FALLOUT FROM THE WALKOUT

Texas Dems, about whom I've written before, may have won a pyrrhic victory when they killed the GOP-sponsored state redistricting plan during their flight to Oklahoma earlier this year. They won the battle for now, but in the process have opened up a dangerous fissure in their own fragile coalition.

According to the Houston Forward, a liberal African-American newspaper, four Democrat state lawmakers stayed behind in Austin once it became clear that the party had gathered sufficient numbers to leave the legislative session and kill the redistricting plan. Those four are Ron Wilson, Sylvester Turner, Al Edwards, and Harold Dutton. All are from Harris County, and all are black.

They stayed behind for various reasons, but with the blessing of the Democrats as a whole. So they weren't bucking the party or being insufficiently supportive; in fact, they stayed behind at least in part to keep the GOP from using the Dems' absence to ram through any other controversial measures.

Now, weeks after the walkout, seven other Harris County Dems are to be honored for their participation in it. The so-called Killer D's will be honored by a group of mostly white liberal Dems, who will not honor the four black Dems who loyally stayed behind as part of the party's overall strategic gambit. And this has black Dems as a whole, in the words of the Forward's Ed Wendt, "mad as hell." I'll let Mr. Wendt take it from here (story not online yet, so no link yet):

Ron Wilson agrees with U.S. House Majority Leader Tom Delay, a major force behind the redistricting effort, that giving Blacks and Hispanics additional seats is more important than which political party is in control. Under the Republican plan, another Black congressional seat would be created for Harris County keeping the 18th Congressional District safe for incumbent Democrat Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee. Additional Hispanic seats also would be created.

"We are tired of holding up the Democratic Party's plantation system," Wilson said. "We are the backbone of the Democratic Party. We are not going to keep white male Democrats in congress at the expense of Black representation."

Al Edwards, a member of the Democratic National Committee since 1984, said it is up to members of his district, not white elitist liberals from other parts of the county and state, to pass judgment on him.

"None of the so-called liberal Democrats, who have tried to control Blacks all of these years, said anything when Democratic Lt. Governor Bob Bullock supported (Republican) George W. Bush for governor," Edwards stressed. "They didn't bash Bob Bullock. They named a big old museum after him. When John Sharp didn't support Garry Mauro (for governor against George Bush), they didn't kick him out, they ran him for lieutenant governor last time."

"When white Democrats support Republicans, they don't get crucified," said Edwards. "But if Blacks up here make a decision to do what is best for their constituents, then they want to say that we are traitors."

"It is just like when we spoke out during the civil rights movement," Edwards continued, "they said we were agitators and trouble makers. It is not much different from what white liberals are saying today."

Ouch. And yes, you read that right. The Dems killed a plan that would have added a black Congressional district and several Hispanic districts. Killing the plan did manage to preserve all the Dems' white districts, though. Black lawmakers haven't missed the trick. They also haven't missed the fact that, according to the Forward, Dem chat rooms are abuzz with criticism of the black lawmakers for not walking out.

It's very, very bad for the Dems when their own actions put any liberal black Dem on the same side of any issue as Tom DeLay, but that's exactly what's happened here. And it may get worse:

Harold Dutton, who represents Fifth Ward and northern Harris County, said white Democrats are often two-faced when it comes to political empowerment of Blacks.

"When I got here in 1991, they told me they had a district for me up here," said Dutton. "I told them I did not like the district and would draw my own district. I came back and they told me we can't have that district because if you have that district it may jeopardize three white Democrat districts we need to keep. I looked at the voting record of those three white Democrats and they had voted against everything I was for."

Dutton, like Wilson and Edwards, says it is "time out" for white liberal control of the Democratic Party.

"They want to tell Black folks what to do, how to think, and when to act," said Dutton.

"Why is it that when we have a disagreement with them that we are suddenly not loyal Democrats? Dutton asked. "They can go straight to hell!"

This is from black lawmakers and a black newspaper. The Dems may come to regret going to such extreme measures to kill a redistricting plan if it means they start to lose their iron grip on the black vote.

UPDATE: The Texas Dems' pyrrhic victory may also be a temporary one--Gov. Rick Perry has called the legislature into special session to work in the redistricting plan among other items. In special session, if memory serves, all the GOP will need is a simple majority of present members to pass bills, rendering a walkout irrelevant. The GOP will get its redistricting plan, and the Dems will get an intericine battle. Heh. Double heh.

UPDATE: It looks like they've got similar problems in Georgia. Triple heh.