Verbal Attacks Mark Texas Debate

HOUSTON —  Even as they made history in the nation’s first Spanish-language gubernatorial debate Friday night, a pair of tough-talking Mexican American Democrats couldn’t keep from wrangling over ethnic pandering and the politics of language.

“I believe that we need to recognize that a great majority of the voters in the state of Texas--and including those who are Hispanic--speak English,” said former state Atty. Gen. Dan Morales, who in a final hour revision followed each Spanish answer with an English translation.

“I think that he’s embarrassed to be Hispanic,” borderland oil baron Tony Sanchez said. “He has never shown the pride that we have to be Hispanics, and that gets to me.”

The Friday debate in Dallas marked the first time candidates for governor of any state have debated in Spanish. Earlier in the evening, the two men pontificated in English on taxes, spending and political icons. In the Spanish debate, the topics shifted to bilingual education, immigrant rights and school prayer.

It almost didn’t happen. The candidates bickered for weeks over when, where and how often to debate. They were still quarreling on the eve of the debate when Morales announced a compromise to what he considered an ethnically divisive meeting: He’d answer the questions in Spanish, then repeat his answers in English.

“We have an opportunity to make history,” Sanchez said. “For Mr. Morales to go back on his promise is an affront to Texans of every background.”

Linguistically, Sanchez has the upper hand: His Spanish is much smoother than Morales’ faltering utterances. And when he saw his opponent hesitate, Sanchez was quick to criticize.

About one-third of the voters in the Democratic primary are expected to be Latino. In the Bush years, Texas was a Republican stronghold, but analysts say that hold is tenuous. Latinos, who have tended to vote Democratic, already make up 40% of the registered voters and are the state’s fastest growing ethnicity.

There was a time, not so long ago, when Spanish was doffed at the door to the middle-class, a necessary trade-off for the upwardly mobile. Decades ago, Mexican American students were banned from playing football in many Texas school districts--and pupils were spanked for speaking Spanish.

“Spanish was the language of the people who lost the land,” said Nestor Rodriguez, co-director of the University of Houston. “This is a revival not just of the language but of the people. The people who were here originally are getting back the linguistic right. It’s OK to be Mexican American again, you know?”

These days, even the Anglos are struggling to get in on the act. Former Gov. George W. Bush brought down many a house with his trademark grin and clumsy Spanish intonations. Gov. Rick Perry has enrolled in Spanish classes.

“This state is bilingual,” said Frumencio Reyes, vice chairman of the Texas Democratic Party. “We believe very strongly this debate is not just good for our folks, for the Hispanic community, but the whole state has a lot to learn.”

Perhaps nothing speaks so loudly of the power of Texas Latinos as the two contenders for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Sanchez is a multimillionaire oilman, rancher and Bush supporter whose ancestors founded the border city of Laredo in the 18th century. Until he was handpicked by the Democrats, the reclusive Sanchez kept a low profile on his ranch outside Laredo. He has been pegged with questions about his past business dealings, which include a savings and loan that collapsed from faulty lending practices. In 1994, Sanchez paid $1 million to settle a potential federal claim against him. In Friday’s debate, Morales accused the banker of laundering Mexican drug money.

As for Morales, his days as attorney general were nothing if not colorful. He made the Republicans angry by hiring a band of trial lawyers to sue the tobacco industry. At the end of that deal, Texas got $17 billion, the lawyers got $3 billion and the Republicans got good and mad.

Morales alienated his heavily Latino party when he opined that an order to abandon affirmative action at the University of Texas should be applied to all state universities. On Friday night, Sanchez called Morales a “baby of affirmative action.”

“That’s why he went to Harvard,” Sanchez said. “But when he got to the top he picked up that ladder behind him and left all of those shattered dreams.”

Morales dropped out of politics in 1997, when he married a former topless dancer from Abilene. In January, Morales rocked the Democratic Party by filing a last-minute bid for the gubernatorial election, splitting the Latino vote. “You don’t do that to a friend,” Reyes said Friday.

The contentious, ethnically charged campaign will culminate March 12, when the two men square off in a primary. The winner will run for governor against Republican Perry, a onetime lieutenant governor who became governor after Bush was elected president.