Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) has announced his retirement, leaving the Republican party with yet another 2020 vacancy and devoid of any black congressmen.
Shorter Hurd
I don’t want to spend the rest of my life dodging reporters who want to know what I think about Trumps latest racist screed.
House negro indeed
Note: the ONLY black Rethug in the House is retiring.
“Two centuries ago, I would have been counted as three-fifths of a person, and today …”
“… the Republican Party counts me as even less than that.”
Hurd is actually a decent and responsible legislator and did his best for his district. I wish he’d explicitly repudiate Trumpism, but his getting out is driven by ethics, I think.
“After reflecting on how best to help our country address these challenges, I have made the decision to not seek reelection for the 23rd Congressional District of Texas…"
Hint, hint, hint to the rest of the country. Like read his lips. It is better not to have the GOP running things, like the Republican just said.
Yes. Many times he came really close, but never quite made it there.
With the Dems chances of holding the House improving, there is no reason not to “risk” impeaching Trump. If it goes to a trial in the Senate, the Democrat’s only message should be that Trump, Moscow Mitch and his buddies are Russian stooges betraying their country.
Hard to square that with being an R in the Trump era. If he was truly doing what was best for his district, he should have retired before the 2018 midterms or at least switched to an independent.
His retirement seems more about avoiding losing in 2020 rather than an ethical decision.
Therein the problem
Black, white it doesn’t matter . Not one of them will stand up and fight for the country .
They would rather run than fight
If you Confront a republican ask them this
You know, it really is true about blood in the water. Down in Belize if we cleaned a fish and rinsed it off in the sea, we’d have big sharks around within about two minutes. Let’s just say Hurd’s one of the smart ones. This party has pulled a lot of dirty stunts and you can’t do that forever and not have it blow back on you.
He vowed to “stay involved in politics to grow a Republican Party that looks like America.”
Yeah, good luck with that.
Even with, [ETA and perhaps because of], all the ‘organic fertilizer’ (aka bs) currently in the Republican party, you will never have the ingredients to grow that. It’d be easier to grow corn in sand.
Wrong. I’m in Texas. Hurd is ex-CIA and had actual legislative priorities (especially cyber-security, his expertise), represented a border district as a black GOP member in TX (the only affiliation that would win in his district), and I think got in to try to advance actual legislative agenda. I think he realized that, as the GOP mutated to the party of Trump, it was going to be impossible.
e/t/a: the tell will be whether he goes corporate/K-street, or tries to grow an alternative GOP as he says he intends. Knowing his bio, record, and district, I’m betting on the latter.
I’d say this is nearly as explicit as Mattis:
He vowed to “stay involved in politics to grow a Republican Party that looks like America.”
It may not be “Trump is a racist pig, please vote him out”, but the subtext isn’t exactly hidden.
I think he did OK for his constituents.
If he were staying in Congress it’s possible he could do more for them now by switching parties but instead he wants to …
“… pursue opportunities outside the halls of Congress to solve problems at the nexus between technology and national security.”
Not exactly. It’s explicitly saying the party today doesn’t look like America. It’s the key fact of political life today, that the country is changing demographically and the GOP opted to respond by becoming the party of white revanchism and subverting every aspect of our government and way of life in order to hold power.
I honestly believe that Hurd believes he’d actually be more effective at USA cyber-security outside the GOP treason caucus–and, I think that’s an accurate diagnosis. I think he knows that the party as constituted is fatally compromised.
"…also, P.S. WTF Sen Scott?
In contrast to Hurd, I’ve got no problem saying the Scott is an enabling Senatorial house servant.
Even now the GOP is planning a long game to get back a House Majority. So, for the Democrats it is time to plan long and plan to go Medieval on these sons of bitches. Remember every gerrymander and every sleazy power move.
