Burnt Orange Report
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Burnt Orange ReportNews, Politics, and Fun From Deep in the Heart of Texas |
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February 16, 2005Where do you draw the line?By Byron LaMastersA question worth exploring came up in the comment thread of my post yesterday on a possible primary challenege to State Rep. Vilma Luna. I stated that I would support a primary challenge to Vilma Luna based on her vote for the redistricting bill in the 2003 session. Luna, along with Ron Wilson were the only House Democrats to support the Tom DeLay re-redistricting scheme. Luna is also a member of the Craddick House leadership team. She represents a reliably Democratic district, where a generic Democrat can expect to get at least 55-60% of the vote. Some commenters argue that she should be given no more of a pass than those Democrats who voted on other Republican bills such as the CHIP-cutting bill, etc. I argued that Luna voted for bills that cut CHIP as well - I disagree with her vote, and that of other Democrats on that issue, but I don't see that as grounds for defeat in a Democratic primary. Her position on the redistricting issue, however, is something that I find unforgivable. That vote not only ended the careers of SEVEN Democratic congressmen, but also chopped up my neighborhood in central Austin into three congressional districts, deprived the state of Texas of decades of seniority in Congress, and most likely will make it impossible for Democrats to regain a majority in Congress until the next redistricting cycle. That led commenter JW to ask this question:
Personally, I'm typically a proponent of the latter approach, because I find that usually - particularly considering the leadership tactics of the modern day Republican Party - those who "play the game" end up doing more to legitimize the opposition (Republicans) than they do in affecting positive legislation. Thus, in my opinion, the negative effects outweigh the positive ones. I would say that approach (a) offers a short term gain (i.e. crumbs of positive legislation), but a long-term loss (enabling and legitimizing a governing party that is not in our best interets). Whereas I would say approach (b) offers short term loss (less pork for your district or positive legislation), but is a long-term gain - as it allows to opposition to point out the abuses of power and corruption of the governing party in order to win elections - the tool that will ultimately change the equation. Anyway, I got to run, but let me know what you think... Posted by Byron LaMasters at February 16, 2005 05:56 PM | TrackBack
Comments
I disagree with choice A, you start giving in here and there trying to gain some influence, you will find yourself chipping away at what you believe in until you have nothing left and are just in Austin or Washington taking up space. I would be more in the realm of choice B. You have stand up and fight in what you believe in. In the case of Rep. Luna, I disagree with her decision to support redistricting. At the time when the Texas House Democrats broke quorum by going to Oklahoma, I was proud that they stood up and caused forced the Republicans to take the extra steps to pass the mid-decade redistricting. I remember reading about my representative Craig Eiland (at the time) leaving his wife in the hospital with I think twins. gov. perry then sent Texas State Troopers to that hospital looking for him. The Texas House Democrats went through a lot and all Democratic members of the Texas legislature should have stood together as one. I now live in rep. luna’s district, and I do hope that there is another democrat that will challenge her in a primary, and forces her to explain why she did support the redistricting. Posted by: TC at February 17, 2005 01:34 AMDon't forget that Vilma had her employer give thousands of dollars to Talmadge Heflin instead of Hubert Vo. Posted by: RB at February 17, 2005 09:39 AMSay bye bye Vilma. You're toast. Posted by: LG at February 17, 2005 03:33 PMAbsolutely, As far as I'm concerned that goes double for Wilson. Posted by: comeon at February 18, 2005 08:55 AMTC should note that Representative Eiland is now a chairman and part of the leadership team. Which either proves (1) that the redistricting vote was not a litmus test for the leadership or (2)that Craig's legislative accomplishments and bi-partisanship in the post-Ardmore session convinced the Speaker that Craig deserved a chairmanship. Whether is was an olive branch or simply smart politics, Speaker Craddick made a wise decision. Posted by: JW at February 18, 2005 06:02 PM
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