Standoff may crumble: Whitmire returns; Perry weighs 3rd special session
Any additional time in Albuquerque's going to be counterproductive. We need to discuss an exit plan.
- Sen. John Whitmire (D- Houston)
It was bound to happen eventually, and it appears that at least one member of the Texas 11 has bowed to political reality. Sen. John Whitmire flew back home from Albuquerque yesterday, and his return may herald the end of the Democratic effort to delay and derail redistricting.
[I]f the Legislature is called into a third session and even one of the runaway Democrats returns to the Capitol, the 31-member Senate will have a quorum of 21 and the Republican majority likely will have the votes to pass a congressional redistricting bill.
Redistricting was blocked in the first special session because of a traditional Senate procedure requiring a two-thirds vote to bring legislation to the floor. The Democrats left the Capitol on the eve of the second session, when Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who presides over the chamber, said he would not put the two-thirds procedure into effect in that session.
In Albuquerque Tuesday, Whitmire's colleagues insisted they will remain in New Mexico until Dewhurst pledges to restore the procedure or Perry abandons his push to redraw congressional district lines -- both unlikely scenarios at this point.
They said they were disappointed by Whitmire's decision to leave and cautioned that he will have to answer to his constituents in his next re-election bid.
As much as I support the correctness of the action taken be Senate Democrats, it has become clear that the only victory they will realize is a moral one. It's been long enough, and there is still business to be done. I think the time has come for the Texas 11 to realize that their duty to the people who elected them is greater than the value of any political points they are trying to make. Come home, y'all;; it's time to get back to work.
