Even as the Texas speaker resigns, the bloc that elected him must remain unified.
Even as the Texas speaker resigns, the bloc that elected him must remain unified.
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.
After indicating that he planned to stay on for an unprecedented sixth term as speaker last month, state Rep. Joe Straus has announced that he will not run for reelection to his San Antonio seat in the Texas House.
When he steps down in 2019, Straus, a Republican, will have spent a decade as an unlikely icon of political moderation in Texas — tied for the longest-serving Speaker of the House. His time as leader in the state House began with controversy over his Jewish faith — “Straus is going down in Jesus’ name,” one conservative activist wrote in an email — and ended with him as king bogeyman for Texas right-wing ideologues.
In their political storybook, Straus was singlehandedly responsible for holding back the tide of radical policies that have become a sad litmus test in today’s Republican Party: bathroom bills, school vouchers, local budget caps, anti-immigration extremism, tree regulations, the list goes on.
But that’s just a story. The reality is that Straus has served as an apt embodiment of his diverse core constituency: business-oriented Republicans, rural representatives and, yes, Democrats.
Unlike in Washington, D.C., where the speaker is selected by the party in power, the entire Texas House votes for the post. It is easier for a broad-based coalition to win the speaker’s seat in Austin than one based in any polarized corner. This has left Texas with a political puzzle where members of the legislative triumvirate represent vastly different audiences.
Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick must orient themselves to win in statewide races — and more specifically, win in the Republican Party primary. Straus only had to win in an election of 150 votes. And he won overwhelmingly each time, despite the fire and brimstone threats coming from his Freedom Caucus flank.
So when right-wing demagogues — more often than not sponsored by reclusive billionaire Tim Dunn — hung the speaker in rhetorical effigy or treated him as enemy No. 1 in Austin, it was only because Straus was a convenient scapegoat.
Straus stepping may down, be but the coalition that he embodied can remain strong in Austin and hold back the floodwaters of hatred if it does not fracture in the next speaker’s race.
Their real target was, and remains, a House majority that prefers to focus on the serious business of improving school funding, empowering local governments and using state power to make Texas a better place to live, work and raise a family.
“Even as politics has become more tribal and divisive, I’ve led by bringing people together and working across party lines,” Straus wrote in a letter announcing that he would not run for a sixth term as speaker. “We’ve fallen short at times. But on our best days, we have shown that there is still a place for civility and statesmanship in American politics.”
It may be tempting to describe those words as the swan song of a moderate Republican, but that would be inaccurate.
In our current political
era, standing for coalitionbuilding, diversity and optimism for our shared future is anything but moderate. Rather, it requires a radical adherence
to a civic philosophy that
stands on the verge of being snuffed out by Trumpian anger. It requires standing up to a movement
whose operating agenda remains powered by the fear that some immigrant or undeserving other might get a better berth when a rising tide lifts all the boats.
Straus may be stepping down, but the coalition that he embodied can remain strong in Austin and hold back the floodwaters of hatred if it does not fracture in the next speaker’s race.
The weak point in this battle likely won’t be Republicans. The risk is that Democratic representatives will be peeled away with promises of powerful committee chairs. We remember when thenstate Rep. Sylvester Turner ended up on the Legislative Budget Board and as vice-chairman of the House Appropriations Committee after he backed Straus’ Craddick. predecessor towns For the and sake busy as of speaker, cities; public for state schools the Rep. local in Tom liberty small embodied by city councils and commissioners courts; for our colleges and universities; for crowded ports and border crossings and gleaming skyscrapers; for Hispanic families and LGBT kids; for the sake of the entire state of Texas, the center must hold. We cannot let things fall apart.