The Dems Who Fled

National Review Online ^ | May 27, 2003 | David Guenthner

[justlurking]

I don't think the walkout is going to cost the Dirtycrats very many seats however.

I think it depends on how the Republicans respond.

If they recruit quality candidates, they might have a decent chance. Some of the Democrats are already just barely hanging on, or didn't have any significant opposition.

However, some of those apparently vulnerable (per the votes for the statewide races) are long-time incumbents, who vote with the Republicans just often enough to keep their job. If they can be tied to the entire Democrat agenda -- even that which they opposed -- they might lose a close election.

Next year is also an off-year election. That means the Republicans have an opportunity to boost turnout in their favor.

[Torie]

Wow, I didn't know the two thirds quorum rule did not apply to special sessions. The Dems are screwed unless they can hold two Dem votes in the senate, or Delay becomes suddenly kinder and gentler, and repents of his sharp elbow ways (ya right). They were just buying time.

[Dog Gone]

I don't think the walkout is going to cost the Dirtycrats very many seats however.

It may not, but they are irrelevant anyway, unless they repeat this stunt ad nauseum. More GOP seats would obviously be better, but we'd have a very tough time ever getting to a 2-1 majority in either house.

[Dog Gone]

The Dems are screwed unless they can hold two Dem votes in the senate

AND gain three Republicans.

That won't happen. The Republicans already had one Dem onboard.

It's going to be a fine summer here in Texas.

[deport]

Not sure what you mean by the quorum rule? The 2/3rds mentioned in the article refers to the number of senators needed to call any legislation to the floor for consideration..... But I know of no change in the 2/3rds requirement for a quorum, that's in the Texas Constitution.

[leprechaun9]

The Yellow Bellies of Texas!

[Flyer]

[hocndoc]

Don't forget that one of Frost's aides was video taped stealing the redistricting plan from a Republican's desk on the floor of the House, and that Frost used that plan in his arguments the next day.

This information should be in every single news article about the walk out.


(On the other hand, my Representative, Carter Casteel, virtually single-handedly killed the cloning ban last nite, and our Senator, Jeff Wentworth voted with the Democrats on every pro-life bill. With Republicans like this.......)

[Dog Gone]

Jeff Wentworth is a Jim Jeffords without any guts or principle. He doesn't even have the courage to be a traitor to the party.

[hocndoc]

Take a look at SB 204, the Wentworth bill sponsored in the House by Casteel, that will require head lights in the daytime if the "atmospheric conditions" are "unfavorable" or if the driver is using his windsheild wipers.

[Torie]

Oh. Well, false alarm them. So many subtleties, and so little time.

[altura]

Very interesting - thanks for posting. Perry hasn't shown me much so far, but maybe he will call the special session.

[jackbill]

when most of the Democrats in the Texas house fled to Ardmore, Okla., for four days to kill the congressional redistricting and some 200 other house bills.

Good article but it misses what I consider a good point, that the Republicans could exploit.

Notice the author says "most of the Democrats". What happened to the rest? 62 minus 51 equals 11.

Either 7 or 9 of those 11, who did not flee to Oklahoma, were black Democrats who favored the Republican redistricting plan because it would have given them one or more black Congressional seats.

So what the author didn't mention is that the 51 "good ole boys" are racists who just want to keep the blacks on the plantation.

Check the transcript of the May 13 edition of Inside Politics on CNN. They interviewed a couple of the black DemocRATs.

[Torie]

One more Hispanic seat actually was in the offing, not black, and per the pics of the rogue Dems, the majority of them looked Hispanic to me. Maybe it is a self hate thingie or something. More likely, we are just indulging in rhetoric.

[justlurking]

Notice the author says "most of the Democrats". What happened to the rest? 62 minus 51 equals 11.

• 53 Democrats announced their absence, but only 51 fled to Oklahoma.
• 3 Democrats (Luna, Gutierrez, Wilson) appeared at roll call.
• 6 were absent without explanation: (Turner, Edwards, Giddings, Oliveira, Flores, Chaves, Lewis).

Only Wilson was critical of the Democrat's tantrum. He is on the redistricting committee and voted for the GOP map, apparently because he believes it would result in an additional black representative to the US Congress from Houston.

[MeekOneGOP]

In my opinion, that ensures that we'll bring up redistricting in special session, and it explains why Republicans have been so quiet about it since Ardmore.

I was wondering about the special session too. That made my day, I'll tell ya!

[Diddle E. Squat]

But the breaking quorum won't work in the special session, because redistricting will be sandwiched between school finance and another pressing issue. Hence running away will leave at least one major issue of importance to the average Texas unresolved. Unlike this session, they cannot stall until a deadline that shifts to a 2/3rds for consideration condition. In the special session, the Dems will be faced with stay out of town until 11/04, or come back and face passage and defeat. Either way they lose, so the special session difference from 2/3rds to 1/2 does matter, even if the quorum requirement stays the same.

[deport]

I understand the part about the 2/3rds in the Senate...... It's just that the quorum still is 2/3rds was my only point. Texas has had some multiple special session sessions. I think there was one in the late 80s that went for six sessions.....

[No Truce With Kings]

"Name, City R D
Chuck Hopson, Jacksonville 0.0% 100.0%"

No way! Hobson ran as a conservative. He did not get 100% of the vote. (Even if no R ran against him, a Libertarian would have received at least 20-25% from folks that won't vote for a donkey.)

I really wish I were still in Palestine, TX. I'd love to help the Republican that runs against Chuck Hobson.

Imagine a commercial where someone who sounds like Hobson is firing pharmacy employee (Hobson owns a pharmacy in Jacksonville, TX) for not showing up for work. Final line -- the employee saying. "Where do you get off firing me for not showing up when I was supposed to work? You did the same thing as State Representative!"

That and follow him around with someone playing "Sir Robin's Song" from Monty Python.

You could have soooo much fun!

[SWake]

I've been thinking of figuring out where these guys' offices are or where a major campaign stop will be for each of them and spreading bird seed around the site at a specific time every day for a month prior. Ever been on the Riverwalk in San Antonio at 11 am? Every bird for miles knows when the restaurants open up.