Party Chairmen to Debate National Party Platforms Oct. 28

October 14, 1996

WACO, Texas - With Election Day less than one month away, State Republican Party Chairman Tom Pauken and State Democratic Party Chairman Bill White have agreed to debate the national party platforms beginning at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 28, in Jones Theater of Baylor University's Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center.
The debate will be broadcast by the local PBS affiliate, KCTF-Channel 34. KCTF also will provide the program to all other PBS stations throughout the state.
Pauken was elected chairman of the Republican Party of Texas in 1994 and re-elected for a second term in 1996. He served previously as national chairman of the College Republicans, in many political campaigns and on the White House staffs for Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. He is an attorney and mediator in Dallas.
White, a businessman and lawyer from Houston, served as Deputy Secretary and chief operating officer of the U.S. Department of Energy from 1993-95. He became the new chair of the Democratic Party in Texas in 1996. White served on the President's Management Council, which is responsible for streamlining the federal bureaucracy and improving federal management practices.
Having agreed to Baylor's selection of a moderator and a panel of four journalists, Pauken and White will have five minutes each to open the debate followed by questions from the panelists.
Neal T. "Buddy" Jones, who currently engages in a private legislative consulting service in Austin following an extensive career in state and county government, will serve as the moderator for the debate. Jones is president-elect of the Baylor Alumni Association.
The panel of four journalists includes R.G. Ratcliffe, capitol correspondent in the Austin Bureau for the Houston Chronicle; Wayne Slater, Austin Bureau Chief for the Dallas Morning News; Michele Kay, reporter for the Austin-American Statesman; and John Young, Opinion Page editor for the Waco Tribune-Herald.
The debate is free and open to the public, but tickets are required for admission. Tickets may be obtained from the McLennan County GOP and Democratic offices, Baylor's Department of Student Activities and the Baylor Office of Governmental Relations . For ticket information, call (817) 755-1421.