Two separate posts point out that Texas will have far less power beginning in January 2009 than it has enjoyed for most of the past decades.
One of the reasons for this is Tom Delay's redistricting scheme which focused on removing senior Democrats from office. These people would have been prime candidates for committee chairs when Democrats took control of Congress. Now there are few if any truly powerful Texans in elected office in Washington:
And while The Hammer’s redistricting crusade in 2003 certainly helped Texas Republicans at the time, it has come back to haunt the state under Democratic rule. If not for DeLay’s machinations, three Texas Democrats would likely be sitting pretty these days as chairmen of powerful House committees: former Reps. Jim Turner (Homeland Security), Martin Frost (Rules) and Charlie Stenholm (Agriculture).
Instead, they’re all now exes, living in Texas, having lost their elections in 2004.
