'Dollar Bill's" Friends Are Rich

Someone once said that no man should be ashamed of his poverty; he should get rid of it as fast as he can. Texas Governor William Clements did just that, transforming himself from an oilfield roughneck to the millionaire founder of Sedco Inc., one of the world's largest offshore drilling companies. As the first Republican Governor of the Lone Star State in more than a century, "Dollar Bill" Clements, 65, who is seeking a second term this year, is proud to say, "The people of Texas like the idea that I can call the White House and someone will pick up the phone."

Democratic Challenger Mark White, 42, the state attorney general, responds that Clements' connections have done Texas precious little good. There are more than 500,000 Texans out of work, and White is determined to pin the blame on Clements and the Republican economic policies that the Governor supports. Billing himself as both a law-and-order candidate and a consumer advocate, he charges that Clements is insensitive to the needs of the workingman.

Unfortunately for White, organization and cash often matter more than sensitivity in Texas politics, and Clements has the edge on both. The incumbent has raised nearly $10 million ($3.5 million came from a fund-raising dinner last June attended by President Reagan), and will probably outspend White by more than 3 to l.

White's best hope is getting out a large vote in the heavily Democratic state. Both candidates have fervently courted the Mexican Americans of south Texas, who usually vote Democratic, but even there Clements has some advantages. He may be seen as the candidate of "the Anglos and the big-business interests," as one Hispanic activist put it, but White is remembered as the attorney general who fought bilingual education and public schooling for children of illegal aliens. Earlier, as Texas secretary of state in 1975, White opposed extension of the Voting Rights Act. Says Roy Barrera Jr., a Hispanic judge appointed by Clements: "The young Hispanics are not locked into the Democrats."

The campaign has taken a nasty turn. White says Clements is "a clown" who uses "smear tactics." Clements says the attorney general "is an incompetent lawyer" who has lost most of his big cases. Responding, somewhat lamely, that he has won most of those that he appealed, White declares: "The heroes in Texas were at the Alamo and San Jacinto. You've got to fight." Facing Dollar Bill's well-oiled assault, state Democratic leaders are wondering if, like the Texans at the Alamo, White lacks the organization and resources to win.

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