That Patrick Rose (D-Dripping Springs) is a Craddick D, or as they sometimes say, a “Democraddick” was made more obvious this morning in an interesting article by Laylin Copelin in the Austin American-Statesman.Twice, Copelin compared Rose to a boxer avoiding landed blows in sparring matches with his fellow members:
“Footwork is as important in politics as in boxing. And Rose, only 28 and starting his third term, has avoided tripping on the line between the inner politics of the House and expectations of his constituents in Hays, Blanco andAnd why the analogy to boxing? Well for all of the imagery it evokes, he actually had an incident where he displayed his unique ability to duck (almost):
Caldwell counties.”
“Rose keeps bobbing and weaving, still on the balls of his feet. Last fall, on his way to an easy re-election, Rose had to duck a swing from his 2003 opponent, Rick Green, outside a polling place. So far, no one has landed anything but that glancing blow.”And finally, the boxing theme re-emerges in the title of the documentary movie made about Rose and his unseating of an incumbent Republican in a “safe district”. "Last Man Standing: Politics — Texas Style".
Aside from allusions to boxing, the Copelin article is revealing in just how involved Rose was in maintaining a small democratic contingent of 15 Craddick votes, and just how dicey he thought the situation was.
"I think the race was teetering," Rose said. "It was anyone's to win."The article is sure to inflame those who follow a trend of “uber-partisanship and polarization” as Rep. Aaron Pena refers to it. Rose is very probably number one on their '08 Primary hit list, or if not, will be shortly. But contrary to the 4 Craddick D’s that were removed from office in their primaries, because of their support for the Craddick/DeLay redistricting, Patrick Rose left the state with his Democratic colleagues to avoid a quorum on the vote for redistricting. That and his popularity in his district along with his tireless work in lowering health and homeowner’s insurance rates in Texas should make him a very difficult target to hit.
4 comments:
"That and his popularity in his district along with his tireless work in lowering health and homeowner’s insurance rates in Texas should make him a very difficult target to hit."
When did that happen?
"Rose is very probably number one on their '08 Primary hit list ... . But contrary to the 4 Craddick D’s that were removed from office in their primaries ... Patrick Rose left the state with his Democratic colleagues to avoid a quorum on the vote for redistricting."
Rose is from the only Craddickrat district where Bush clobbered Kerry, so challenging Rose in a primary would probably backfire if successful.
Twelve of the fifteen Craddickrats are from safe Democratic districts, and five did not join in breaking quorum: Chavez, Dutton, Flores, Giddings and Turner. I'd be surprised if all of them make it back to Austin '09 (unless you count lobbyists).
Then again, there's Tracy King. Bush edged Kerry in King's district, but it's safe enough for most Ds. The district is 75% Mexican-American, and folks there might be a little hacked off that King slugged House Democratic co-chair Pete Gallego. (And King didn't join in the quorum break cuz he wasn't in the Lege in '03, so he has no bragging rights there.)
I worked for Rose's campaigns in 2002 and 2004, performing the opposition research used in the campaign attacks and counterattacks portrayed in the Last Man Standing film.
IMO, to understand Rose's positions one must understand his district, and he does. There are liberal whiners who don't live there who would like to see him go, but Rose works hard for Democratic candidates in his district and that, plus some bring-home-the-bacon work he's done at the Lege, make it seem HIGHLY unlikely to me that a) another D could beat him in a primary, or that b) a more liberal member would win the general election.
I've been extremely disappointed in some of Patrick's votes, and have told him so. But there's not one member of the Lege I couldn't say that about. Patrick's not the best legislator out there - I'd put him at most in the middle of the pack so far as legislative acumen and competence. But from a realpolitik perspective he's had to make some of those votes (he represents his constituents, after all, not just liberals), and he doesn't deserve a lot of the shit he takes for them.
LIberal and conservative have nothing to do with it. All of the Craddickrats EXCEPT Rose are from safe Democratic districts and conservatives like Hopson, McReynolds, Cook, Farabee all hung together with their caucus. THere's plenty of conservative dems who're pissed that they put thier necks on the lines and while he worked against them.
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