as he is. And then there is the fact that Mr. Sanchez was a big time heavy Republican supporter and now he is a Democrat. What would have happened had he supported Ann Richards instead of George Bush in 1994? And what about the colonias right in Tony's back yard of Laredo. He owns a really big bank in Laredo. He could lend some money. But I guess what is good for Laredo is good for Texas. I guess we need more colonias in Texas. And what about the Camino-Columbia toll road; the white elephant that Tony's bank wants to unload on the state of Texas.
And there is that Confederate flag flying high at the Laredo International Airport and the one on the floor in the terminal. And the fact that Laredo seems to be to South Texas what Vidor is to East Texas with regards to Afro-Americans. And we all think that Tony is going to get the black vote (the long time supporters of the Democratic Party). RIGHT.
And the theory is that if Tony runs at the top of the November 2002 ballot then all the Hispanics are going to turn out and move all the down ballot races to the Democratic side. Hello!? What about the white Democrats that are going to vote for Rick Perry if Sanchez is the Democratic candidate for governor? And what about the blacks who will also be lost. The loss of the blacks and the whites is going to be greater than the anticipated gain of Hispanic votes for Sanchez. The bottom line is that everyone loses all the way down the ballot.
And what has Tony even done for his own people? I see no scholarships. I have heard of no head start programs. And what about the illegal drugs that he had not denied using? And what about all the illegal aliens that he has not denied hiring? And what about the fact that Tony has no charisma and is a terrible speaker.
And what about the fact that Tony does not have the ability to make the decision to even run for governor?
The Democratic Executive committee meets next month and if Tony and Marty really want to be Democrats then they need to get out of the governor's race before then. Then let them show us how they are willing to support the Democratic Party for the next four years the way they have supported the Republican Party for the majority of their adult lives. If they do that, then I will support them for some office. You do not let Republican turncoats into the Democratic Party without testing them!? Hello!
If either Tony or Marty are allowed to become the Democratic candidate for governor, then it will be the end of the Democratic Party in Texas for the next two decades. We cannot put either one of these albatrosses at the head of the Democratic Party in Texas without becoming the butt of Democratic jokes until the end of time.
I, John WorldPeace, am the only true Democratic candidate for governor and I am going to doing to do everything I can to stop Tony and Marty and I do not care how much dirty laundry I have to air to accomplish this. Tony and Marty are bad for Texas under any circumstance and they are poison to the Democratic Party. It would be better that we put up a two legged half-wit "yellow dog" for governor than to allow these two ex-Republicans to run for governor. John Sharp asked Tony into the Democratic party, let John Sharp ask him to step aside. Billy Horton needs to book Marty on the comedian circuit and quit wasting the time of real Democrats begging for money.
With Clay Robison's article in the Houston Chronicle (see below) the dam has cracked. Someone other than myself has stated the truth: the candidacy of Tony Sanchez and Marty Akins is an embarrassment to the Democratic Party and lethal to every Democrat who might have to share the ballot with them next November.
And if anyone sees Molly Beth, tell her to call me. I need to talk to her about her record as chairperson of the Democratic Party in Texas. I need her to convince me that she can turn around her losing streak before the Democratic Party disappears in Texas. I have been on the campaign trail for eight months now and she has refused to return any of my calls, faxes or emails.
John WorldPeace
The next governor of Texas
August 13, 2001
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Paper: Houston Chronicle
Date: SUN 08/12/01
Section: OUTLOOK
Page: 2
Edition: 2 STAR
Texas Dems scraping bottom for hope
By CLAY ROBISON
Staff
AUSTIN - Marty Akins , the sometime Republican, sometime Democrat but not-likely-to-be governor, is scrambling more these days than when he wore the burnt orange.
The former University of Texas Longhorn quarterback and former Houston lawyer now calls himself a Democrat as he seeks that party's gubernatorial nomination. But just a few years ago he was campaigning for and seeking favors from Republican officeholders and voting regularly in the GOP primary.
Above all, Akins is a political opportunist and Exhibit No. 2 for proving that the Texas Democratic Party still has a long way to go to rediscover the top of the state's political heap.
Exhibit No. 1 is all the salivating that some party leaders are doing over another Democratic gubernatorial wannabe, wealthy Laredo businessman Tony Sanchez Jr., whose main claim to political fame so far has been helping to elect Republican George W. Bush to the White House.
Akins , in fact, is no more a political opportunist than are Sanchez and the Democratic movers and shakers who are fervently - although quietly, so as to appear neutral - hoping that Sanchez can revive their partisan prospects.
Not too many years ago, Sanchez and Akins would have been laughed out of a Democratic race for dogcatcher. Now, they demonstrate how far Texas' once-dominant party has fallen.
Sooner or later, assuming both remain in the running, Sanchez and Akins may actually get down to the nitty-gritty of distinguishing between themselves on issues of governance.
So far, though, they and their surrogates have mainly been engaged in a game of finger-pointing, exchanging accusations over who has been the poorer Democrat. Although amusing, the exercise is wearing thin.
Sanchez has some Democratic credentials. He was a member of the Young Democrats in the 1960s and during that era also worked as an aide to Democratic Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes.
More recently, however, he - either personally or through his businesses - contributed more than $300,000 to Bush's successful campaigns for governor and president. During the presidential campaign, Sanchez was a member in very good standing of Bush's "Pioneers," which is what the Republican nominee called his elite group of major fund-raisers.
Sanchez 's anticipated gubernatorial race - he hasn't formally announced yet - is largely the brainchild of former state Comptroller John Sharp, who is once again seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
Sanchez is attractive to Sharp and party leaders because he is wealthy enough to largely fund his own campaign, and as a Hispanic would presumably attract a large bloc of Hispanic voters to the Democratic ticket.
So desperate are Democratic leaders for a statewide victory - they haven't had one since 1994 - they have suddenly become very forgiving, if only selectively.
Akins , meanwhile, is having more trouble catching on with Democratic powers-that-be, although he has won the support of some of the Clinton-Gore crowd and onetime backers of former Land Commissioner Garry Mauro.
The Clinton, Gore and Mauro faithful apparently are retaliating against Sanchez for his support of Bush in the presidential race and in the 1998 gubernatorial campaign, which Mauro, the Democratic nominee, lost to Bush by a wide margin.
Akins , however, also campaigned for Bush against Mauro in 1998 and for other GOP candidates as well. He also was the Burnet County chairman in the lieutenant governor's race for Rick Perry, the Republican governor whose job he now wants.
Moreover, according to a recent article by Houston Chronicle staffer R.G. Ratcliffe, Akins also unsuccessfully asked Bush for an appointment to the Texas Railroad Commission in 1998, which further clouds his motivations.
A spokesman said that Akins now regrets his Republican political activism.
Maybe. Maybe not.
In an event, though, Akins and Sanchez may be enough to make many Democratic voters yell, "Help!"
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by John Moritz
Star-Telegram Austin Bureau
AUSTIN - Here's one time that Democrats and Republicans in Texas are singing from the same hymnbook: Both sides say they're poised to win the voters' hearts in next year's statewide elections.
With the November 2002 elections more than 14 months away, the political landscape is taking shape as candidates stake out their turf. If the picture on the Republican side seems more clear, it's because the GOP has the luxury of incumbency up and down the ticket.
"Our ticket is shaping up to be very strong," said Ted Royer, a spokesman for the Texas Republican Party. "We have a plethora of conservative leaders who have stepped up to the plate, and we absolutely expect to repeat the sweep of statewide offices that we accomplished in 1998."
The state's top Democrat, party Chairwoman Molly Beth Malcolm, sounds just as confident.
"My top priority is to make certain that the Democratic Party has a strong and well-balanced ticket in Texas next year," Malcolm said in a recent interview.
Malcolm is among those considering a run for the Senate, where Republican Phil Gramm is up for his fourth term. Despite months of speculation that he might be lured away from Washington, D.C., to take over the presidency of Texas A&M University, Gramm is positioning himself to run for another six-year term. He recently announced that he raised $1.2 million this year and has more than $3 million in his 2002 war chest.
Gov. Rick Perry, the Republican who rose to power when President Bush moved to the White House, also has the financial firepower to launch his campaign to win the office in his own right. According to documents filed with the Texas Ethics Commission last month, Perry will start the race with $10 million in the bank.
Democrats watching the top two races haven't been scared away. Laredo oilman and banker Tony Sanchez, whose net worth has been estimated as high as $600 million, has spent almost $1 million of his own money exploring a race for governor. He is expected to decide.
Former University of Texas quarterback and retired trial lawyer Marty Akins, who is also independently wealthy, has announced his intention to run for governor in the March 2002 Democratic primary.
.....
John Moritz, (512) 476-4294 jmoritz@star-telegram.com
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Aug. 8, 2001, 9:09PM
Akins rejected by Bush prior to leaving GOP
By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
AUSTIN -- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Marty Akins may have left the Republican Party two years ago in a fit of anger shortly after he was turned down for a high-level appointment from then-Gov. George W. Bush.
"You get the feeling the man doesn't run real deep when something like that would cause him to switch parties, not philosophy, not politics," said Wallace Klussmann, a Fredericksburg Republican who wrote a 1998 letter to Bush recommending Akins for an appointment to the Texas Railroad Commission.
But Akins spokesman Robert Mann said the former University of Texas football star was essentially apolitical until he decided to get involved in 1998. Mann said Akins regrets starting his political activism with Republicans before finding his way to the Democratic Party.
"The closer he got, the more he realized they were out of sync with his beliefs," Mann said. "He has admitted he had a fleeting association with George W. Bush and other Republicans and apologized for it."
Appointment files from the Bush gubernatorial administration obtained by the Houston Chronicle show Akins sought an appointment to the Texas Railroad Commission after a year of actively campaigning for statewide GOP candidates. But Bush instead gave the appointment to Michael Williams.
Akins and likely Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez of Laredo have been having a behind-the-scenes fight over who has the least Republican ties. Sanchez and his businesses contributed more than $300,000 to Bush and has admitted voting for him for president over the Democratic ticket in 2000.
The Bush appointments file shows that Akins was an active campaigner in the 1998 elections for Republicans Bush, Attorney General John Cornyn and Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander and helped four other statewide GOP candidates. Akins also was the Burnet County chairman for Rick Perry, who is now governor.
In his 1998 political activities, Akins hosted an August fund-raiser for Cornyn's campaign that Cornyn's staff said raised about $15,000.
Rylander said Akins introduced her at four campaign events and traveled with her to Tyler for one. She said Akins indicated he was campaigning for her because he hoped to get her seat on the railroad commission if she won the comptroller's office.
"At that time I thought he was interested in serving on the railroad commission," Rylander said. "I was running as a common-sense conservative Republican, and I assumed he was supporting me because he was a common-sense conservative Republican."
One of the references Akins listed on his application is former Texas Supreme Court Justice Greg Abbott, who is now running for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor against Land Commissioner David Dewhurst.
Abbott spokesman Robert Black said there is no personal relationship between the judge and Akins, other than the fact that Akins tried some cases before Abbott when he was a district judge in Houston. Black said Akins may also have given Abbott a political donation at some time.
"He doesn't even remember giving Marty Akins permission to use his name," Black said. "He barely remembers Marty Akins."
The file also indicates Akins told Bush's staff that he is friends with state Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, and worked with Fraser on tort reform issues. Fraser is one of Perry's closest friends.
Fraser told the Houston Chronicle that one of Akins' houses is across a small bay from his and that he considers Akins a friend. But Fraser said he has avoided talking politics with Akins because of his friendship with Perry.
Fraser said he did not help Akins in his quest for the railroad commission appointment, but he said he supported the appointment that Akins' wife, Pam, received from Bush as chairwoman of the Lower Colorado River Authority.
One of Akins' former Marble Falls neighbors, state Republican Executive Committee member David Kithil, wrote a letter of recommendation for Akins' appointment as a railroad commissioner. He said Akins told him he was leaving the Republican Party after Bush rejected him for the state appointment.
"Marty was entirely disappointed," Kithil said. "He said to me: `I'm so mad at Bush that I'm going to switch parties. I'm going to work against him when he runs for president. I'm going to try to take over the governor's position if Rick Perry runs for that job.' "
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Sanchez expected to take heat if he runs
Potential governor rivals cite laundering at S&L
08/07/2001
By George Kuempel / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Tony Sanchez will be called upon to explain how $25 million in drug money was laundered through his now defunct savings and loan without his knowledge 17 years ago if he runs for governor, two top political rivals said Monday.
While declining to criticize Mr. Sanchez – at least for now – Gov. Rick Perry said Monday that all candidates' business backgrounds and dealings will face scrutiny.
"... When and if he [Mr. Sanchez] becomes a candidate for public office, it will be a more appropriate time to respond," he said when asked whether he plans to raise the issue. But, he added, "It's an interesting story."
Mr. Sanchez, a Laredo oilman and banker, is expected to announce soon for the Democratic nomination. He told The Dallas Morning News that neither he nor anyone else at Tesoro Savings & Loan knew that two Mexicans who deposited and withdrew millions in U.S. currency had ties to what was then one of Mexico's most notorious drug cartels.
Mr. Sanchez was chairman of the board of the thrift, which he and his father founded. It failed in 1988 because of unrelated financial problems.
Federal investigators cleared Mr. Sanchez and Tesoro employees of wrongdoing in connection with the money laundering. In addition, a federal judge ruled that the thrift did nothing improper in its handling of the accounts, which were set up by the two men who had passed themselves off as legitimate money brokers.
Mr. Perry, a Republican, and Mr. Sanchez will face each other in November 2002 if they are their party's nominees.
Bob Mann, a spokesman for Marty Akins, the former University of Texas quarterback who already has announced for the Democratic nomination for governor, said Mr. Sanchez's oversight at Tesoro is sure to be an issue in the primary because of the publicity.
But he said Mr. Akins doesn't plan to raise it, even though he is "concerned about that type of activity."
"It can't be ignored, but we are putting together a program that we think is unique, and we think between those revelations and the fact that Mr. Sanchez has only voted three times in his life, etc., that the pattern of comportment is going to become fairly clear to voters," he said.
According to Webb County records, Mr. Sanchez, who backed Republican George W. Bush in his gubernatorial and presidential races, voted in the 1994, 1996 and 2000 general elections, but not in the primaries in those years.
Mr. Sanchez said he hopes his opponents won't try to make money laundering an issue in the campaign when they know the facts. And to suggest that he had done something wrong just because he is a Mexican-American banker living on the border would "polarize the state," he said.
Mr. Mann said that while Mr. Sanchez's supporters would take him at his word – that he was unaware of the actual source of the deposits – some may not be so sure in light of Mr. Sanchez's high position at the thrift.
"Others will have a hard time accepting that, given the attention that executive bankers certainly must pay to the ebb and flow of cash in their institutions."
Mr. Mann said he is prepared to give Mr. Sanchez the benefit of the doubt.
"I do not know Mr. Sanchez. I do not know him to be a man of less than honest comportment, and I have no reason not to believe him."
Austin Bureau Chief Wayne Slater contributed to this report.