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7343746
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Remarks of the President and Question and Answer Session upon His Arrival to Intercontinental Airport (Houston, Texas) [Ford Speech or Statement]
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7343746
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document
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Remarks of the President and Question and Answer Session upon His Arrival to Intercontinental Airport (Houston, Texas) [Ford Speech or Statement]
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
Press Releases
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28
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1976-04-28
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4
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1976
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Digitized from Box 25 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 28, 1976
OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
(Houston, Texas)
THE WHITE HOUSE
REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT
AND
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
UPON HIS ARRIVAL TO
INTERCONTINENTAL AIRPORT
4:03 P.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. It is nice to
be here.
We have had a wonderful day and a half in Texas
and are delighted to be in Houston.
I will be more than pleased to answer any questions.
QUESTION: Mr. President, Ronald Reagan has
just completed a couple of days in Texas in which he has
been urging people to cross over and to vote for -- clearly
Democrats -- to cross over and vote for him in the primary.
Would it hurt you, and what are you going to do during your
24 hours or so in Texas to try to blunt that?
THE PRESIDENT: Naturally, we are very anxious
to have any and all Texans support my candidacy. Naturally,
we hope to get a very substantial part of the Republicans
that normally vote Republican, but we would be very pleased
to have Texans, Independents or Democrats, support us and
we want all elements of the great citizenry of Texas to
support my candidacy.
QUESTION: Are you badly hurt if you lose Texas?
THE PRESIDENT: We think, as I have said before,
that we have been an underdog. We are closing the gap. We
are going to make it a very close race, and I never predict
what is going to happen in finality until the good citizens
of Texas make the decision, and then we will analyze it.
QUESTION: But if you lose, will it hurt?
THE PRESIDENT: Any time you lose, when you finish
second, of course you lose something, but we are going
to continue work and we will make a decision on that when
the votes are all counted Saturday night.
QUESTION: Mr. President, in talking and following
up on Thomas' question here, are you interested in getting
some of the supporters of George Wallace? You know the Reagan
people are going after some of the Wallaceites in this State
and I just wonder if you feel you should be getting some
of those votes as well?
MORE
Page 2
THE PRESIDENT: I carefully stated what I said.
I want all independent voters of Texas and all Democratic
voters who traditionally have supported the Democratic
Party who believe in my philosophy. My philosophy is the
kind that I think overall will appeal to most Texans,
QUESTION: Mr. President, you seemed to say this
morning that you thought that Mr. Carter might be replacing
Mr. Humphrey as the front runner of the Democrats. Which
candidate do you think would be the hardest to beat? Mr.
Humphrey or Mr. Carter?
THE PRESIDENT: I always assume the Democrats
are a very formidable contender or opposition and I will
wait until the Democrats make the choice, and I am sure
they will make a choice either by the primary or convention
process or in a smoke-filled room, and we will wait and
see who they pick.
QUESTION: Mr. President, has John Connally been
of any help in advising you what to say or how to conduct
yourself in Texas, and will you be calling him or visiting
with him while you are here?
THE PRESIDENT: I have met with John Connally on
several occasions recently and we talked about the political
situation in Texas and the 49 other States. When you talk
politics with a man as experienced and able as he, you
inevitably gain a bit of advice and counsel, and we are
trying to draw on that help and assistance that he gave
without endorsing me.
QUESTION: Mr. President, have you made any
better decision in terms of who you would want as your Vice
President?
THE PRESIDENT: No, we still think there is a
wonderful reservoir of good Republican potential candidates
for the Vice Presidency. It is a little premature to make
any selection at this time:
QUESTION: Thank you very much.
THE PRESIDENT: It is nice to see you all.
END (AT 4:07 P.M. CDT)