When both extremes are talking nonsense, there must be some way of getting them together that makes sense.
- Rep. Charles Stenholm (D-TX)
Here in Texas, Democrats tend to be a different breed. The state as a whole is very Conservative (with the exception of Austin, of course), and Texas Democrats are generally also a fair bit more Conservative than the national Democratic Party. In some cases, in fact, many Texas Democrats could not inaccurately be described as “Liberal Republicans” (oxymoron alert!!), trending more to the right side of the political spectrum on social issues.
Charlie Stenholm is perhaps the best example of a Texas Democrat that no one could ever accuse of being a “bleeding heart Liberal”. For 26 years, he represented his rural Texas district in the House of Representatives- until he found himself “DeLayed” on November 2nd.
There were those who attracted more attention from the press. There were those who were flashier, more visible, and more self-absorbed. There were few, if any, Congressman who represented his constituents more faithfully than Charlie Stenholm. In 26 years in the House, this cotton farmer worked with a quiet effectiveness that earned the respect of those on both sides of the aisle. Chalk up one more casualty in the Tom DeLay’s ongoing struggle for empire.
Stenholm was a victim of the controversial redistricting plan pushed through the Republican legislature in Texas in 2003 at the instigation of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. The scheme — now being given a second look by the federal courts — succeeded in shifting the Texas delegation from 17 Democrats and 15 Republicans to a new ratio of 21 Republicans and 11 Democrats.
Stenholm saw much of his old rural territory sliced away and his home county squeezed into a Lubbock-based district, where he had to compete against incumbent Republican Randy Neugebauer. Stenholm put up a valiant struggle, but in a district that went overwhelmingly for President Bush, he lost 58 percent to 40 percent.
Stenholm is exactly the kind of conservative Democrat whom Bush embraced when he was governor of Texas and Democrats still controlled the legislature. He agrees with the president on social issues and supported the first round of Bush tax cuts, back when the budget was in surplus. The senior Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, he helped Republicans write the last major farm bill that Bush signed….
But with Republicans riding high in Congress, Bush, rather than courting conservative Democrats such as Stenholm, wants to cut their legs off. He went out of his way to plug Neugebauer when he campaigned nearby, and Vice President Cheney came in twice to help sink Stenholm.
Purging conservative Democrats is part of Karl Rove’s long-term strategy for making the GOP the majority party. But it entails significant costs. When Bush tries to fulfill his pledge to reform Social Security, he will, as Republican Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan remarked, “wish that Charlie Stenholm were still here.”
As Upton and other policy-oriented Republicans well know, Stenholm is one of the few Democrats who agree with them on Social Security — and has sufficient backbone to stand up to the political pressures that always engulf that issue.
Of course, what Tom DeLay wants, Tom DeLay generally gets. In the final analysis, DeLay is concerned with little more than his own self-aggrandizement and political empire-building. To him, Charlie Stenholm was likely just another Democrat standing in his way, one more impediment to DeLay’s goal of becoming the most powerful man in Washington.
The sad thing is that Stenholm was an effective legislator, because his practicality rose above his partisanship. With the new generation of Republican ideologues being swept into office, partisanship is clearly now to be valued over practicality and effectiveness. DeLay wants a collection of willing warriors who are beholden to him and will do his bidding without question.
We are all poorer for Charlie Stenholm’s defeat, and his presence will be missed in the House. There will be one less voice of reason in Washingtom come January, one less voice to try and introduce a modicum of sense and reason into an increasingly partisan atmosphere. Score one for Niccolo Machiavelli….
