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woman and a hard worker and a hard campaigner, but she is a little bit

inclined to shoot from the hip and that can get you in trouble. But

she is probably the best thing that we've got going for us right now.

Because she has been grabbing headlines for over a year and just works

like a beaver. Every time that they have a hearing in a town, she

schedules a luncheon speech to the Rotary and the Lions or something

like that and then meets with the local Republicans at night, so she

is building a hell of an organization. I think that she would be our

best chance to beat Chiles in '76. As of right now, I think that she

is the only one that I know of that could beat him.

J.B.: You think that Florida is ready to elect a woman to the senate?

Thomas: Yeah, I think so. I mean, she is the first woman elected in

Florida in a hundred years and next to Nixon, she got more votes than

anybody has ever gotten in Florida. She got a million and a hundred

and fifteen thousand, something like that. More votes than Askew, more

votes than Gurney, more votes than any of them.

J.B.: I would think that she is a pretty tough campaigner.

Thomas: Oh God, she's tough. And work! You know, she's a have

you talked to her yet?

W.D.V.: Yeah. Today. She said to say hello.

Thomas: Did she? She's. did she tell you that she is in the vitamin

business?

W.D.V.: Someone else told us that she was in health foods.

Thomas: Yeah, did she try to sell you any?

W.D.V.: No.

Thomas: Well, she should have. I tell you, she puts out these little

packs, five or six of those damn little things in little celophane


From the Southern Oral History Program, #4007, Interview 4-6a in the Southern Historical Collection,
University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill. FOR REFERENCE ONLY: PERMISSION TO
PUBLISH MUST BE REQUESTED. WARNING: MOST MANUSCRIPTS ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT.