Time has some interesting notes in their article about the MIA Texas demos:
Sure Beats Working
The Democrats in the Texas legislature go on the lam to avoid voting on a controversial plan.
They sing, they relax, they bond
By JOEL STEIN, Monday, May. 19, 2003
One reason politicians seem so dorky is that other than the filibuster, there aren't any cool
parliamentary procedures. But the ultimate move — the one that's making Aaron Sorkin even
more upset that he won't be writing The West Wing next season — is to halt a vote by hightailing
it out of town and then evading the cops looking to drag you back. It's always a ratings grabber,
like when some Republicans in the U.S. Senate locked themselves in their offices to quash a vote
on a campaign-finance-reform bill in 1988, causing a sergeant at arms to carry Bob Packwood
feetfirst to the Senate floor (after determining that Lowell Weicker was too heavy). The stunt
pulled by Democrats in the Texas legislature last week was to avoid a vote on redistricting the
state to create more Republican members of Congress.
It started two weeks ago, when House majority whip Tom DeLay came home to Texas to stir up
trouble. DeLay saw a chance to boost the Republican majority in Congress by redrawing the
congressional districts to give the Texas Republicans a 22-to-10 advantage. The Republicans drew
some funny lines, like the ones dividing Austin into four districts, one of them connecting the
capital to the border of Mexico 300 miles away. Though redistricting is usually done only after a
Census, DeLay had a pretty good rationale for wanting one, since Republicans beat the daylights
out of the Dems in Texas in the last statehouse elections yet had two fewer U.S. Reps for the
state.
Faced with a further erosion of their party's power, 51 of
the state's 62 Democratic lawmakers packed their
toothbrushes and at least one acoustic guitar last Sunday
and ran away. Without a minimum of two-thirds of the 150
legislators in their seats, a vote can't be held, but a house
rule allows the speaker to order the arrest of members
trying to thwart a quorum and force them back to their
seats. So, like Jesse James heading for the Oklahoma hills
to evade Texas Rangers, the Dems waited until the cover of
night, then met in small groups at an Embassy Suites
parking lot in Austin. With secrecy so tight that only the
group leaders knew where they were going, the Democrats
sneaked off, over the state border to the safety of
Ardmore, Okla., 300 miles away. Sure, they could have
gone to Mexico, but they wanted to show they were
serious. Being in Oklahoma is like self-flagellation for a
Texan.
Only one member was nabbed by Johnny Law, outside her
house. And several African-American Democrats chose to
go to work, in part because the Republican plans would
have created more black districts. In the end, 51 rebels
checked into a Holiday Inn, where they were booked two
to a room. Monday morning they went to the Denny's
attached to the hotel to work on strategy while fortifying
themselves with Moons over My Hammy (ham, cheese
and scrambled-egg sandwiches). At 3 a.m., the Democrats
were awakened and brought down to the Holiday Inn
basement, where they camped out with the media because
of tornado warnings.
On Tuesday, the 51 Democrats secured a conference room just across from the hotel's Gushers
Lounge, where the national media would later enjoy karaoke night. The meeting room was filled
with flower arrangements, cookie baskets, balloons, pizza and of course barbecue, all sent by
Democrats from around the country. By the next day, the renegade Democrats had drafted a
statement signed by not only the 51 but also a 52nd member, from an undisclosed location.
Perhaps a nicer hotel.
Back in Austin, bored Republicans spread out in the chamber with their feet on the antique
furniture. Two of them brought their mitts and played a pretty impressive game of catch. There
was also a Texas-size paper-wad fight. They designed milk-carton boxes with the faces of missing
Democrats, created a WANTED poster with shots of the rebels, established a toll-free number for
information on their whereabouts and made a deck of Iraq-inspired playing cards with pictures of
the Democrats on them. They even used the state's public-safety website to run an all-points
bulletin, a move the Democrats found offensive. Democrats got much more upset — Joe
Lieberman asked for an investigation — by reports that Texas officials had asked the feds to help
track lawmaker Pete Laney's plane. Outside the statehouse, Republican supporters dressed in
chicken outfits accused the Dems of cowardice. On Wednesday, Republicans, unable to think of
any new jokes, went home.
Poolside at the Holiday Inn, things weren't much more exciting until a package arrived from Willie
Nelson. Along with a note saying "Stand your ground," he sent red bandannas, T shirts and —
sources tell TIME — Willie Nelson whiskey. The Dems then broke into a campfire-style
sing-along of Merle Haggard's Okie from Muskogee from a second-floor balcony. A good time was
had by all. At a press briefing that evening, legislator Jim McReynolds said, "We have not heard
from Governor [Rick] Perry or Speaker [Tom] Craddick, but we have heard from the most
powerful Texan of all, Willie Nelson."
The Democrats planned to head back to Austin at midnight on Thursday, the deadline for a
preliminary vote on house bills. But a tornado warning scrambled their plans, and they boarded
two luxury buses (smoking and non) at 10:40 p.m. As the buses fought fierce winds and rain, the
Democrats watched Gladiator (nonsmoking bus) and The Fugitive (smoking bus). After arriving in
Austin at 4 a.m., they scrubbed up for a 7 a.m. rally and showed up at their jobs at 9. Though
they were met with some boos from the gallery and a lot of female Republicans dressed in fighting
G.O.P. red, the wayward Democrats did get some hugs from their colleagues across the aisle.
While Tom DeLay may be disappointed that his power grab seems to have failed, he has got to be
happy that he forced Democrats to bunk two to a room at an Oklahoma Holiday Inn. |
