"All of a sudden there's nothing else to be around here but a yellow-dog Democrat."

A self-described "yellow-dog Democrat," an admiring Southern term for a party loyalist, she was intrigued by the challenge because it reflected her belief in the essential worthiness of Government.

Reporter Patricia Kilday Hart referred to Schwartz in the Houston Chronicle "as one of the most liberal, yellow-dog Democrats ever to serve in the Texas Legislature."

"I am not a yellow-dog Democrat," he explained.

"We targeted every seat, from the most inner-city Democratic districts to yellow-dog Democrat rural Southern districts," he said.

Pat Chapman, a 70-year-old retired home health care worker and a member of Newt Watch, said, "I was a Republican, and Newt has made me a yellow-dog Democrat."

Many of the citizens proudly refer to themselves as yellow-dog Democrats.

He is counting on a huge black turnout and the last few yellow-dog Democrats.

His was the unapologetic voice of those who used to be called "yellow-dog Democrats," country people who bragged that they would rather vote for old yellow dogs than Republicans.

"When we talk about the base," he said, "we are talking about yellow-dog Democrats - like union members - who are mostly white males, and who we have not done particularly well with."