Green's Special "Focus'

Rep. Rick Green (Photo By John Anderson)

When Guadalupe Carbajal went to Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, the last thing he expected to hear on his way to the golf course one sunny morning was the voice of his state representative hawking vitamin supplements. But sure enough, there was state Rep. Rick Green on Carbajal's car radio, extolling the wonders of Focus Factor -- the "mind-enhancing" supplement.

Talk about déjà vu. Last year, Green landed in hot water for promoting the same product on TV infomercials, which featured the Dripping Springs Republican being "interviewed" at his state Capitol office. "You couldn't even tell it was my office," Green recalled earlier this week. "But sometimes you have to go above and beyond whenever there's ethical questions involved, so we had the television commercial pulled. They didn't want to take it off, but we pushed and cajoled and finally they took it off."

Keyword: television commercial. Green's cajoling didn't apply to the radio spots, which are apparently airing in markets outside of Texas. But Green says that what Carbajal probably heard was a voiceover identifying Green as a state representative. "I certainly didn't identify myself as a state representative."

"I know he can do whatever he wants," says Carbajal, a San Marcos Democrat, "but he shouldn't use his title as 'state representative' to peddle this stuff on the radio. It was bad enough when we used to see him on late-night television."

Green doesn't understand what all the fuss is about. "It's like if Ford comes along and asks an elected official if he likes Fords, and the elected official says yes."

Who knows? This kind of reasoning might earn Green another spot on Texas Monthly's 2003 list of worst legislators -- if he survives Nov. 5. Green's political sway in Hays, Caldwell, and Blanco counties will be tested against opponent Patrick Rose, a novice candidate with strong backing from state Democratic Party leaders.

Green doesn't appear too worried, but after all the headaches his vitamin-hawking ordeals have caused him, you have to wonder if he's still a believer in Focus Factor. "Oh, yes," he says assuredly. "I take it, my kids take it -- every night. They take the chewables, though. I take the adult."