Pubdate: Mon, 5 Aug 2002 Source: San Antonio Express-News (TX) Copyright: 2002 San Antonio Express-News Contact: http://www.mysanantonio.com/expressnews/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/384 Author: Peggy Fikac CEO TAG MAY HAVE RISK FOR SANCHEZ AUSTIN -- George W. Bush did it. Bill Clements did it. Clayton Williams did it. Tony Sanchez is doing it, too, but some say his timing could hardly be worse. It is a gubernatorial campaign that combines an outsider theme with the promise of a businesslike approach to government. Sometimes it works, as it did for Bush and Clements. Sometimes it doesn't, as it didn't for Williams. Sanchez is trying it at a time when corporate ethics are under a federal microscope, big businesses are getting bad press and people are losing investments they thought would see them through retirement. "CEO used to be a good thing to put on your resume' when you were seeking the office of chief executive officer of the state," mused consultant Chuck McDonald, who worked for Democrat Ann Richards when Bush defeated her for governor. "It's a tough break for Sanchez." Added Tony Proffitt, a consultant who worked for the late Democratic Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, "The let's-make-government-work-like-business model probably is not the best campaign theme this year." But political scientist Bruce Buchanan of the University of Texas at Austin said he's seen no evidence corporate scandals prompt an automatic distrust of business-grounded candidates. "Texas historically has been governed by a centrist business coalition that has included both Democrats and Republicans," Buchanan said. "A business background is generally looked on as a net plus." Republicans bear the brunt of any voter backlash because they're more closely aligned with business, said McDonald, who identifies himself as a Democrat but has clients who have endorsed Perry. But in the governor's race, McDonald said, "You have a candidate in Tony Sanchez who has run exclusively on, 'I'm a successful businessman and my opponent is nothing but a government employee.' I suspect the Sanchez rhetoric is going to change dramatically." Sanchez said he's not worried that his biggest asset could turn into a deficit -- even as Gov. Rick Perry pounds on alleged drug-money laundering through a Sanchez thrift, which later got a federal bailout when it failed for unrelated reasons. Sanchez consistently says he and other thrift officials did no wrong, accusing Perry of a smear campaign. "I'll put my business record up against Rick Perry any time of the day," said Sanchez, a wealthy Laredo businessman with interests including banking and oil and gas. "I've had lots of success in my different businesses. He's concerned about that because my message is resonating with the people of Texas." Perry, accused by Sanchez of being a "professional politician" who bows to industries for campaign contributions, defended his record as one of public service. Voters also will judge Sanchez on his record, he said. "If you say, 'I want to be your governor because I'm a businessman,' then how have you run your business?" Perry said. "... Having been the head of a savings and loan that cost the taxpayers $161 million is not exactly the type of record that Texans are looking for." In a pointed reference to current corporate scandals, Perry said, "I will suggest that he's using the same type of smokescreens using the law to get around the moral responsibility issue that the people at Enron have tried to use and the people at WorldCom have tried to use." Sanchez repeatedly has said he and other thrift officials didn't know the deposits in question were suspected of being drug-related. When they were told of a problem, he said, they cooperated with the federal government and were cleared by officials. The Perry camp disputes that the thrift cooperated fully. Regarding the thrift failure, Sanchez points to numerous other thrift failures at the same time. "There's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of CEOs all over this country that have comported themselves correctly and are doing everything they should do the way they should do (it)," Sanchez said. "I'm not even being asked questions like that when I'm campaigning." At a Perry campaign stop in the retirement haven of Sun City Texas in Georgetown, Jim Hephner, 65, said he doesn't see today's corporate scandals as a big factor in the governor's race. "Not all corporate chief executives are that way. There's a few of them, and we'll get them exposed," he said. Audrey McDonald, 68 and a Perry supporter, said, "It's not a factor to me, because it's business out there that's creating jobs that employ people. If we didn't have business, we wouldn't have these people working. They can't all work for the government." Political consultant Reggie Bashur -- who worked for Republicans Clements, Williams and Bush -- said timing and individual characteristics are important. "As evidenced in Texas, it can work both ways," he said. Bush had the benefit of his family name and connections when he vaulted from businessman to Texas governor. Clements, a former deputy defense secretary, brought an oilman's bluntness to government and political work. Williams didn't make the transition, a failure attributed to his political missteps. Consultant Chuck McDonald suggests things might have been different when Bush challenged Richards in 1994 had there been the same attention on business practices. Media nationally have a renewed interest in a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of now-President Bush's 1990 stock sale at his former oil company, Harken Energy Corp. The SEC didn't take action against Bush. "We questioned his business practices in regard to stock dealings, and they were -- while reported -- largely ignored," McDonald said of the 1994 gubernatorial race. "Now, suddenly, that kind of issue would be devastating," McDonald said. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk