Texans Take Bush Fight on the Road

Democrats deployed a team of angry Texans on Thursday to “speak the truth” about Gov. George W. Bush’s record, launching a four-day bus tour through key battleground states to tell voters what life is like in Texas, at least from a Democratic perspective.

Calling themselves the “Texas Truth Squad,” the two dozen residents spoke of pollution, education and health care at several brief stops through Kentucky, where they were greeted warmly under a blazing sun by a few hundred supporters waving Texas flags.

“I’m here to tell you, the Bushes are coming!” bellowed Harry Fred Scott of East Texas, addressing an audience of friendly senior citizens. “You’ve got to beware!”

The team was handpicked by the Democratic National Committee to be a much-needed local voice for Vice President Al Gore, who recently has tried to get as much mileage as possible out of news reports of a budget shortfall in the nation’s second-largest state.

The group--which includes a teacher, a social worker, a doctor, a real estate agent and three state representatives--plans to discuss a range of issues during the 1,200-mile “Don’t Mess With America” tour, purposely plotted to include the same campaign stops that Bush will be making on his way to Philadelphia this weekend.

Scott, a 56-year-old former postal worker, spoke of a personal fight he has waged with his HMO for care he needs for an injured back and knee. He and other members of the Texas team said Bush has sided with HMOs by refusing to sign an early version of a patients’ bill of rights. (He later did sign a version of that law.)

“The record is clear, and it says this man who aims to be president does not care about every Texan, much less every American,” Scott said. “How will he be on a national level? We don’t want you to suffer the same fate that we have suffered in Texas.”

Pivotal Cities Will Be Targeted

The tour will wind through cities where the presidential race could go either way, such as Louisville; Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio; and Harrisburg, Pa.

“You are delivering the truth,” state Democratic Party spokeswoman Susan Dixen told the group as it prepared to leave for Ohio. “You should feel good about that.”

Bush campaign officials felt differently.

“I think a more appropriate name would be ‘Al Gore’s Distort-the-Truth Squad,’ ” Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said. “Gov. Bush will change the partisan tone in Washington by reaching across party lines to get things done, just like he has done in Texas.”

However last-minute the trip was--many travelers were asked to participate less than two days ago--there is nothing lacking in terms of backgrounds: A school board member from Ector County was tapped to address public education in Texas, an Amarillo social worker discussed health care and an attorney specializing in labor conditions was asked to talk about health care and the minimum wage.

Bringing Passion to the Party

With all the passion of a presidential candidate, Edith Irby Jones, a physician in Houston’s inner city, made an emotional appeal to senior citizens.

“I want you in charge,” she said, punctuating her words with finger-stabs in the air. “You have lived, worked and supported your country and you deserve the right to pick your own physician. You deserve the right to have proper nutrition and housing. You deserve the right to have the prescription drugs you are supposed to have. You have earned that right. You must have a voice. You must have a vote.”

After the talk, one bystander remarked, “Wow. The VP needs to get her on his campaign trail.”

The group moves on today to Dayton and Columbus in Ohio and then to West Virginia and Pennsylvania, where a splashy arrival is planned for Sunday in Philadelphia, complete with a Democratic rally and Texas-style barbecue. At each stop, members will latch on to such issues as eduction, social security, prescription drugs and, in Tamara Mashino’s case, the environment.

Mashino, a Houston resident who launched a fight against new chemical plants in the Clear Lake area, said she holds Bush “personally responsible” for the poor air quality in her city and the devastating health issues associated with it.

Tactic Rooted in American Politics

“Entire families should not be sick, but they are in my neighborhood,” said Mashino, noting that she lives near about 53 fully operational chemical plants. “We are the country’s dirtiest, most polluted city, and it all happened under Gov. Bush’s watch. He has turned his back on what’s important, and, if you don’t believe me, come over for a visit. It will literally make you sick.”

So-called truth squads aren’t new to American campaigns or politics. When Woodrow Wilson toured the nation to promote the United States joining the League of Nations, a group of Republican leaders preceded him with the opposite viewpoint.

And before that, political foes trailed Andrew Johnson in his public appearances, on occasion with the goal of provoking a flash of his renowned temper.

“It has roots definitely in the 19th century and early 20th century. It’s being revived now,” said Eric Schickler, an associate professor of political science at UC Berkeley.

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Times staff writer Megan Garvey contributed to this story.