By Tom Dodge, KERA 90.1 commentator
Dallas, TX –
Johnson County voters have a chance to make a big name for themselves in November. They can become a one-party government.
Republicans now hold every elected office in the north-central county except that of Commissioner of Precinct 1, which includes part of Joshua, Godley, most of Cleburne, and areas west to Hill County. The obstacle in the way is a stubborn old Democratic cloudburst by the name of R.C. McFall. He thinks he might just cloud up and rain on their parade.
Once, there were no elected Republicans there, just two kinds of Democrats. There were the Yellow Dog Democrats, who preferred ugly dogs to Republicans, and lots of Tree Lizard Democrats, Democrats who didn't show their real Republican colors until they got elected. In Cleburne, the County seat, railroading once was king and it has a long history of supporting labor and other progressive principles. But it went for Nixon in 1960, again in '72, and for Republicans in every national election since 1980.
Why is McFall the only Democrat left? Former Democrat Jack Hewlett, who lost to him in 1992, attributes the flip-flop to the Democrats' acceptance of abortion and homosexuality. But McFall has been able to survive; he goes on, because he hasn't made any enemies and keeps his precinct in good condition.
If McFall loses to Republican Doug Giddens in November will it be a good thing to have a one-party government? Jeff Judd, an official down at the Republican Headquarters, believes it will. "We'll just have to police ourselves," he said, "and make sure candidates abide by Republican principles and aren't doing it just to get elected."
When I talked to McFall at his office north of Cleburne he said he hasn't changed parties because the party name has no effect on the way he does his job. "I help people now, what more could I do?" he says. He's afraid that if he loses, the county will proceed with the plan to build a new $5 million jail and $4 million Juvenile Center - which doesn't count the millions to pay for staff, upkeep, inmate medical bills, and all the rest. Every time a toilet flushes there's a cost, he says.
He says it would be a bargain if it prevented crime but it doesn't. He wants to use the money to help young people in a positive way. Build state parks, not jails. Places for young people to go and hike and fish, ride bikes, camp out. Texas ranks 49th in spending on state parks, he tells me. He's working to open up Hamm's Creek near Lake Whitney as a park for young people to go and enjoy the outdoors, maybe keep them out of trouble."
He'll be 60 on his next birthday. He wants to win but if he loses he says he's going to get with his fishing buddy Perry Don Wright and relieve the Brazos River of some of its sand bass. Also, he may even pick up his guitar again. Before he was a politician and a car dealer, he was a picker in his band called "The Versatiles."
"I wasn't but fourteen years old and my daddy wouldn't let me play in the night clubs unless he was there. The first night I played was at the Green Room on the Jacksboro Highway in Fort Worth for $35, Willie Nelson was playing down the street at the Tropicana for just $25. But he let his hair grow out long and started smoking dope and his rates went up."
He's a card, R.C. is, and full of stories. And the name of his band still suits him. He's versatile. You have to be when you're the last democrat standing.
Tom Dodge is a writer from Midlothian. If you have opinions or rebuttals about this commentary, call (214) 740-9338 or email us.