Rove Rage and The Four R's!

Nope, it's not a Dr. Seuss book -- but hey, do I hear a who? And to think that I saw it on Pennsylvania Avenue! From today's Inside Politics with Judy Woodruff, Bill Schneider does it again:

WOODRUFF: Those Texas state senators who fled their state to block a GOP-led redistricting plan are growing in stature with their national party leaders. Some of the Texas Democrats were in Washington today. Others met in New Mexico with Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt. Howard Dean also planned to meet with the group later today.

Our Bill Schneider has more on how the situation in Texas is being used as part of a national campaign to galvanize the party's grassroots.

BILL SCHNEIDER, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The redistricting war in Texas has gone national. Several of the Texas Democratic senators who have been boycotting the legislature showed up in Washington, where they joined forces with moveon.org, a liberal advocacy group.

The goal? To rally Democrats around the country to proceed test what they see as a White House powerplay.

LETICIA VAN DE PUTT (D), TEXAS STATE SENATE: We realize this is a systemic abusive power with one goal in mind, and that is to consolidate the power at the national level in Congress.

SCHNEIDER: Democrats are keeping a list of grievances, call it the four "R's."

Let's hear it from one aggrieved Democrat (BEGIN VIDEO, VOICE-OVER by Schneider)

GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA:It started with the impeachment of President Clinton, when the Republicans could not beat him in 1996.

SCHNEIDER: First "R," removal.

DAVIS: It continued in Florida, where they stopped the vote count, depriving thousands of Americans of the right to vote.

SCHNEIDER: Second "R," recount.

DAVIS: This year, they're trying to steal additional Congressional seats in Colorado and Texas, overturning legal redistricting plans.

SCHNEIDER: Third "R," redistricting.

DAVIS: Here in California, the Republicans lost the governor's race last November. Now they're trying to use this recall to seize control of California just before the next presidential election.

SCHNEIDER: Recall. That makes four. That same list appears in a new MoveOn.org newspaper ad. Clinton, Florida, recall, redistricting.

The idea is to revive Democrats' outrage over impeachment and Florida and stoke it with new grievances.

Republicans say the four "R's" are really two "P's" pessimism and protest, a destructive kind of politics.

But Democrats see it as a way to rally the base for 2004. They see the hand of one sinister figure behind all those grievances, the fifth "R."

RODNEY ELLIS (D), TEXAS STATE SENATE: Karl Rove, a government employee, has made calls to members of the Texas Republican leadership saying, We want additional seats in Congress, so you all need to go through a redistricting again. (END VIDEO)

SCHNEIDER: Call it Rove Rage. Democrats are counting on it to bring their supporters to the polls next year. Votes "R" us. How about that?

WOODRUFF: I don't know if I can handle all this alliteration and onomatopoeia, what we learned back in English class.

SCHNEIDER: Exactly.

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