Off the Record

■ The Evans & Novak column in mid-September ran an intriguing item that had the fingerprints of the National Republican Congressional Committee all over it. It blamed the narrow two-point loss in Jim Wright’s former district fairly and squarely on somebody else: namely, President Bush and Senator Phil Gramm for failing to campaign in the district.

That, however, is not the view of the local campaigners. Fred Meyer, Texas Republican State Chairman, exonerated both men to Cato: “Gramm raised a bunch of money for the candidate, wrote letters; and George Bush met with him in Washington, endorsed him, and appeared on a telephonic hook-up. I have no problem with the way the President and the senator handled it.” Indeed, as Meyer points out, the Republican performance was not that bad—49 per cent of the vote in a district that went 65 per cent for Wright last year. Why was the NRCC so touchy?

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■ The Evans & Novak column in mid-September ran an intriguing item that had the fingerprints of the National Republican Congressional Committee all over it. It blamed the narrow two-point loss in Jim Wright’s former district fairly and squarely on somebody else: namely, President Bush and Senator Phil Gramm for failing to campaign in the district.

That, however, is not the view of the local campaigners. Fred Meyer, Texas Republican State Chairman, exonerated both men to Cato: “Gramm raised a bunch of money for the candidate, wrote letters; and George Bush met with him in Washington, endorsed him, and appeared on a telephonic hook-up. I have no problem with the way the President and the senator handled it.” Indeed, as Meyer points out, the Republican performance was not that bad—49 per cent of the vote in a district that went 65 per cent for Wright last year. Why was the NRCC so touchy?