Lone Star Loser

IF George Bush was the real Texan he claims to be whenever he passes through the Lone Star State, he would know what's a serious mistake he made last week in denouncing House Speaker Jim Wright.

Texans know that when it comes to national politics, all Texans stick together.

But George Bush forgot this golden rule last week. With Democratic candidates Michael S. Dukakis and Jesse Jackson ripping into the White House sleaze factor--namely, Ed Meese--Bush fired back by saying that Democrats worried about the Attorney General's ethics should also call for an investigation of Wright.

It's possible that Wright may equal Meese in the sleaze game. Wright has been accused of giving jobs to his friends and sending a lot of business in the general direction of his home state--many of the same accusations that were leveled at Texan and former President Lyndon B. Johnson.

In Texas, where depressed oil prices have brought on some bad times, voters probably don't care what outsiders have to say about Wright. Right now, Texans consider Jim Wright somewhere up there along with God. Many Texans feel that it is Jim Wright, not God, who will keep Texas from going under.

He is running unopposed for his seat There isn't a Texan willing to challenge him. Except for George Bush. A some-time Texan whose nativity has been under question before.

SOMEHOW, Bush is trying to make Dukakis and other Democrats accountable for Wright's actions. But it's not a question of whether Dukakis or any other Democratic candidate has any ties to Wright. The simple fact of the matter is that Wright has not broken any federal laws. He has only engaged in some good old-fashioned pork-barrelling.

On the other hand, Meese is a member of the Reagan-Bush administration. How can Bush, a vice-president who claims to be a hands on leader, be ignorant of the attorney general's actions? Bush should be held accountable for Meese's actions right along with Reagan.

This could end up hurting Bush not too far into the future. As Bush makes his second run for President, he is expecting Texas to send its dozen or so electoral votes his way. But he may not be as successful at rounding up those votes for himself as he was for Reagan.

Texas cannot be discounted by either party. Texas has voted for the winner of 12 of the last 13 elections, including a streak of four straight. But Bush, banking on his manufactured nativity, assumes that he will win the largest state in the South without any problem.

Bush cannot assume Texas is a notch in his belt simply because he proclaims himself a native son. This kind of "Southern Strategy" won't work in the face of Dukakis' strong Hispanic and Black support--33 percent of the state's population is Black and Hispanic. Questions about his involvement in the Iran-contra scandal and his knowledge about Meese's ethical transgressions will plague him to defeat.

AND if Dukakis chose a native Texan, say Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, as his running mate, Texas would almost certainly vote Democrat. Bentsen, born and bred in Texas, would portray Bush as the true prep-school Northerner he really is. With another choice, Texans would quickly turn from the part-time Texan with three homes around the United States. Besides, Bush just put down the state's hero.

Bush will have to present legitimate reasons for Texans to vote for him, something he lacks. His only campaign slogan in the past was that Texas was his home state, and he can't count on that if he keeps insulting the only person who cares enough to actually help the state.

Bush is not the real Texan he proposes to be. Nor will his effort to take the spotlight off Meese work. Bush will learn that not only do Texans stick together, but that they don't forget.