Texas Rep to become a Republican



This must be the player to be named later in the Barbara Hafer trade:



"Texas Rep. Ralph Hall, who was first elected to the U.S. House in 1980 as a conservative Democrat, joined the GOP Friday. Hall had long been the focus of efforts to get him to cross the aisle. For years, he refused, saying that he had started life as a Democrat and wanted to work to move his party back towards the center..."



More evidence that Bubba Is Gone Forever. Chalk this one up to the Tom DeLay re-

redistricting.



Republican map makers in the Legislature gave Mr. Hall more than 430,000 new constituents in their proposed redrawing of congressional boundaries. They removed Tyler and Longview from his 4th District and added Texarkana.



Throw in a dose of Hardball DeLay Style:



Hall said GOP leaders denied his appropriations requests: "I've always said that if being a Democrat hurt my district, I would either resign or switch parties.



Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said Mr. Hall's move will have little effect in Congress: "Ralph Hall has been a Republican in everything but name for more than a decade."



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Now if we can just get rid of Zell Miller...