A key Democrat caves, and "Truth, Justice, and the American way" are winning. This will give DeLay the push he needs to become Speaker of the House. Every time you turn around, there will be the "Exterminator" on TV, with his liberal bug spray.
[The New York Times]
September 4, 2003
In Texas Fight, One Democrat Finally Blinks
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL
HOUSTON, Sept. 3 - And then there were 10.
With the crucial defection of a leading Texas lawmaker, the defiant band of Democratic state senators holed up in New Mexico since July 28 has lost its ability to deny Gov. Rick Perry the quorum he needs to push through a hotly disputed Republican redistricting plan.
The surprising reappearance in Houston Tuesday night of a prize holdout, Senator John Whitmire, who, with 30 years in the State House and Senate is the dean of the Legislature, threw Texas politics into a new tizzy.
If Mr. Perry calls a highly unusual third special legislative session, as is widely expected, Mr. Whitmire, known as Boogie from his avid partying in younger years, could be required to attend or arrested and dragooned into the chamber.
"I don't perceive what I'm doing as caving," Mr. Whitmire said in an interview in his Houston district office as the phones rang incessantly. "I'm pursuing a different strategy."
But his colleagues in Albuquerque were incensed, members of the delegation said. One staff member sobbed.
For now Mr. Perry, who was elected last November to President Bush's old job after succeeding him in 2000 and who has staked much of his prestige on redrawing the state's 32 Congressional districts, is keeping his next step secret. "I'll give the appropriate notice on the appropriate day" is all he has been saying.
The Whitmire switch gives the Republicans their best chance yet to use their majority muscle to redraw the lines and perhaps give Texas the largest Republican delegation in Washington, with sweeping national implications, tied to the career of the House majority leader, Representative Tom DeLay of Sugar Land. The odyssey of the Senate Democrats, following the flight in May of their House counterparts to Oklahoma, has provided endless fodder for late-night television commentators ? less Alamo than Alamo Rent-A-Car, observed one, Bill Maher.
"The Texas 11 have become the Texas 11 Minus One," said Judith Zaffirini, one of the self-exiled senators, who has represented Laredo for 16 years.
In an news conference in Albuquerque, Ms. Zaffirini and her Democratic colleagues promised to continue their struggle against redistricting from out of state ? where they are safe from arrest if the governor commands them to attend a third special session after two efforts were thwarted ? and attacked Mr. Whitmire.
Several said they were about to leave for Washington to carry their cause to the news media there and to meet on Thursday with two Democratic presidential candidates, Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri and Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont.
In Santa Fe, N.M., Gov. Bill Richardson, who offered sanctuary to the Texans, cautioned the Republicans that their "big power grab" in Texas might impel him to put redistricting before New Mexico's special legislative session in October. "I don't want to use it as a threat," Mr. Richardson said. "It's just an option."
The runaway Texans took a dim view of Mr. Whitmire's move. "He was one of the main cheerleaders in terms of keeping us together, talking about the things we should be doing," Senator Royce West of Dallas said. "And then to see one of the main cheerleaders quit in the second quarter of the game, you feel betrayed."
Mr. Whitmire said that he still strongly opposed redistricting as "a horrible power grab and waste of time and money," but that he was now prepared to carry the fight to the floor of the State Senate.
"We cannot remain in New Mexico indefinitely," he said.
He said that fleeing the state initially "was a smart move and I wouldn't undo it" but that when the governor threatened to keep calling special sessions, the Democrats were left without an "exit strategy." Now, he said, they need to look ahead to their own possible future majority status in Texas and preserve the potential for future cooperation with the Republicans.
A longtime independent Republican senator from East Texas, Bill Ratliff, said today that the bipartisan spirit "has been wounded pretty badly," and he did not spare his own party. "There's enough blame to go around," Mr. Ratliff said.
Mr. Whitmire said he did not expect to be arrested and dragged into the Senate chamber to vote. Still, he said, he took the precaution during a stealthy Labor Day weekend foray home to test the waters by traveling in his secretary's car and securing what he called "a safe house."
Redistricting is an increasingly partisan issue throughout the country and has a bitter history in Texas. After lawmakers failed to approve a redistricting plan in 2001, a three-judge federal panel drafted new district lines, but the jockeying over a state plan intensified.
The math of the State Senate makes Mr. Whitmire, or any one of his Democratic colleagues, a crucial figure. Republicans hold 19 seats, Democrats 12. Because of quorum requirements and a longtime rule requiring a two-thirds majority to bring up a bill, the Republicans need two Democratic votes to move legislation. One Democrat often votes with them. But when the other 11 stuck together, the Republicans were hamstrung. After Democrats thwarted a first special session in June, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst suspended the two-thirds rule, angering Democrats and prompting the flight.
Now, however, if Mr. Perry should call a third session, Mr. Whitmire would presumably be available to satisfy the quorum ? by arrest, if necessary, although the senator said he was getting good intelligence from Austin that should tip him off to any move against him.
The stakes are high, because Democrats hold a 17-to-15 edge in Texas Congressional seats. Mr. DeLay and the Bush White House are eager to make a better Congressional showing next year, and perhaps overtake the two biggest state Republican Congressional delegations, California with 20 seats and Florida with 18. A strong showing in Texas, political experts say, could propel Mr. DeLay to the House speakership.
The rancor exploded at the end of the regular legislative session in May when 51 Democrats in the Texas House, feeling abused by the Republican majority and fearing a move to lock them in the chamber for a redistricting vote, fled to Ardmore, Okla. State troopers and federal antiterrorist authorities were used to track them down. The House finally approved a plan that went to the Senate, where it now may hang on Mr. Whitmire.
"As dean, I have a responsibility to protect the integrity of the body," he said.
nytimes.com |
