Claytie's Back! Now Supporting McCain

Texas rancher and oilman, Clayton "Claytie" Williams, is back in the news again. Younger voters and those fairly new to Texas may not remember Claytie. He was Ann Richards' Republican opponent in the 1990 Texas governor's race, and is possibly the worst candidate to ever run for that office. Ann Richards kicked his ass that year at the ballot box.

Claytie started the campaign at least 20 points ahead in the polls, and was considered a shoo-in for the governorship. But then he started talking, and it seemed like every week he said something so stupid that he dropped another notch in the polls. He compared Ann Richards to his cattle, saying he would "head her and hoof her and drag her through the dirt".

Then he angered Hispanics by telling them they should vote for him because he met his wife in a Mexican restaurant. Claytie just considered his remarks as humorous, but most Texans found them very offensive and they wound up costing him the election.

Perhaps the most offensive of his remarks was when he compared rape to the weather. He said, "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it". His gaffes were so numerous and outrageous that year that I began to feel sorry for his campaign manager (even though he was a Republican).

The joke about rape was so over the line that it made national news, but I guess McCain was hiding under a rock somewhere because he claims he didn't know about it. You see, Claytie is one of McCain's biggest fund-raisers in Texas. He has already raised $300,000 for McCain this year.

But Claytie's past has caught up with him. A couple of days ago, the McCain campaign cancelled a Texas fund-raiser that was to be hosted by Clayton Williams. It seems that the rape joke had been unearthed, and McCain didn't want to associate himself with such an offensive remark. He told newsmen that he didn't know about Claytie's offensive behavior.

However, he's going to keep the $300,000. He didn't find the remark to be that offensive! Add this to the fact that McCain opposes a woman's right to control her own body and opposes equal pay for women, and I find it difficult to believe any woman would consider voting for him -- no matter how mad at the Democratic Party they are!