Burnt Orange Report

And I'll start a Ron Wilson fan club...the truth hurts, Byron.

The truth? The Truth is that Martin Frost votes in the interests of his Black and Hispanic constituents the vast majority of the time. That's why he has high NAACP and LULAC / Hispanic leadership ratings. Fine, NAACP and LULAC don't represent all minorities, but my point is that if Martin Frost's Black and Hispanic constituents felt that he didn't represent their views, they wouldn't vote for him time after time in the Democratic primary and general elections.

Ron Wilson should switch parties. He's through as a Democrat.

I don't know about Wilson being through as a Democrat, but a few things worth pointing out here ...

Ron Wilson is a mix of liberal-libertarian Democrat, as well as a staunch advocate of minority interests. On the former, he's often very farsighted ... brilliant at times. On the latter, he's equally shortsighted. While I can understand the motivation to say that it's on the backs of blacks and Hispanics that some congressmen (like Chris Bell, Martin Frost, and Gene Green) get elected, the only visible motivation for having a white Republican party compared to a black Democratic party (and just watch Hispanics shift allegience when this happens!) is selfishness.

Great, you think southwest Harris County deserves a black district ... what then becomes of a party that has Sheila Jackson Lee as it's spokesperson? Is this a party that can elect candidates in governing positions (governor, county judge, President, etc ...), or does this relegate the Democratic party to a marginal third-party status? I think the answer is obvious, and that's the motivation behind DeLay's maps. The aspects of the Voting Rights Act that give preference to minority districts has been a dog waiting to bite Dems in the butt for a while, and Reps have known this ever since the 90s round of redistricting.

To the extent that I can pretend to know Wilson's motivations, I believe they can be summed up as "So What?" As in ... so what if my actions make Democrats unelectable in Texas for an eternity. Reconciling various factions and interests within a party to vote for the same items has always been the driving force of party politics. Ron Wilson's reply? ... "So what?"

The irony would be that the new CD being looked at for Harris County would make a Congressman Ron Wilson very easy, although he's stated he has no interest in running. Carroll Robinson, however, is. He carried many of the precints in the newly mapped 10th CD that carry over from the present 25th CD. Irony would be to see Bell hang on to win such a district, thereby ensuring that Ron Wilson's congressman is a white Democrat in a black district. Somehow, I think that would flush out Wilson and make him run against Bell in such a scenario.

As for my own like/hatred of Wilson, it varies based on the hour of the day and the issue at hand.

I wonder what would happen if he did run as an R in that proposed (today) district?

Probably lose, but it would be interesting.

Keep us up to date Byron. If it's my district then I'll buy you a beer when you're in town.

Is Ratliff a real Republican?

Ratliff represents his district. His NE Texas district doesn't want to be represented by someone from greater Dallas (which is what would most likely happen with the GOP redistricting proposals). He sided with Pete Laney on the Legislative Redistricting Board in 2001 against the other republicans and was still re-elected two to one in the Republican primary. Ratliff is a Republican, but a Texan first.

Rob - yeah Wilson would get crushed as an R in that district.

Greg - good comment. It reminds me of what Grover Norquist (sp?) said about Texas redistricting - that he wanted White people to feel that being a Democrat was unacceptable behavior, and leave Texas with only minority Democrats and get rid of the Chet Edwards and Charlie Stenholm's, etc. Very true. I consider myself a liberal / progressive Democrat, but I value people like Charlie Stenholm and other conservative Democrats in our party. More Reps. like him are the only way that we'll win back the House.