Victor Morales Understands Why Skeptics Doubt Him

Aired April 10, 1996

BERNARD SHAW, Anchor: With almost no money, Texas school teacher Victor Morales scored an impressive win last night in the Democratic U.S. Senate runoff, beating Congressman John Bryant by a slim margin. With that, he earned the right to take on the incumbent Republican Senator Phil Gramm. Joining us now from Houston, the outsider candidate who won that race, high-school teacher Victor Morales.

First off the bat, the chairman of the Senate Campaign Committee here in Washington, Bob Kerrey, has been traveling with you in Texas. What are you being promised in the way of Democratic national party muscle and, moreover, dollars?

VICTOR MORALES (D), Texas Senate Candidate: Well, actually, Bernard, I haven't met him yet. I just arrived in Houston after leaving Austin, and I believe he's due in at about 4:45, so I really haven't had a chance to talk to him yet other than a quick hello on the phone this morning.

SHAW: Well, as you indicate, you're going to meet him - what would you like from him, then, from the party?

MORALES: Well, I'm easy to please, actually. I mean, in any way they can help, I would appreciate it, especially after what I had to do myself.

SHAW: State Senator Carlos Trejon [sp] of Corpus Christi, when asked how you will fare against Phil Gramm, said, `Do you mean before he eats him up and spits him out?' How are you going to beat Phil Gramm?

MORALES: Well, for that comment, that was somebody that wasn't for me from the very beginning, so you take that with a grain of salt. Number two, from the very beginning, I knew my limitations in terms of money, experience, et cetera, but I just feel that I had to do something since no one else seemed to be taking on Phil, and so, I took off. So I don't really let that bother me, the fact of Phil Gramm's money, et cetera.

SHAW: A lot of people say you have been very thin with specificity on the issues. Is that true? If it is-

MORALES: It depends on who's asking. It depends on what they want to hear. What I have been is very honest, and I have talked about issues across the state. What I failed to do, I guess, as some people would like, is a nice, neat plan for the fixing of social security. But, then, for the people that I've been talking to, they just want somebody honest, they want somebody intelligent, somebody hard-working, someone they can believe in. In fact, I've had people specifically tell me, `Well, I don't even care about your issues.' I mean, of course they do inside, but they just want someone to believe in.

SHAW: Two things - the Associated Press reports you have missed all four federal election reporting deadlines and, also, your wife has not paid back a $27,000 college loan. Do you expect these two points to be issues raised by your opponents?

MORALES: Well, I would imagine so. That's politics, isn't it? As long as- if only the real story gets on it, that will be all right. In terms of missing the reports, that's not something I like. But, again, let's not lose sight of that I, Victor Morales, as a teacher, took on the entire state. Now, I'm not asking for excuses, but I'm saying that is reality. So, in order for me to do this, I had to leave this. And, so, the FEC reports were very hard. I had no staff whatsoever - none. So that means I answered the calls. I drove myself around, et cetera. But all four were turned in-

SHAW: OK.

MORALES: -and that needs to be stated.

And as far as the grant - not loan - the grant/scholarship, that's been an on-going fight, a bureaucratic fight that we are having, and even to make a point, this past week, my wife called twice to try to talk to someone that had made quotes, and they didn't call us back. This is been an ongoing fight, so we talked about this from the very beginning. We knew it would come up, but we're clear of conscience. We never said we wouldn't pay it. We had some disagreements with the bureaucracy, and we would just like to be addressed.

SHAW: In the final seconds I have, a lot of people look at you, they shake their heads. Political analyst Charlie Cook, `I don't think he's got a chance in the world.' What do you say to folks like that?

MORALES: Well, I understand completely. I don't take offense at that. It's perfectly understandable. I would just like to bring up the point, though, no one thought I'd be sitting in this chair today, either.

SHAW: Ah-ha. You're quite right. Victor Morales, thank you very much, and we'll be watching you.

MORALES: Thank you sir.

SHAW: You're quite welcome, sir.

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