Senators go national in Texas remap fight

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON - Three of the 10 holdout Democratic senators left their New Mexico refuge for the nation's capital to launch a $1 million national tour to draw attention to their standoff with the GOP over congressional redistricting.

State Sens. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio, Rodney Ellis of Houston and Eliot Shapleigh of El Paso announced at the National Press Club on Thursday that they would be part of a concentrated media campaign funded by MoveOn.org. The group, formed in the late 1990s to fight the impeachment of President Clinton, has taken up the cause of the Texas Senate Democrats and is placing print and television ads accusing President Bush and the GOP of disenfranchising minority voters.

<snip -and of Whitmire, who can't BUY a press conf from the GOP- snip>


"We told him he needed to go back to Albuquerque and be part of the team again, but he said that wouldn't do any good," said Sylvia Gonzalez, who heads the Houston-area chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens. "We are very disappointed in him. If he says he came back because that's what his constituents wanted, he wasn't talking about us."

Whitmire scheduled a news conference for today in a meeting room outside the Senate chamber in Austin. But Senate officials said he would not be allowed to use the room, because fines totaling $57,000 that were levied by Senate Republicans against each of the absent Democrats have not been paid.

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/6700329.htm

[Changenow]

1. Whitmire must be a moran.

"Whitmire scheduled a news conference for today in a meeting room outside the Senate chamber in Austin. But Senate officials said he would not be allowed to use the room, because fines totaling $57,000 that were levied by Senate Republicans against each of the absent Democrats have not been paid."

How in the name of God did he think these folks wanted to particpate in a democratic process? The point is, Mr. Whitmore, that they want absolute power. You don't matter. What an idiot.

[webDude]

2. although I am pissed at him for coming back, this act, calling the news ..

conference, does make them show their ass.