Sanchez, Kirk head to the Valley for support
Posted on 10/22/2002 1:57:42 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Sanchez, Kirk head to the Valley for support
Candidates use joint appearance to push 'getting the vote out'
10/22/2002
MERCEDES, Texas - Democrats Tony Sanchez and Ron Kirk teamed up Monday in a campaign sweep along the border, urging supporters to ignore the polls and embrace their ideas for helping Texans.
"We need your help," Mr. Sanchez told a packed room of civil leaders and business officials. "The party's over. We can't talk about all our big policy issues. ... What we need to talk about is getting the vote out."
Mr. Sanchez, a Laredo businessman seeking to oust Republican Gov. Rick Perry, said he's encouraged by reports of high early voter turnout in some counties.
"You now are taking over the campaign by your vote," he said at a meat processing plant in Mercedes. "So we ask you respectfully, go out and vote, but more importantly, go out and take people in your families and friends and neighbors to vote. You have to. If you believe what he [Mr. Kirk] says and if you believe what I say, you got to vote."
Meanwhile, Mr. Perry took advantage of early voting and cast his ballot on new electronic voting machines Monday in Austin.
And Republican John Cornyn, who is Mr. Kirk's opponent for the Senate, made his own Rio Grande Valley stop with U.S. Housing Secretary Mel Martinez.
The Sanchez-Kirk bus tour through San Juan, Mercedes and Brownsville - which was not highly publicized by their campaigns - was directed in a region where both need overwhelming margins to win next month.
A poll released Sunday by The Dallas Morning News showed Mr. Perry ahead of Mr. Sanchez by 15 percentage points, and Mr. Cornyn beating Mr. Kirk by 10 percentage points.
Among Hispanics, Mr. Kirk had less than half of the likely voters, and Mr. Sanchez had just less than 60 percent.
The Democrats said the public polls are wrong.
"It takes some time for people to understand your message. I don't believe the public polls in terms of what they're saying," Mr. Sanchez said. "I'm not worried about that it."
Mr. Sanchez voted early Monday in his hometown of Laredo.
Mr. Kirk, the former Dallas mayor, said the surveys do not reflect his support in the Valley, where he is stressing his proposals to boost education and jobs.
As he has before, he said GOP complaints about the Democratic ticket appeared motivated by race.
"I'm so tired of the Republicans trying to ridicule this dream team," Mr. Kirk said. "You don't just get to wake up and say, 'I'm black. I want to be a senator.' Or, 'I'm Hispanic. I want to be governor.' "
He said he and Mr. Sanchez "bring value to the table" based on their experience building successful legal and business careers.
Republicans have denied accusations that they are injecting race into the campaign.
Mr. Cornyn said his visit to the Valley with Mr. Martinez was to show how representation in Congress could help bring home ownership and other federal incentive programs to needy regions like the border.
"Unfortunately there's a gridlock on important issues like housing," he said. "We need to get the government moving again."
Bobby Guerra, chairman of the Hidalgo County Democratic Party, said both of his party's candidates are doing "an excellent job" of reaching voters.
"There is no question in my mind that the Hispanics throughout this state, as well as the black community, are just as excited and motivated and energized about this campaign, and you're going to see it in the polls," Mr. Guerra said.
But some voters are still looking over the field.
"I'm not sure yet right now," plant worker Nancy Bernal said after hearing the duo speak. "There's other things that we need to look into. Right now, I'm not ready ... I'll probably wait until the last day, and then I'll decide."
In other developments, Lady Bird Johnson, widow of President Lyndon B. Johnson, has formally backed Mr. Kirk. She made the endorsement last week at a private fund-raiser at the Austin home of her daughter, Luci.
E-mail brodriguez@dallasnews.com
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