Posted on 11/09/2004 11:27:23 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
What with having their presidential candidate beaten by a decisive margin, and having lost seats in both the U.S. House and the Senate, Campaign 2004 was not a heck of a lot of fun for Democrats.
Don't get the wrong idea. The party is in no imminent danger of implosion. After all, a few shifts in a few states - Ohio, especially - could have installed John Kerry in the White House. And the Democrats' power base is very much intact. While virtually all of what you might call mid-America is firmly in the Red Zone, the Northeast, New England, the upper Midwest and the Pacific coast remain resolutely Blue.
Still . . . Democrats and their supporters are going to have to work pretty hard to put a happy face on this year's results. And Texas Democrats in particular see a grim political landscape: Where once cigar-puffing Democratic grandees dominated Austin, there is now smoldering rubble.
That's no accident. With relentless, unwavering determination, Texas Republicans did a job on Democrats - particularly those who held seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The profoundly cynical, but effective, redistricting plan hand-crafted by U.S. House Majority leader Tom DeLay and executed by the GOP leadership in Austin steamrolled its way through three special legislative sessions. The package shamelessly gerrymandered district boundaries to the end of ousting incumbent Democratic congressmen. The new boundaries zigged, zagged and wiggled into the most bizarre, indefensible configurations, but the GOP leadership showed not even a sign of embarrassment.
In the end, the GOP plan succeeded. On Tuesday, four of the five Democratic congressmen targeted by the Republican redistricting map - Charles Stenholm, Martin Frost, Max Sandlin and Nick Lampson, with a combined total of 68 years in the House - were booted out by voters who cared not a whit for their seniority and their collected wisdom. The only survivor was Democratic U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, whose GOP opponent, Arlene Wohlgemuth, was so right-wing that even hard-right voters couldn't bring themselves to elect her.
It's a famous victory for Tom DeLay. For the districts that lost all that accumulated seniority, however, some pain awaits. And just as importantly, the Republicans' crude bulldozing of incumbent Democrats will make it that much harder for Texas lawmakers to summon up the mutual trust to fashion an urgently needed consensus on this state's needs.
After all, a few shifts in a few states - Ohio, especially - could have installed John Kerry in the White House.
Yes and shift one fifth the amount of those votes and Jimmy Carter would have never left the peanut farm; JFK would be an aging playboy now…
"It wouldn't surprise me if Chet Edwards doesn't switch before the next election."
Well, he's a liberal Democrat and a snake... if he does switch, we'll snuff him out in the primary.
While it is technically true that Doggett and Green survived, they did so by stealing districts designed to elect Hispanic rats. So, these were no net loss to the GOP since those seats had been allocated to the rats anyway. And actually this is better because we can target them again in 2012. If the districts were held by Hispanics, as they were intended, they would be sacrosanct under the Voting Rights Act and we would not be able to touch them.
Anyway, I contend that when we say that that pro-infanticide POS Chet Edwards was the sole survivor of the 2003 redistricting saga, we are essentially making a true statement. We intended to convert 10 white rat seats into 7 GOP and 3 rat minority (2 hispanic, 1 black) districts. We fell only 1 short of this goal.
A little of both. We fell 1 short in TX. Pro-infanticide Chet Edwards held on.
Outside of TX, we fell 2 short. (Or only 1 short if we can pick up LA-7). We gained 2 (KY and IN) and lost 4 (CO, NY, GA, IL). Crane losing in IL was a surprise to me. I didn't realize he was in any trouble, but I guess when your state party is in as bad a shape as the IL GOP, things like this happen. I was also hoping we might be able to knock off Moore(KS), Herseth(SD), or Pomeroy(ND).
It wouldn't surprise me if Chet Edwards doesn't switch before the next election.
That's a good point that I hadn't thought of. Thanks.
Technicalities aside tho', Doggett's still in Congress, and I really wanted him gone...
I live just a few miles from the Travis County line. I am increasingly more proud to NOT live in Travis County.
Thanks for the details
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.