AUSTIN, Texas -- We're having a splendid political primary
season here in Texas, featuring several loopier-than-usual players and one
total gooney bird named John Worldpeace.
On the Democratic side for U.S. Senate, the two heavy-hitting,
well-financed contenders are Mayor Ron Kirk of Dallas and Rep. Ken Bentsen
of Houston. So, of course, a high-school civics teacher who's never been
elected to anything named Victor Morales is in the lead in that race.
Meanwhile, just to further confuse everybody, another Morales,
former attorney general Dan, is running for governor, which might cinch the
Hispanic vote for him, except his opponent is Tony Sanchez, a rich banker
from Laredo. Worldpeace (he had his name legally changed) is also in that
race, and his idea of contributing to his namesake seems to be spreading as
much nastiness about Sanchez as he possibly can. Voters keep getting
unidentified calls that turn out to be financed by Worldpeace asking them,
approximately, "Did you know that Tony Sanchez is a blue-bellied,
full-blooded liar, thief and child molester who runs on all fours and has