George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography - Get a Free Blog

said, all you have to do is quote Bush, who had already called himself 100 per cent for
Goldwater and the Vietnam war. So that's what I did, and it worked very well." [fn 27]
Campaigning in Port Arthur on Oct. 30, a part of the state where his labor support loomed
large, Yarborough repeatedly attacked Bush as "more extreme than Barry Goldwater."
According to Yarborough, even after Barry Goldwater had repudiated the support of the
John Birch Society, Bush said that he "welcomed support of the Birch Society and
embraced it." "Let's you elect a senator from Texas, and not the Connecticut investment
bankers with their $2,500,000," Yarborough urged the voters. [fn 28]
These attacks were highly effective, and Bush's response was to mobilize his media
budget for more screenings of his World War II "flight of the Avenger" television spot,
while he prepared a last- minute television dirty trick. There was to be no debate between
Bush and Yarborough, but this did not prevent Bush from staging a televised "empty
chair" debate, which was aired on more than a dozen stations around the state on October
27. The Bush campaign staff scripted a debate in which Bush answered doctored quotes
from audio tapes of Yarborough speaking, with the sentences often cut in half, taken out
of context, and otherwise distorted. Yarborough responded by saying: "The sneaky trick
my opponent is trying to pull on me tonight of pulling sentences of mine out of context
with my recorded voice and playing my voice as a part of his broadcast is illegal under
the law, and a discredit to anyone who aspires to be a US Senator. I intend to protest this
illegal trick to the Federal Communications Commission." Bush's method was to "cut my
statements in half, then let his Madison Avenue speech writers answer those single
sentences." "My opponent is an exponent of extremism, peddling smear and fear
wherever he goes." "His conduct looks more like John Birch Society conduct than United
States Senate conduct," Yarborough added. Bush also distorted the sound of
Yarborough's voice almost beyond recognition.
Yarborough protested to the FCC in Washington, alleging that Bush had violated section
315 of the Federal Communications Act as it then stood, because Yarborough's remarks
were pre-censored and used without his permission. Yarborough also accused Bush of
violation of section 325 of the same act, since it appeared that parts of the "empty chair"
broadcast were material that had been previously broadcast elsewhere, and which could
not be re-used without permission. The FCC responded by saying that the tapes used had
been made in halls where Yarborough was speaking.
All during the campaign, Yarborough had been talking about the dangers of electronic
eavesdropping. He had pointed out that "anybody can be an eavesdropper, a wiretapper, a
bugger, who has a few dollars for the cheaper devices on the market. Tiny recorders and
microphones are now made to resemble lapel buttons or tie clasps...Recorders can also be
found the size of a book or a cigarette pack. There is a briefcase available with a
microphone built into the lock, and many avilable recorders may be carried in briefcases,
while the wrist-watch microphone is no longer a product used by Dick Tracy-- it can
actually be bought for $37.50." Yarborough charged during the primary campaign period
that his Washington office had been wiretapped, and years later indicated that the CIA
had been bugging all of Capitol Hill during those years. [fn 29]