David Davis is our Representative to the US House - well, for the next 3 months or so, anyway. Mr. Davis is a freshman rep, and he always will be. You see, he lost his bid for re-election just a couple of weeks ago - a feat that was last accomplished here in the 1950s. Well, at least we can say he accomplished something. According to Congress.org, Davis ranked 430th in effectiveness his freshman - dare I say ONLY? - term. That's 430th out of 435.
So, naturally, when those 8000 or so voters out of some 50,000 eligible declined to invite Mr. Davis back for a sophomore term, he did the only logical thing a small town politician should do: he threw a hissy fit. He claimed that the only reason he lost was because Democrats crossed over and voted for his major opponent, Dr. Phil Roe. Well, he's right about that. But what he failed to grasp, and as far as I can till, still hasn't got it quite right, is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. And that's where it started to get fun. He hired a big-city lawyer who specializes in voting irregularities; he claimed he was gonna uncover this vast left-wing conspiracy and take back what is rightfully his, namely, the right to not represent anyone who didn't vote for him.
I sent a little letter to the papers, which showed up in all four of the area dailies. Here it is.
He whined and belly-ached for a few more days and then conceded - but not before pointing out that the "law was on his side". Okay. I was hoping he'd carry on for a week or two more, just to make sure that he completely obliterated the snowball's chance in hell he had of running for office again.
Mr. Davis is not without his supporters, though. One woman wrote to the Johnson City Press, begging Mr. Davis to run as an Independent, as though he could. With all his puling about party loyalty, such a stunt would be just a little hypocritical. And I don't believe Mr. Davis is a hypocrite. I think he is completely sincere about his unwillingness to do his job for ALL the people in the First District. But perhaps an even greater hurdle for Mr. Davis to overcome en route to an Independent ticket would be his ability to act, well, independently. You see, I don't think Davis could look at a clogged drain and act on it without first getting the Bush Administration's perspective.
So, while we got a little snicker out of watching a grown man groan, the fun ends there. Here's the irony: the single brave soul who is running for Davis' seat as a Democrat (talk about a snowball's chance!) is a great local musician named Rob Russell. He and his band just finished their farewell concert as he gets ready to jump into the general election season with both feet. The name of his band? The Sore Losers, of course.
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