On the Democratic protests in Texas and Nebraska
ON THE DEMOCRATIC PROTESTS IN TEXAS AND NEBRASKA. You’ve seen reports about the unpopularity of the Democratic Party these days — stories with headlines such as “Democrats Get Lowest Rating From Voters in 35 Years.” It’s true: Large numbers of voters disapprove of the party and, even though they don’t love Republicans either, trust the GOP more to handle many basic issues.
On the other hand, some elements of the Democratic Party are filled with passionate intensity. We’re seeing two examples of that now.
The first is in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) called a special session of the legislature this summer to deal with the question of redistricting, which is, of course, always a contentious topic. In Texas’s case, the legislature is dominated by Republicans, who have an 88-62 majority in the state House and a 19-11 majority in the state Senate.
Rather than deal with a defeat on redistricting, which would result in more Republican congressional seats, Democrats in the Texas House decided to flee the state to block a vote. The rules of the 150-member Texas House require a two-thirds quorum, that is, 100 lawmakers, to be present to do business.