Cornyn Takes Senate Seat - As Kirk concedes, Senate winner sees call for 'new management'

Republican John Cornyn rode a wave of presidential popularity to the Senate on Tuesday, ending former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk's bid to become the state's first black senator.

"Texas made it clear tonight. We need new management in the United States Senate," Mr. Cornyn told a jubilant crowd in Austin, flanked by family, supporters and the man he will replace, retiring three-term Sen. Phil Gramm.

The Democrats' one-vote Senate majority going into the election meant both parties kept close watch on the race, and Mr. Bush staked his prestige and home state pride on the outcome. Mr. Cornyn declared victory with less than a third of ballots counted and even an hour later, Mr. Kirk said he had jumped the gun. But 30 minutes after that, the Democrat conceded.

Mr. Cornyn thanked his opponent for running a "vigorous and a challenging campaign. He ran a strong effort. And as both of us said, it is essential that we take the Texas model of bipartisan cooperation to the United States Senate, for the public interest and not just the special interests."

Mr. Kirk, Dallas' first black mayor, was hoping to be the first Democrat since former President Lyndon Johnson to win the seat first held by Sam Houston.

Only three black senators have been elected since the post-Civil War era, and none from the South, so his nomination alone drew international attention.

Despite the hoopla, Mr. Kirk struggled to connect with enough Texas voters to overcome the attorney general and the GOP machine.

He portrayed himself as a pro-business moderate, with a record of bridging ethnic and economic divides at City Hall that showed how well he could work in the capital's partisan atmosphere. Mr. Cornyn pitched himself as a conservative who would work closely with President Bush.

Mr. Kirk's message - bringing people together and working across Washington's partisan divide - was overshadowed by the president's dismissal of him as an "obstructionist" in the mold of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, and by a parade of special appearances by Mr. Bush, his wife, mother, father, nephew, vice president and Cabinet members.

The president made his final push for Mr. Cornyn on Monday night, at a raucous, 6,000-strong rally at Southern Methodist University, giving Mr. Kirk fresh ammunition to portray his rival as the president's lapdog.

Mr. Kirk may have been outdone not just by the commander-in-chief's intense personal interest, but by himself. Many analysts said from the outset that, given Texas' Republican leanings, he would have to run a flawless campaign to win.

But Mr. Kirk lost weeks of precious stump time during the summer while trolling for money at out-of-state fund-raisers, including events with Bill and Hillary Clinton and Mr. Daschle - events he kept secret and closed to the news media.

Even when Mr. Kirk began stumping in Texas in earnest, he kept cameras and reporters away from events starring Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democrats' centrist vice presidential nominee in 2000; former first lady Lady Bird Johnson, whose endorsement didn't become public until a week after she issued it; and former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, a Texas icon with cross-party appeal.

"It doesn't seem sensible, because there's a latent Democratic base that can be moved," said Bruce Buchanan, political science professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. Cornyn joked often that he wasn't as charming or personable as his opponent. But he wasn't as publicity-shy, either, welcoming cameras to all of the Bush events and to others featuring movie star and gun activist Charlton Heston and Dallas Cowboys legend Roger Staubach.

In the final days Mr. Kirk's closest advisers, including consultant Carol Reed, stepped in, and he began appearing in public with Mr. Bentsen; Luci Baines Johnson, one of LBJ's daughters; Cowboys star Emmitt Smith; singer Stevie Wonder; and former Gov. Ann Richards. But it may have been too late.

Analysts chalked it up to a first-time statewide candidacy. But steering clear of those who endorsed him wasn't Mr. Kirk's only misstep. His avowed support of Mr. Bush's Iraq policy came into question when he asserted that Republicans might be less inclined toward war if more front-line troops came from wealthy, white families - a triple-whammy remark that opened him up to allegations of bringing race into the campaign, of being soft on Iraq, and of offering support to Mr. Bush that was half-hearted at best.

Mr. Cornyn, a former member of the Texas Supreme Court and the state's attorney general since 1998, was running his fourth statewide race. Mr. Kirk won two terms as Dallas mayor, but his only statewide office was as Ms. Richards' appointed secretary of state.

The Republican proved himself a more disciplined campaigner - less flamboyant but less prone to stray from pre-tested language and policies.

"Major races are won oftentimes because of discipline, organization, attention to detail, willingness to study the issues and think through your position," said Cornyn spokesman Dave Beckwith, "instead of free-lancing or relying on personality." As for the Bush factor, he said, "That was a nice tailwind. Bush is popular."

The election hinged not only on the state's demographics - more white voters, with Democrats hoping to generate a record turnout of minority voters - but on which side could control the terms of the debate. Mr. Cornyn's preferred question was, which candidate would help the president and get more done? Mr. Kirk's was, which candidate can work with senators in both parties?

"The dynamic was, can a candidate like Kirk exploit the ethnic base in both the black and the Hispanic community, while at the same time sustaining his storied appeal to the center and to the classic mainstream white vote? ... He was trying to straddle those worlds," Dr. Buchanan said.

For Mr. Cornyn to win on his terms, as a close ally of the president, "is not much of a mandate, but it's a message intended to appeal to people in a state that produced Bush and greatly admires him. It's intended to be a winning message."

Democratic consultant Chuck McDonald, a former aide to Ms. Richards, said Mr. Kirk's message was intended to woo white cross-over voters, at the risk of being too squishy to get the party's base pumped up. "It was a difficult campaign. He had to walk that balancing act all the time," he said.

Mr. Beckwith, the Cornyn adviser, asserted that Mr. Kirk "fell off that tightrope" every time he took a jab at Mr. Cornyn.

Kirk reflects on 'wonderful experience'

We had a great run,' Democrat says, calling race a leap of faith

11/06/2002

By GROMER JEFFERS JR. / The Dallas Morning News

Ron Kirk brought forth boyhood images of Superman as he conceded defeat in his Senate bid Tuesday night.

"This race was always a leap of faith for me," Mr. Kirk said before describing how he and his childhood friends would leap off the branches of a tree, pretending to fly - if only for a few moments.

"It was the landing that was the tough part," Mr. Kirk told his supporters at the Women's Museum in Fair Park. "But because of all of you, we had a great flight; we had a great run."

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It was a day of up-and-down emotions for Mr. Kirk, who only a half-hour earlier had urged his supporters to "keep your spirits up, keep up the faith" in his fight against Republican John Cornyn.

"With less than half of the vote in, it's way too early for us to give up hope," Mr. Kirk said - never mind that Mr. Cornyn had already declared victory.

Even then, however, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, had appeared resigned to Mr. Kirk's defeat.

"He ran a great race and he's not going to lose the race," she said. "He might not get as many votes as we expect, but he's a winner."

Earlier in the day, Mr. Kirk looked tired and was slightly slowed by a lingering stomach virus. His remarks outside an East Dallas polling place carried a hint of resignation. "No matter what happens, it's been a wonderful experience," he said.

RICHARD MICHAEL PRUITT / DMN

Ron Kirk greets supporters as he arrives at the Women's Museum at Fair Park with his wife, Matrice Ellis Kirk.

Later, however, Mr. Kirk said he was on target to win.

"If I could have told all of you that on Election Day we would be in a dead heat and had a chance to win, most of you would have said, 'Wow,' " he said.

Mr. Kirk was nearing the end of his first statewide campaign, hoping to become the first black senator from the former Confederacy since Reconstruction. The rough partisan waters were unnatural for the former Dallas mayor, a Democrat who was twice elected to lead the city, where political parties didn't come into play.

Tuesday morning, Mr. Kirk showed up at 6 a.m. to greet workers at the Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth as they changed shifts. He then traveled to East Dallas and voted at Wilshire Baptist Church with his wife, Matrice, at his side.

The day was not without controversy. Kirk campaign aides complained about last-minute calls made to potential voters on behalf of his opponent. The callers said that Mr. Kirk supported same-sex marriages and gay adoption. He does not. The Cornyn campaign disavowed any connection to the callers.

Mr. Kirk said his campaign had received numerous calls from voters thanking him for his positive approach.

"That affirms my belief that people want to be inspired and vote for somebody they believe in, " he said.

E-mail gjeffers@dallasnews.com

Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/politics/senate/newspaper/stories/110602dntexsendaydem.55aac.html

"If I could have told all of you that on Election Day we would be in a dead heat and had a chance to win, most of you would have said, 'Wow,' " he said.

More correctly stated: "Wow, what a crock !" < /sarcasm >

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