Buzz

Comments (0) By Patrick Williams Thursday, Dec 11 1997

He's walkin', yes indeed
Populist and Republican are not two words you generally see applied together, but then Stan Tungate, a GOP candidate for district clerk, is not your stereotypical well-heeled Republican business-type.

Tungate is running a campaign literally on a shoe-string, plus a little shoe leather. The 33-year-old deputy district clerk, who supervises the office's records department, is spending his evenings and weekends going door-to-door trying to meet as many Republican voters as possible before the March 10 primary. His hope was to visit all 19,000 who voted in the 1996 presidential primary--at a pace of 30 a day after work and 200 to 300 on weekends--in sort of a Victor Morales approach, sans pickup truck.

"I don't like to think of it as unusual, but in this day and age, it seems to be," says Tungate, who adds that the reaction from voters has been "really favorable."

Well, if it's working for Tungate, Buzz figures, maybe the same approach might work for Ross Perot Jr. and Tom Hicks as they try to persuade voters to pony up for a new arena. We figure a little one-on-one from Dallas' wealthy sports gods might do something to slow the spread of "it's a bad deal" signs we've seen sprouting in our neighborhood. (Hint to Ross and Tom: If you do decide to block-walk, wear running shoes. You'll need them.)

Better yet, maybe Perot can fire up his trusty helicopter and offer the same free ride to voters he gave suburban leaders when he was looking for a city dimwitted enough to place this boondoggle on the ballot. One free ride deserves another.

--Compiled from staff reports by Patrick Williams