| ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — To hear the political play-by-play, Democrats' effort to defeat a Republican redistricting plan is a high-stakes game between the Partisan Power-Grabbers and the Runaway Crybabies.
The 11 Democratic senators who fled here from Texas to stop GOP-backed congressional redistricting say they're fighting a power play coached by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, one that threatens representation for minorities. Back home in Austin, Gov. Rick Perry leads the Republican chorus in accusing Democrats of skipping out on the special legislative session, the second one this year, which includes not just redistricting, but such items as health-care funding. "There were hundreds of thousands — millions — of Texans who went to work this morning, and they expect their legislators to be at work also," Perry said last week. "We have work to do in this state, and there are 11 senators who are bringing all of that work to a halt." To underscore its point, the Republican Party of Texas sent what it calls a tongue-in-cheek "care package" to the Democrats. It includes baby rattles, pacifiers and diapers — or what the party described as "behavior-appropriate undergarments." That bit of partisan wit aside, both sides have shown remarkable team discipline in making their arguments. The "Texas 11" as the senators call themselves, have stuck to a single basic message: the removal of a longstanding Senate rule to get redistricting enacted is a direct slap at minority voters whom they represent, and they're not coming back until Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst agrees to restore the procedure — which would allow them to continue to block redistricting. In daily media briefings, Democrats claim to hold the high moral ground. They won't let a bill come up for debate that they say would marginalize 1.4 million African American and Hispanic, mostly Democratic, voters if new lines are drawn. "We are speaking from the heart, and we are of one view, so we speak with one voice," said Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo. Tuesday morning, the day after Democrats left the state to keep the 31-member Senate from having a quorum to conduct business, Dewhurst gathered Republican senators in the reception room behind the Senate chamber. They were handed a list of what were later described as "talking points." Among them: "We're here to do the work that the governor has called us in to do, which is to fulfill our constitutional obligation to redraw congressional districts. ... Republicans were in the same position when we were in the minority party in 1991, and we didn't even think about breaking a quorum." To counter the Democrats' point that most who testified at public hearings on redistricting opposed the idea, it suggested this reply: "I believe there is a great silent majority out there that simply expects us to do the job that they elected us to do as Republicans." The GOP, which controls all statewide elected offices and has a legislative majority, says it should have a bigger voice in the Texas congressional delegation, which now has 15 Republicans and 17 Democrats. Republicans note current lines were put in place by a federal court because the 2001 Legislature didn't do the job, and they say Texans want lawmakers to draw the districts. They insist new districts won't hurt minority voting strength. Each side has played to the crowd with daily news conferences, e-mails, faxed news releases and competing polls. The GOP has offered a satellite feed of the empty Senate chamber and Republican officeholders' comments to television stations around Texas. "There are a whole bunch of TV stations that don't get a chance to cover the Capitol, and we're going to help 'em," said Dave Beckwith, spokesman for Dewhurst, whose comments were included in the video feed. "I'm told by my Senate colleagues that the Republicans are going to spend between $10 (million) and $15 million on (an ongoing) media blitz," said Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. "Seems to me that Perry and Dewhurst have gone into campaign mode pretty early. "Ain't no way we can come close to that, but I am hopeful that the people will realize that this canned, controlled, bought message is what it is." Beckwith, the Dewhurst spokesman, laughed when he heard the money figure and said" "Paranoia is running rampant in Albuquerque ... I'm not going to confirm or deny that. I want to keep them guessing." But getting information out to the public is a natural response by the GOP, he said. "The more the public knows about this situation, the better it is for us," Beckwith said. The message from Republican leaders in Austin "is to try and justify a pure power grab, and the people will not go for it," predicted Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio. Another front in the public relations war is over the Democrats' accommodations. Like the 51 House members who fled the state to block redistricting during the regular session, the breakaway senators say they are using their own money. More than a few of them are wealthy and they continue to accept their salaries, but they have vowed not to draw per diem while out of state. But the House Democrats rode all night in buses, stayed at a Holiday Inn in Ardmore, Okla., and ate at a Denny's. The senators fled in two private jets donated by two businessmen from the Rio Grande Valley who are frequent contributors to Democratic candidates. Their hideout is a $160-per-night Marriott in this high desert city. The Democrats say they don't want to be there. Dewhurst has taken an on-the-job approach to putting pressure on the AWOL Democrats. He appointed some of them to education committees last week, and he announced the first meeting of the Texas Strategic Military Preparedness Commission, which will look at the state's response to proposed base closings — important to San Antonio senators, including a couple of the absent ones. State spokesmen for both parties said they expect the dispute to be a future campaign issue. For now, Texans who aren't already staunchly partisan may not be moved by either side's spin, political scientist Cal Jillson of Southern Methodist University said. "I think that most voters are sufficiently familiar with political spin to tune it out," he said. "I think at this point ... the Republicans will believe Perry and the Democrats will believe the people in Albuquerque. "I think the independents and thoughtful observers are bemused at this point, with a tendency to become disgusted." |
Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, greets his son, Leland Ellis, 4, at the airport in Albuquerque, N.M. Leland was there Saturday for a visit. 
