at an injustice which is being perpetrated on him. and i ask for a delay. danforth was bowing to the inevitable. some of thomas s supporters in both waters were wavering. they were under angry pressure from women. took the floor and suggested a delay, said that judge thomas wanted to have his name cleared. i think a delay is a good idea. reporter: key democratic supporters also wanted more time to check the facts. if i do not have the opportunity to do that, then this senator would regrettably be in a position that he would vote against the nomination of judge clarence thomas. the people have the right to know, mr. president. the people have the right to know. the people have the right to know. that was al the pal. that was alan dixon.
may not know. his name is allen dixon. and allen dixon passed away a few years now. he is somebody who in his time everybody really liked. he had a nickname in politics. his nickname was al the pal, which was not tongue-in-cheek, not satirical. he was kind of everybody s pal. he was a go along to get along politics and proudly so. he wrote a memoir about his time in politics. he was unsentimental and forward about it. generally speaking, my political career was built on good will and accommodation. good will and accommodation. by all accounts, he was a great guy. tons of friends, and good will and accommodation was a great political strategy for him. alan dixon first ran for elected office. he ran for police magistrate in belleville, illinois at the ripe old age of 21. and he one running for like the kids seat on the police
party fundraiser at the navy pier in chicago, and much to everyone s surprise, hundreds of women showed up to picket that democratic party fundraiser, and they were all carrying the same sign, dump dixon. you can actually still see the dump dixon pins they made for that protest. they re in political history collections now. but the first dump dixon protest was two days after dixon s yes vote for the clarence thomas nomination. two days after that protest, it s clear that senator al dixon, al the pal, was starting to have a little bit of an uh-oh moment about what that vote might cost him. this is from the daily dispatch, a newspaper from moline, illinois, from october 19th, 1991. so this is four days after dixon s yes vote on thomas. it s only two davis after he got