Posted on 09/05/2003 12:21:10 PM PDT by El Conservador
WASHINGTON - Texas state Democrats brought President Bush (news - web sites) into their redistricting fight Thursday, accusing him of trampling minority voting rights and being part of a Republican national power grab.
Three of the remaining 10 Democratic state senators who fled Texas over the redistricting dispute were in Washington to promote new radio and TV ads that will run in swing presidential states including Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Arizona, New York, Nevada and Texas, along with the District of Columbia.
The ads, which will begin running within the next two weeks, were paid for from funds raised by Moveon.org, an Internet group formed in the late 1990s to oppose the impeachment of then-President Clinton (news - web sites).
The Democrats said Thursday they are trying to expose involvement of Bush, presidential adviser Karl Rove and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in the Texas redistricting effort and the last-minute redrawing of a congressional map in Colorado.
The White House did not return a telephone call seeking comment. In a briefing Wednesday press secretary Scott McClellan had said Bush was always concerned about Texas but the redistricting issue was a state matter.
"We're here today because our story is true. What happened in Texas is real. There is only one person who can stop it. He could stop it with a phone call and that's President Bush," said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio.
The news conference came a day after state Sen. John Whitmire, left his 10 Democratic colleagues who have been in self-imposed exile in New Mexico and returned to Texas. His return could possibly give Republicans the quorum they need to pass a congressional redistricting plan. Texas Gov. Rick Perry has to call a third special session to take up the measure.
Democrats hold 17 of Texas' 32 House seats in Congress. Republicans say they should have a majority of the seats to reflect Republican voting trends in the state.
Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston said Bush has no "plausible deniability" of involvement in the push to redraw congressional districts because Rove has made calls from the White House to state lawmakers on the issue.
State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh said after comparing notes with Colorado legislators who visited the Democrats in New Mexico a pattern was evident.
"What's happening here is people in the Republican party are trying to overturn the results of elections. They are trying to overturn the results of elections in Texas two years ago. They are trying to overturn the results of the election in California. They are trying to overturn results of the election in Colorado," said Rep. Martin Frost (news, bio, voting record) of Texas.
David Beckwith, spokesman for Republican Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, dismissed the Democratic accusations, saying the Democrats' arguments didn't make sense since they are using a national, left-leaning group to try to win the redistricting fight.
Beckwith said he thinks Perry will call a third special session and that if Whitmire doesn't return to the Capitol on his own, Republicans will go get him. Beckwith, though, later said that decision was up to Perry.
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On the Net: Moveon.org: http://www.MoveOn.org
An organization in search of a purpose...
Listening to Democrats is just like reading the NY Times.You know that if something is bad, that Bush will be blamed for it.
You know that if something hasn't been done, that Bush will be blamed for it.
...And you know that the truth matters nothing to both the Democrats and the NY Times.
Heck, a meteor could fly through our atmosphere and the Democrats would be quoted on the front page of the NY Times as blaming Bush for it.
"Overturning the results of elections"
So, once the districts are redrawn, Bush will appoint representatives to these districts... overturning the results of the elections right? RIGHT?!
So that's what the democRATs have decided to call the Republican effort to undo 130 years of RAT gerrymandering.
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