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by Hugh Aynesworth
October 29, 2001
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
DALLAS - Texas homeland security
chief David Dewhurst wanted Texans to feel confident in these trying
times and - as a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor - wanted
Texans to know he was taking his new anti-terrorism job seriously.
So he purchased a full-color,
four-page advertisement in Texas Monthly magazine a few days ago.
The ad layout has received far
more comment than any similar effort in recent history - but perhaps for
all the wrong reasons.
In the ad, a military officer is
depicted standing in front of an unfurled American flag, with the
caption, "As chairman of the Governor's Task Force on Homeland Security,
David Dewhurst encourages you to support President Bush and the brave
men and woman of our Armed Forces as they fight to eliminate terrorism
and work to restore confidence in our economy."
Within hours of the magazine's
hitting the streets last week, the Dewhurst campaign became inundated
with calls - some angry, some joking - informing the state land
commissioner that the officer in the photograph was not an American
general, but was clearly a German Luftwaffe officer - complete with
military decorations, insignias and a name tag bearing the German flag.
Early in the week, a stunned Mr.
Dewhurst, 56, conceded he had examined the ad "a couple times" before
OK'ing it but later he and his staff placed blame on the advertising
agency that prepared the ad.
"When I had asked for a picture of
an American soldier against the flag," he said Friday, "our graphics
consultant made a mistake. The ad agency and the graphics consultant
won't be doing further work for us."
Predictably, Democrats jumped all
over the situation - not only making fun of the faux pas, but
complaining that Mr. Dewhurst was using his new assignment as home
security head for political advantage.
"The ink wasn't dry yet on the
appointment when he was sending out political brochure copy to the print
shop," said Kelly Fero, who is directing a coordinated state Democratic
campaign.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry named Mr.
Dewhurst to coordinate the state's anti-terrorism efforts earlier this
month.
"It's pretty scary that the man
Rick Perry has put in charge of homeland security doesn't know the
difference between an Air Force uniform and a German uniform," snapped
Democrat state Chairwoman Molly Beth Malcolm at an Austin party meeting
Saturday.
Friday, with strong backing from
Mr. Perry, Mr. Dewhurst defended his political ad - saying maybe he
should not have stressed his new role, but solidly standing behind his
expressed sentiments of supporting the president and the armed forces.
"If I had it do to over again,"
said the former Houston businessman and one-time Air Force officer and
CIA agent, "I would have said the same words. I might not have said 'as
chairman of the Governor's Task Force on Homeland Security.'"
Mr. Dewhurst said that at
political gatherings people asked him about security issues and that he
intended to continue to mention his state task force assignment. "Not in
a way that politicizes what I'm doing for the state," he added. "I make
a point of saying: 'All right, we've stopped talking about politics.
We're going to talk about a state issue, and let me tell you what my
thoughts are.'
"I didn't find anything out of the
ordinary about saying 'Here's what I'm doing; here's what makes me
qualified to lead you,'" said Mr. Dewhurst.
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