XPost: or.politics, alt.politics.trump, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: seattle.politics   
   From: benders@bloody.invalid   
      
    apnews.com   
   The long, 'surreal' days of the fugitive Texas legislators   
   By ASHRAF KHALIL   
      
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sheltered in a downtown D.C. hotel, the Democratic   
   lawmakers who left Texas to block a restrictive voting bill are living   
   a life of stress and scrutiny.   
      
   After bolting the state Monday in order to sabotage the bill by   
   denying a quorum in the Texas House of Representatives, the more than   
   50 state legislators find themselves balancing a punishing schedule of   
   political lobbying, outside work and family obligations, all under a   
   national spotlight.   
      
   Many have left young children behind; most have other professional   
   obligations back in Texas. All seem to be operating on minimal sleep.   
      
   "It's surreal," said Rep. Gene Wu of Houston. "I can't even describe   
   to you how weird it has been."   
      
   Wu said he realized just how big a story their exodus had become when   
   they arrived via private plane at Dulles airport on Monday. He   
   overheard a group of German tourists talking in the airport about the   
   fugitive Texas legislators.   
      
   Their goal is to hold out until the end of their special legislative   
   session on Aug. 7, but Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott can call   
   another special session 30 days after that. Abbott has also threatened   
   the legislators with arrest the moment they return to Texas.   
      
   In the meantime, they're working the Capitol and the White House,   
   seeking some sort of federal voter-protection move that would   
   supersede any state-level laws.   
      
   The Texas State Legislature is a part-time body with an annual salary   
   of $7,200. So the vast majority of the delegates have other primary   
   jobs back in Texas that they abruptly left behind.   
      
   The lawmakers describe 16-hour days of essentially operating in   
   shifts, with some working the Capitol and doing media interviews,   
   while others carve out four hours or so to handle their other jobs.   
      
   "We have a number of attorneys. We've had several folks doing Zoom   
   hearings," said Rep. Erin Zweiner of Austin.   
      
   The Covid-19 pandemic weirdly turned out to be an unexpected training   
   ground, she said, since everybody is already practiced in teleworking.   
   "Without that cultural shift, a lot of people's ability to earn a   
   living would be severely hindered," she said.   
      
   And not everyone has a job or a business they can handle via Zoom.   
      
   "We've got a lot of practice during the pandemic, said Rep. John Bucey   
   of Austin. But several, he said, "are here at the total expense of   
   their careers."   
      
   Bucy came to Washington with his 17-month old daughter Bradley and his   
   wife Molly, who is 27-weeks pregnant. The trio actually drove 23-hours   
   straight rather than fly with the other representatives because   
   Bradley is too young to wear a facemask on a plane.   
      
   "It's really hard," he said. "There's no childcare here. My wife   
   works. I work."   
      
   Zweiner came to Washington with her three-year-old daughter Lark, for   
   "both practical and sentimental reasons," she said. Her husband's work   
   schedule didn't allow him to solo-parent and Zweiner said the idea of   
   being away from her daughter for weeks was heart-wrenching.   
      
   Now Lark is a low-key Twitter star: the toddler attended a group   
   meeting with New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand; she watched   
   the movie "Frozen" on an iPad sitting on a Gillibrand staffer's lap   
   and Gillibrand gave her a U.S. Capitol coloring book.   
      
   Zweiner said Lark has been "an absolute champ," but acknowledged   
   Thursday that "By day 4, she's getting a little grumpy with the   
   process … she needs some kid time."   
      
   The balancing act is not just causing family sacrifices. Some   
   Democrats are already paying a price back home in the Legislature, as   
   Speaker Pro Tempore Joe Moody was stripped of his leadership position   
   Thursday.   
      
   It is only one of the ways the Texas GOP is trying to turn up the heat   
   just days into the showdown. Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan said   
   he would have a plane ready in Washington this weekend to bring   
   Democrats back home, while Abbott began running targeted campaign ads   
   against absent lawmakers in likely competitive House districts in   
   2022, putting absent Democrats' faces on milk cartons.   
      
   "There is no excuse for their PR stunt, and I join thousands of Texans   
   in demanding that these Democrats get back to work," Abbott said.   
      
   The non-stop meetings have been a mixed bag so far. On Thursday the   
   Texas lawmakers huddled with Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate West   
   Virginia Democrat. Manchin's vote is pivotal to pass the stalled   
   voting-rights legislation through Congress, which would preempt much   
   of the measure that Texas Republicans are advancing in their   
   legislature.   
      
   "Very good meeting," Manchin said after exiting the gathering.   
      
   But approving the bill, known as the For the People Act, also hinges   
   on weakening a procedural rule called the filibuster, which requires   
   60 votes to advance most legislation in the Senate. Senate Republicans   
   used the rule last month to block debate on the measure. And Manchin,   
   whose vote would also be required, has rejected the idea.   
      
   Texas state Sen. Nathan Johnson, said after the meeting that Manchin,   
   "described (the For the People Act) as aspirational."   
      
   The Texas governor has accused the legislators of "hanging out on a   
   taxpayer-paid junket" but the representatives defended their decision   
   to leave the state, saying the move had already partially succeeded by   
   shining a national spotlight on the issue.   
      
   "We are not here on vacation," state Sen. Jose Menendez "I'd much   
   rather be home with my family. We are here to do a job."   
      
   Representatives say they're currently too busy go out to dinner, take   
   their kids to a museum or any of the other typical Washington-visitor   
   activities.   
      
   "I think we will get to a normal routine and a more reasonable   
   baseline," Zweiner said, "something where it's down to just 12-hour   
   work days."   
      
   The decision to hole up in Washington is aimed at ratcheting up   
   pressure on President Joe Biden and Congress to act on voting at the   
   federal level. The day after they arrived, Biden delivered a speech in   
   Philadelphia calling Republican-led efforts to curtail voting   
   accessibility "un-American" and "un-democratic."   
      
   About 20 of the state legislators held a press conference Wednesday,   
   joined by a handful of Democratic Texas state senators who had flown   
   in to offer support. Outside the downtown D.C. hotel where the   
   contingent is living and working, about a dozen demonstrators held   
   signs with messages like "Do your job!" and "Who paid for the private   
   jet?"   
      
   The accusation that they're wasting public money particularly rankles.   
      
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