Ben Barnes says his friends support his Bush comments
By Celinda Emison / Abilene Reporter-News Staff Writer
September 11, 2004
BROWNWOOD - Reaction in Brownwood was mixed after former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes' interview Wednesday night on the CBS program ''60 Minutes II.''During the interview, Barnes told Dan Rather of CBS that he helped ''a lot of young men from prominent families get in the National Guard,'' according to The Associated Press. That included, he said, George W. Bush, whose father was a congressman at the time.Barnes, a lifelong Democrat who hails from De Leon, got his political start in Brownwood, and went on to become one of the most-powerful politicians in Austin during the 1960s and 1970s. Barnes said that since the interview aired Wednesday, comments from friends and supporters in Texas have been positive.Brownwood Mayor Bert Massey, who worked in Barnes' office as a committee clerk in the late 1960s, said that requests for appointments to the National Guard were not uncommon at the time.''In retrospect, it may look bad, but at the time, this was happening for a lot of people, and it was not uncommon,'' Massey said. ''By the same token, it was not uncommon for people like John Kerry, who served in Vietnam, to come back and protest the war - it was a very interesting time.''Massey said he does not believe Barnes' comments on ''60 Minutes II'' will cost Bush votes in Texas.George Day of Brownwood, a former Brown County attorney, helped initiate Barnes' first run for the Texas House of Representatives in 1960. Day, a retired Army colonel and veteran of the Korean War, also helped with Barnes' campaign for lieutenant governor.''Barnes' comments point out the fact that poor people actually fight the wars, and they do the dying - just like it is today,''said Day.
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