RALPH HALL SWITCHES PARTIES

Texas Congressman Ralph Hall has traded in his D for a shiny new R. Other than a net loss of one set for the Dems and a gain of one for the GOP, what does it mean?

Hall has long been one of the most conservative Democrats in Washington, but he has also been a symbol of the old Democrat way of thinking: Strong on defense, sympathetic to states' rights, lower taxes, traditional values and so forth. That way of thinking is as dead as Elvis in today's Democrat politics, so much so that the mere mention of any of those issues by the Dems' current presidential front-runner comes off sounding like a pander or an insult. Hall's switch reflects, not so much a switch on his part, but a drift on his former party's part. He once felt right at home with the Democrats, and his constituents supported him. Today it's easier for him to win re-election as a Republican, and his philosophy is a better match for that party.

But there's more to the switch than simply a change of seats. Hall's district includes territory once represented by Sam Rayburn. Outside of Texas that may not mean much, but Rayburn was the *first Speaker of the House to hail from the Lone Star State, and he held that post longer than anyone else in the 20th Century. Rayburn, along with war hero Audie Murphy, strode east Texas like a colussus from the 1940s to the early 60s. Civic centers, student centers, streets and even a lake bear his name today across that region. The US Navy even has named a submarine after him, indicative of Raburn's Congressional role in supporting defense. And Rayburn was a loyal Democrat, and was instrumental in helping FDR lead America through World War II. I used to live in the 4th District, studied at the university that molded Sam Rayburn and became a reporter in buildings named after him. It was yellow-dog Democrat territory as recently as the late 1980s.

Rayburn's former district, redrawn over the years but essentially the same slice of land, is now represented by a Republican, I believe for the first time since Reconstruction. It is a district that borders on Dallas but stretches out to the farms of northeast Texas, and straddles one of the wealthiest areas in the state. It is also home to a number of defense contractors, and Hall hinted that national defense played a key role in his switch when he said on Friday that he didn't agree with the Democrats running for president. In other words, the Dean surge has already given George W. Bush coattails, nearly a year before the election.

In switching, Hall joins about 170 Texas elected officials and lawmakers who have switched from the Democrats to the GOP since 1992. Hall's switch therefore demonstrates the complete collapse of the Democrats in Texas.

*edited to correct a factual error, Jim Wright (D-Ft. Worth) also served at Speaker