Tory Democrat

My congressman, Nick Lampson, who is campaigning in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India this week-end will no doubt be painted as a wild-eyed liberal this fall as Republican challenger Pete Olson tries to return Tom Delay’s old District 22 seat to Federation control.

So I can forgive Lampson for trying not to saw off the limb that he’s out on as he tries to get re-elected in this Republican-drawn district, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like it.

While reading the “How Texans Voted” scorecard in the Sunday Chronicle, I thought to check how Lampson voted last week compared to some other Democrats in the Texas delegation. On the seven issues listed, Lampson voted:
With Sheila Jackson Lee one out of seven times,
With Lloyd Dogget and Al Green two out of seven times,
And with Gene Green three out of seven times.

Looking at the other party, I see that Lampson voted with Joe Barton, John Culberson, and Ted Poe six out of seven times, and that he voted just like Kevin Brady.

This makes me wonder why exactly Pete Olson thinks that we need a Republican in office. It looks to me like we already have one.

Still, Rep. Lampson has a pretty good lock on my vote this year. Mr Olson has a troubling history of associating with Phil Gramm. And any Republican candidates will about have to walk across the lake and turn my tap water into white Bordeaux before I’d vote for them.

Nevertheless, I’ll be happy when Congressman Lampson is so firmly ensconced in his seat that I can start looking for somebody to run against him.