Look out, Democrats
COMMENTARY
Josh Deitz

What did you expect?

Did you think the Republicans would welcome you back with open arms? Were you surprised that they upstaged your return and then put you on probation? Was any of this really that shocking?

Do you remember why you left the state in the first place? You were in a situation you could not win. You cannot defeat the redistricting plan. You are outnumbered and outgunned. Leaving was the only option you had.
Remember?

You left because the Republicans weren’t playing fair. Did you expect them to cooperate just because you came home? They don’t like you. They are trying to destroy the Democratic Party by any means necessary. This is not about what is good or bad for Texas. It’s about increasing Republican seats in Congress regardless of the price.

We all know that if Texas were as Republican as Tom Delay and his state flunkies claim, Republicans would already hold a majority of seats in Congress. We all understand that it is possible for a voter to choose different parties for state and national elections. We are aware that voters might be choosing a candidate based on personal characteristics rather than party identification.

The Republicans in the Legislature who are pushing the redistricting plan do not care about these things. They don’t care if they dilute the voting power of minorities or rural Texans. They are not interested in the input of Texans on the redistricting process. If they can’t beat you in fair elections, they are willing to beat you however they can.

Don’t expect too much support from Texas Democrats either. We’re against the redistricting process and we supported your holdout. But coming back early made your whole struggle moot. You gave up. You let the Republicans win. If you weren’t willing to tough it out until the bitter end, you shouldn’t have left in the first place.

Don’t kid yourselves. Asking President Bush for help is silly. Do you think he would turn down any plan that helped Republicans? For all we know, he’s had his hand in this from the beginning. The former governor not involved in the politics of his own state? Not likely.

You do have an interesting opportunity. Between Texas and California, Republicans are doing quite a bit of damage to their efforts to attract minority voters. It’s hard to claim that you have minority interests in mind when you are actively trying to squelch their voting power.

Diluting minority voting districts in Texas was a bad start. In California, Republicans are trying to rush the recall vote while many minority districts have not had the opportunity to switch to more accurate voting machines. These are issues that Democrats can push during the upcoming presidential race. They might not swing the election, but they will do some damage to Bush’s claim to be a compassionate conservative.

You are in a bad spot, Democrats. You realized you couldn’t beat redistricting. You picked a fight and then you gave up. Now your party is in big trouble in the state of Texas. It’s time to go on the offensive. If the Republicans are going to play dirty, you have to do the same. Time is running out.

Josh Deitz is a senior political science major from Atlanta, GA.