Texas House Democrats say revolt won't hurt re-election bids

SF Chron -- Rep. Patrick Rose, 24, of Dripping Springs, said he is prepared to take the heat for his decision to go to Oklahoma -- even though he won his first term by just 300 votes in November.

He said the redistricting plan touted by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, would have split one town in his district into three congressional districts: one that includes Houston, another that includes the Rio Grande Valley 300 miles away and a third that includes San Antonio.

The big surprise was how much the GOP demonstrations against the Democrats flopped. Party faithful said the usual things but almost noone came to demostrations they tried to pull off.