Presidential Campaign; 1988: Dukakis Campaign

Presented on October 28, 1988 Jim Hightower, Texas Commissioner of Agriculture and Dukakis Campaign Speaker "Our speaker today, Jim Hightower, will address City Club on behalf of the Dukakis presidential campaign. Hightower, a blunt-spoken and witty populist, is Texas Commissioner of Agriculture, an influential state political post to which he has been elected twice. Although not widely known in the Northwest, Hightower has received national attention for a number of activities, including his televised speech at the Democratic Convention this last summer. He is noted for delivering such pungent opinions as, ""If you did to a 7-Eleven what Reagan has done to the American economy, you'd be doing 20 years to life...,"" ""They give it a fancy new name like 'Supply-side economics' but underneath it's the same old greed,"" ""The water won't ever clear up 'til you get the hogs out of the creek."" The National Review describes Hightower as among the 150 individuals outside the federal government ""who make a difference"" in the nation's capital. He has been active in developing agriculture and food policies for Texas, as well as for the U.S. during his tenure in Washington as an aide to Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough and as co-founder of the Agribusiness Accountability Project. "