Texans Show Little Tolerance For Dole Anti-Abortion Activists Win Majority Of State’s 123 Delegates
A fight over abortion at the Texas Republican Convention ended Saturday with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison being elected as a delegate to the GOP National Convention despite her support for restricted abortion rights.
Mrs. Hutchison was at the center of a fray that threatened to split the state’s party over the emotional issue.
Anti-abortion activists won an overwhelming majority of the state’s 123 delegates and barely missed - on a voice vote - defeating a slate of delegates that included Mrs. Hutchison.
Bill Price, president of Texans United for Life and the most vocal opponent of Mrs. Hutchison, said he was disappointed with the vote.
“I thought the vote was too close to call,” Price said. “But the fact of the matter is, we sent a signal that a lot of people didn’t think we could send.”
Anti-abortion activists won roughly 88 of Texas’ 123 delegates to the national convention.
Abortion became a lightning rod at the Texas GOP Convention after Dole requested a “declaration of tolerance” on the issue. The putative nominee did not attend the state convention, but others worked on his behalf to make sure Mrs. Hutchison would be included in the national delegation.
Texas Republicans balked at the request, responding by seeking to toughen their abortion platform by removing a mother’s endangered life as the only exception. They also collected signatures from potential delegates on a “pro-life pledge.”
“Unfortunately, Bob Dole has been diminished as a candidate,” said Vicki Gaulding, a delegate from southeast Texas. “If people want to be pro-choice, they might want to be in the Democratic Party. We can’t afford to dilute the voice we have at this point.”
While the Dole forces won the fight over Mrs. Hutchison, several of his delegate picks were defeated in elections for the 90 slots awarded from the state’s 30 congressional districts.
Ralph Reed, executive director of the Christian Coalition, had not opposed Mrs. Hutchinson’s selection and said after addressing the convention that he expected her to be a member of the Texas delegation.
“We view this weekend as a major victory for the pro-life, pro-family movement,” Reed said.
The Texas GOP Convention also heard from former presidential hopefuls Pat Buchanan and Steve Forbes.
Buchanan sounded an anti-abortion message while blaming President Clinton for increased immigration and deploying troops to fight on behalf of the United Nations rather than the United States.
“Name one thing this man (Clinton) has done to make abortions rare in this country,” Buchanan said.
Forbes blasted Clinton and talked about the country’s need for tax reform.
In echoing his campaign theme of tax reform, Forbes said, “It’s high time that we turn those initials IRS into RIP, Rest In Peace.”