Posted on 08/01/2003 4:39:51 AM PDT by Libloather
Protesting Dems also fight tedium
By Shea Andersen
Tribune Reporter
Texas state Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat, needs socks.
Sen. Rodney Ellis, also a Houston Democrat, needs a haircut.
Another Texas Democrat needs a new shirt; he wore the same one for three different televised news conferences.
Welcome to life on the legislative lam.
The 11 Democratic state senators holed up at the Albuquerque Marriott Pyramid North hotel since Monday say they are acting to protect minority voters back in Texas from a Republican-led redistricting effort.
By staying away, they're preventing the Texas Senate from having a quorum.
At a news conference late this morning, the Texans downplayed any conversations they'd had with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst since leaving Austin.
"It was just small talk, nothing of substance," Whitmire said. "We agreed to stay in touch."
But the 11 repeated today that without the restoration of a rule requiring a two-thirds majority vote to pass the redistricting legislation, they would not return to Austin.
They also said they're on sound legal ground in deserting the session.
"The ability to break a quorum is in the Texas Constitution," said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio. "We will not abandon the rights of our constituents. We are willing to stay in New Mexico, forfeiting our per diem pay to do the job our constituents elected us to do."
They're also forfeiting their normal lives and enduring a degree of boredom as they wait the situation out.
Sen. Gonzales Barrientos of Austin brought three books to Albuquerque to read while he hides out: "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, a biography of Mahatma Ghandi and "Why I am a Democrat," by Ted Sorenson.
"We're going to use our time in the best way possible," Barrientos said.
As the excitement of their escape from Austin wore down Tuesday, the 11 Texans turned to the vagaries of daily life, punctuated by overcrowded news conferences at their Albuquerque home.
"We'll be keeping up with issues. We'll be giving interviews, trying to get the facts out to Texans, and we'll be calling our families," Barrientos said.
The 11 Democrats were welcomed by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
"They are courageous, and they are strong," said Richardson, also a Democrat.
They are also creating a small media frenzy. At times Tuesday, reporters seemed to outnumber hotel guests. They definitely outnumbered the politicians.
Adding to the crowd were at least half a dozen New Mexico State Police officers. Richardson said they were there to protect what he called "high profile guests."
"There is no one working overtime," Richardson said.
Like others, he'd heard rumors that bounty hunters might be coming after the senators.
Although no bounty hunters were in sight, three University of Texas students made an appearance at the hotel. They'd come to New Mexico for a camping trip, but came to the hotel when they heard their state representatives were there.
The three students are politically active on campus in Austin, and said they viewed the 11 Democrats as heroes.
Austin Van Zant, 20, said he also supported the 51 House Democrats who went to Ardmore, Okla., in May to avoid a similar redistricting vote.
But at the time, he said, he couldn't make it to Oklahoma.
"I had finals and all that," Van Zant said. He called the senators' plan "pretty courageous."
"I think it's too bad that they have to resort to this. I mean, not this place," Van Zant said, looking around at the newly remodeled hotel. "This is actually pretty nice."
Before the three students left to look for a campsite, Barrientos shook their hands and brought them into a private meeting room to meet the assembled Democrats.
Things are calm now in Albuquerque, but Senators said the trip from Austin was tense.
The 11 made arrangements to leave before Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst adjourned the regular session Monday. That's because as soon as he did that, he could immediately call a special session into order and place Texas state police on guard to keep lawmakers in the chamber.
"I kind of felt that our time was limited," said Sen. Eddie Lucio, a Brownsville Democrat.
So before the call was made, the 11 Democrats huddled in a meeting room in the Capitol, then hustled to two waiting cars, one driven by Barrientos, the other by Lucio.
"It happened very quickly," Lucio said. "I had everything packed, just in case something like this happened."
Although it doesn't quite qualify as cloak and dagger, the trip to the Austin airport was stressful, Lucio said.
"I thought all along that somebody would be following us as we left the Capitol," Lucio said.
When they got to the airport, two private planes were waiting, supplied by David Rogers and Joe Lamantia, described by Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa of Mission as "two independent voters" who "made an in-kind contribution to the Democratic Party."
Now, with no end in sight to the stalemate back home, many of the Democrats are making weekend plans. Sen. Eliot Shapleigh of El Paso, said he'll visit a family ranch in Ruidoso and go fishing.
"I hope all of us Texans can spend a lot of money in New Mexico, to help the economy," Shapleigh said.
Still trying to make chicken salad out of chicken shiite...
Inquiring minds want to know, and I'm still waiting for some darn journo to get off his fanny and ask some questions.
Just make sure it's a copy with plenty of pictures in it, to help him understand the story.
Your constituents elected you to dodge and obstruct the legislative process? Sure. Still, as a Californian, it's nice to see other dems taking a stab at making their state a laughingstock -- it was getting kind of lonesome.
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