Rep. Henry Hyde Dies, but His Precint Worker, Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúniga (MAMZ), Lives On

One of Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga's (MAMZ) first Republican Congressional candidates and patrons has died. Former Rep. Henry Hyde, the Illinois Republican who steered the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton and championed government restrictions on the funding of abortions, died Thursday. He was 83. Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga, who says he is now a Democrat, wrote in 2006,

I was also a Republican. As a 17-year-old precinct captain in 1988, not even old enough to vote, I helped deliver one of the district's best precinct performances for Henry Hyde. I had a framed picture of me with George H. W. Bush. MAMZ, "The Soldier in Me," at the American Prospect

The Washington Post says today,

Hyde retired from Congress at the end of the last session. Earlier this month, President Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The White House praised Hyde, a leading foe of abortion ( . . . )

He made a name for himself in 1976, just two years after his first election from the district that includes O'Hare Airport, by attaching an amendment to a spending bill banning the use of federal funds to carry out abortions.

What came to be known as the "Hyde Amendment" has since become a fixture in the annual debate over federal spending, and has served as an important marker for abortion foes seeking to discourage women from terminating pregnancies. ( . . . ) As chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, in 1998 he led House efforts to impeach Clinton for allegedly lying about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, and then in 1999 was the chief House manager in the unsuccessful bid to win a Senate conviction. WashingtonPost

Although Rep. Henry Hyde has died, at least one of his precinct workers, Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga (MAMZ), lives on.