A Matter of Trust
January 23rd, 2007 at 10:21 pm
It took some forward-thinking for Donna Howard, D-Austin, to pull of an upset last year in a heavily Republican district. To get that seat back, the GOP looks like it’ll stick with tradition. A recent email from the Texas Republican Party directed supporters to see how their reps voted on HR 2, an inane resolution requiring the words “In God We Trust” to scroll across an electronic marquee behind the speaker’s podium.
The resolution, raised during discussion of rules and procedures, passed nearly unanimously, with Howard weighing in as one of only two nay votes. (Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, was the other.) At the time, Howard explained her vote by saying, “People elected me to deal with serious business of the state — our public schools, higher education, affordable and accessible health care…. The words on the wall above the speaker’s podium are not what they sent me here to deal with.”
Hans Klingler, a TRP spokesman, said today that the email was “not particularly aimed at any one candidate. It was sent out statewide.” Even though Howard was the only nay vote coming from a contested district, he characterized it as a routine message sent to supporters about issues “we hope they’re interested in.”
Rep. Howard didn’t return a call this afternoon about the email, but it’s easy to see how the resolution could warp into a campaign issue. Maybe that’s what she wanted, considering her campaign played up the “getting things done” angle. Either way, thanks or blame for the resolution lies with a member of her own caucus. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, proposed the resolution “to remind us to whom we answer.” Right — and for now, that’s Tom Craddick and Texas Republicans, whose platform doesn’t shy away from that Big Speaker in the sky.
