CEO TAG MAY HAVE RISK FOR SANCHEZ

AUSTIN -- George W. Bush did it. Bill Clements did it. Clayton Williams did
it. Tony Sanchez is doing it, too, but some say his timing could hardly be
worse.

It is a gubernatorial campaign that combines an outsider theme with the
promise of a businesslike approach to government.

Sometimes it works, as it did for Bush and Clements. Sometimes it doesn't,
as it didn't for Williams.

Sanchez is trying it at a time when corporate ethics are under a federal
microscope, big businesses are getting bad press and people are losing
investments they thought would see them through retirement.

"CEO used to be a good thing to put on your resume' when you were seeking
the office of chief executive officer of the state," mused consultant Chuck
McDonald, who worked for Democrat Ann Richards when Bush defeated her for
governor.

"It's a tough break for Sanchez."

Added Tony Proffitt, a consultant who worked for the late Democratic Lt.
Gov. Bob Bullock, "The let's-make-government-work-like-business model
probably is not the best campaign theme this year."

But political scientist Bruce Buchanan of the University of Texas at Austin
said he's seen no evidence corporate scandals prompt an automatic distrust
of business-grounded candidates.

"Texas historically has been governed by a centrist business coalition that
has included both Democrats and Republicans," Buchanan said. "A business
background is generally looked on as a net plus."

Republicans bear the brunt of any voter backlash because they're more
closely aligned with business, said McDonald, who identifies himself as a
Democrat but has clients who have endorsed Perry.

But in the governor's race, McDonald said, "You have a candidate in Tony
Sanchez who has run exclusively on, 'I'm a successful businessman and my
opponent is nothing but a government employee.' I suspect the Sanchez
rhetoric is going to change dramatically."

Sanchez said he's not worried that his biggest asset could turn into a
deficit -- even as Gov. Rick Perry pounds on alleged drug-money laundering
through a Sanchez thrift, which later got a federal bailout when it failed
for unrelated reasons.

Sanchez consistently says he and other thrift officials did no wrong,
accusing Perry of a smear campaign.

"I'll put my business record up against Rick Perry any time of the day,"
said Sanchez, a wealthy Laredo businessman with interests including banking
and oil and gas.

"I've had lots of success in my different businesses. He's concerned about
that because my message is resonating with the people of Texas."

Perry, accused by Sanchez of being a "professional politician" who bows to
industries for campaign contributions, defended his record as one of public
service. Voters also will judge Sanchez on his record, he said.

"If you say, 'I want to be your governor because I'm a businessman,' then
how have you run your business?" Perry said.

"... Having been the head of a savings and loan that cost the taxpayers $161
million is not exactly the type of record that Texans are looking for."

In a pointed reference to current corporate scandals, Perry said, "I will
suggest that he's using the same type of smokescreens using the law to get
around the moral responsibility issue that the people at Enron have tried to
use and the people at WorldCom have tried to use."

Sanchez repeatedly has said he and other thrift officials didn't know the
deposits in question were suspected of being drug-related. When they were
told of a problem, he said, they cooperated with the federal government and
were cleared by officials.

The Perry camp disputes that the thrift cooperated fully.

Regarding the thrift failure, Sanchez points to numerous other thrift
failures at the same time.

"There's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of CEOs all over
this country that have comported themselves correctly and are doing
everything they should do the way they should do (it)," Sanchez said.

"I'm not even being asked questions like that when I'm campaigning."

At a Perry campaign stop in the retirement haven of Sun City Texas in
Georgetown, Jim Hephner, 65, said he doesn't see today's corporate scandals
as a big factor in the governor's race. "Not all corporate chief executives
are that way. There's a few of them, and we'll get them exposed," he said.

Audrey McDonald, 68 and a Perry supporter, said, "It's not a factor to me,
because it's business out there that's creating jobs that employ people. If
we didn't have business, we wouldn't have these people working. They can't
all work for the government."

Political consultant Reggie Bashur -- who worked for Republicans Clements,
Williams and Bush -- said timing and individual characteristics are
important.

"As evidenced in Texas, it can work both ways," he said.

Bush had the benefit of his family name and connections when he vaulted from
businessman to Texas governor.

Clements, a former deputy defense secretary, brought an oilman's bluntness
to government and political work.

Williams didn't make the transition, a failure attributed to his political
missteps.

Consultant Chuck McDonald suggests things might have been different when
Bush challenged Richards in 1994 had there been the same attention on
business practices.

Media nationally have a renewed interest in a Securities and Exchange
Commission investigation of now-President Bush's 1990 stock sale at his
former oil company, Harken Energy Corp. The SEC didn't take action against
Bush.

"We questioned his business practices in regard to stock dealings, and they
were -- while reported -- largely ignored," McDonald said of the 1994
gubernatorial race.

"Now, suddenly, that kind of issue would be devastating," McDonald said.