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As "red" states go, Texas is a very long way from attaining "battleground" status. It's been nearly two decades since any Democratic candidate won any statewide office, a dry spell that stretches to a quarter-century for U.S. Senate candidates. The state legislature is dominated by Republicans, and the last Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state was Carter in 1976 -- before the South finished realigning.
And yet, as Texas becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, and cities like Austin and Dallas become more progressive, Democrats have begun to look anew at the Lone Star State. A Democratic effort called "Battleground Texas" has begun to do something the party didn't even consider for the better part of two decades -- create a meaningful Democratic infrastructure in the state. Jeremy Bird, the former national field director for President Obama's re-election campaign is reportedly heading up the multi-million dollar effort.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) was asked over the weekend about whether his state might become electorally competitive in the near future, and he literally laughed out loud at the possibility, calling it "the biggest pipedream I have ever heard."
To explain just how preposterous, Gov. Perry summons the example of the state's two arch rivals, the University of Texas and Texas A&M, his alma mater, whose colors are maroon and white.
"The University of Texas will change its colors to maroon and white before Texas goes purple, much less blue," he said in an interview on the edges of the National Governors Association winter summit in Washington, D.C.
Texans, Perry added, will "never" back a party that believes in "government providing more and more."
It's obviously speculative, and I'm sure Perry knows infinitely more about Texas than I do, but "never" is a long time, and some Lone Star State Republicans aren't quite as certain.
This item caught my eye the other day.
Last June, the Democratic Party of Texas took what it hoped will be the first step toward regaining a foothold in the state when it elected Gilberto Hinojosa -- an energetic and well-respected former county judge -- as the group's first Hispanic chairman.
Under his leadership, the party has begun what it calls "rebranding in the fullest sense of the word" and is attempting to take the first steps toward regaining relevance by hiring additional staff and lining up fundraisers to pay for an expansion of its reach.
Texas Democrats are hoping to recruit a strong candidate to pit against Perry in next year's gubernatorial race -- perhaps San Antonio Mayor (and 2012 DNC keynote speaker) Julian Castro or Wendy Davis, who is seen as a rising star in the state Senate.
But they also already have their eyes set on a more improbable target: the 2016 presidential race. And they are strangely sanguine about their chances of at least making it interesting.
Obviously, speculating about the next presidential election is pretty silly, but Steve Munisteri, the chairman of the Texas Republican Party said if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee, "I would say that this is a 'lean Republican' state but not a 'solid Republican' state. I don't know anyone nationally who's scoffing at this."
Well, anyone other than Rick Perry, that is.
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I hope Hillary gets the last laugh. Just saying...
Wasn't that long ago when some Republicans said being a blue state wasn't a permanent diagnosis. Reminds me that we need to be sure to hold on to what we have, but also need to support rationality in the Lone Star state as well.
Perry is not well liked in Texas. Then again, he wasn't well liked last election, but faced a field split between a Democratic candidate and an Independent. No matter how unpopular, just having the R behind his name will give him a victory if the field is split again.
As for "never," don't forget that for Perry, the Earth is only 6,000 years old, so he's using a rather compressed definition.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57571199/where-will-the-sequester-cuts-hit-your-community/
Whom will be hurt by the sequester ....
In states like California, Texas, New York, and Florida, those cuts look particularly dramatic:
There are also implications for job training, child care, and victim protection:
I think his brain is compressed too.........wait a minute!.........maybe.....oh could it be?..........yes!.....yes it is!........It is a VACUUM!
Maybe Rick Perry will pray for relevance after he's done praying for rain, and shooting at imaginary wolves with his jogging pistol. Yee-Hah!
I am sure they will put policies in place to encourage liberals to "Self Deport" before any serious changes happen...either that or try and secede again
Because Texas has brought in a lot of outside workers the culture isn't as backward as you think. I was born in Colorado but have lived most my life in TX. Most people living in Houston were not born in TX. Up north here in Denton the city is quite green and progressive. It helps having a great liberal arts college in town.
Whatever it takes to stop the backward "thinking" that leads Texas to jail people for marijuana is needed. Red to purple means nothing if it's only national politics and MSNBC talk show material. Texas edits school textbooks, so some overnight conversion to modern times would shock the heck out of me...
I think the wave of the future is not to convince Republicans to vote Democratic but to recruit Republicans to the Democratic side and I think with the current crazies in office it shouldn't be that hard. My hope for Ohio is that it will no longer be a swing state but simply a blue state and Kasich is helping the cause.
Red to purple might sound good, but religuluoun to reality sounds so much better. Whatever it takes to wake them up is what needs to happen.
I just read an article on Science Daily hat says spiritual experiences immediately make people more liberal. We need to give some spirit to the Lone Star state.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225131532.htm
The article makes a huge amount of sense. I have often wondered at the link between religion and the GOP, this article makes that seem a little more understandable.
The news keeps it up with that this is the Tea Party rampage against government that is a load of crap. When what we are really having is the rich bastards and Wall Street rampage against government. Because the rich bastards just want the money spent on themselves for their own personal interests so they can get wealthier at the cost of others. If Republicans got into the White House with Senate and Congress majority, you would see the Republicans spending like they were crazy and giving big tax cuts for rich bastards only. In addition, continuing to hand that load of deceptions and lies to everybody else. And everybody else’s living conditions would continue to deteriate. Isn’t it time to stop this false Tea Party concept?
It's WAY past time... but doing it in some of these areas... geeze. I think it's way past time we dump the electoral college go to a straight up vote
Texas used to be blue, then LBJ put the nation ahead of party, passed the Voting Rights Act, etc, and guess what happened.
So, all we need is a Republican to put- oh, fuggedaboutit!
Texas was "blue" the way the rest of the South was "blue." The fact that the local power structure termed themselves "Democrats" has nothing to do with them actually being Democrats. They may have changed the labels on the bottle, but the contents are what they always were.
Governor Perry may laugh but he may be hard to hear over the sound of other people laughing at him. (obamasay.com)
I will personally guarantee this. RICK PERRY IS WRONG. There will be a time when Texas votes for a statewide office holder who is a democrat. That time will be way before UT changes its colors. In fact, it was not that long ago that Texas DID vote for a democrat (Ann Richards). I know people like Rick Perry think two or three decades is a long time, but in the overall realm of things it is NOT. It is a blip in time. In fact Texas HAS been blue in Perry's lifetime. It probably won't be blue in his remaining life, but probably in his childrens or certainly grandchildrens.
For the record, it was not that long ago that some of the bluest states in the country voted for Ronald Reagan, including California, New York and Massachusetts. Howard Dean was right in trying a NATIONAL approach to turn people to the correct side. Do not let the other side think certain races are a give me. Make them earn it and the right wing nut jobs will make it easy with Christine ODonnel, Murdouch and Akin.
I'm from Austin. Rick Perry is FULL of hot air. He actually believes that Texas could survive on its own if 'granted' secession. The Medicare expansion that he is fighting tooth and claw is GOING TO HAPPEN, regardless of what he says about it. And--the Democrats that I KNOW are DETERMINED to at least turn TEXAS Purple again. It really wasn't that long ago that Texas was a SWING STATE and Presidential candidates HAD TO CAMPAIGN here.
I am moving to Texas and this little blue dot will do her best.
Just today I read in our Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Governor Walker (R) maybe making a run for the White House. I keep hoping and praying he will be indited before that happens. Please keep an eye on this and make sure you keep up with what he is doing to our state of Wisconsin. He tried to eliminate same day registration to vote which he did to have his boys vote for Rominy and Ryan. He wants to become a right to work state. We must do everything in our power to keep him and the Koch Brothers from getting the White House.
Texas will turn purple. RM blog post mentions Austin and Dallas as becoming more progressive. Austin has always been a liberal oasis in Texas. I live in Houston and politically we are definitely more progressive than the DFW area. See Annise Parker/Bill White and other democratic city leaders. The changing demographics of the state and people like Ted Cruz hellbent on making a fool of himself are turning the tide here. Perry is going to laugh because...well...because he is not very bright. Times are definitely a changin' in Texas. Mark my words.
Texas currently has the weakest Senatorial duo in the nation. Cornyn is up for reelection in '14 and if the Democrats have enough foresight to run Julian Castro, there is a very real chance that he could be the first statewide Democrat in two decades.
If Ted Cruz actually lasts 6 years in the Senate, he's toast in '18.
Don't pre-suppose that Rick Perry knows more than you about anything, particularly the state of Texico. In fact, it is logically impossible to string together the words "Rick Perry knows...." about any subject on earth.
Rick Perry may know three things about Texas, but can he remember them?
" will "never" back a party that believes in "government providing more and more."
from a state that takes more and more from "guvment handouts"....
Sequestration will cost Texas plenty (Leesha Faulkner blog)
Submitted by Leesha Faulkner on February 23, 2013 - 12:30pm
Here we are headed to a new word in our lexicon –sequestration.
What is it? In the way used most recently, a sequester is a general cut in government spending.
How did it come about? When President Barack Obama signed the Budget Control Act of 2011, it was the result of a deal made between the Administration and Congress to cut about $1.2 trillion in spending over a decade.
So, Congress formed a committee, which couldn’t reach an agreement, now the cuts will be across-the-board beginning March 1. Medicare and Medicaid are exempt. They won’t be cut.
Here’s what a recent Pew Research Center/ USAToday poll said about the sequester:
Republicans would carry the brunt of public despair if those $1.2 trillion in cuts become effective March 1.
The poll shows 31 percent would blame President Barack Obama and 49 percent would blame the Republicans who sit in Congress. The president and the congressional GOP would both be blamed by 11 percent.
Pew Center: 5.4 percent of Texas’ economy comes from federal spending.
Some things to know:
-Most Republicans in Congress voted for the sequester, part of the Budget Control Act of 2011.
- The cuts that would occur are automatic reductions unless exempted by the Budget Control Act. The president has no authority to redistribute the cuts.
- Federal education funding would be cut 9.1 percent in 2013 or $4.1 billion. For example, 28 percent of that reduction will be federal funding for individuals falling under the Disabilities Education Act.
- A study out of George Mason University predicts the cuts will cost 2.14 million jobs in the federal and private sectors.
- Department of Defense cuts would cost 326,000 jobs chiefly in the private sector and include more than 48,000 civilians who work for the Defense Department.
- The same study shows the hardest hit states will be California, Virginia and Texas.
- Closer to home, Congressman Mac Thornberry, who voted for sequestration, said Bell Helicopter and Pantex in Amarillo could be affected by the cuts.
- If the Army furloughs 39,999 civilian employees, those effects could hurt operations in Fort Hood in Killeen and Fort Bliss in El Paso, not to mention other military bases across the state.
- At least one state representative, James White, a Republican from Hillister, has reacted to sequestration by filing a bill in the House demanding a state study on the effects of elimination of federal funding on the state budget.
- House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, created a committee to look at the effects of sequestration on Texas, specifically on military bases and other defense industries and the state budget. That report was completed. Here are the results: (By the way, state Rep. Charles Perry was on this committee and signed off on the report. Linda Harper-Brown, another Republican, was the chair of this committee).
- Most state grant programs are subject to sequester, but most state grant funding is exempt. Specific grant areas subject to sequester include: agriculture, 100 percent; employment and training, 100 percent; community development, 100 percent; justice, 100 percent; energy, environment, natural resources, 100 percent; general government, 100 percent; education, 50 percent; income security and social services, 20 percent; transportation 7 percent; health, 3 percent.
- The largest grants in Texas are exempt, including food stamps, Pell Grants and school lunch.
-Largest grants to fall under sequester: Title 1 grants to local educational agencies, special education and Head Start.
-Estimated reduction of the Texas Education Agency would be about $517.6 million– the most significant.
-Higher education would feel the cuts in two major areas: research and financial aid, including grants and work study. Cuts to National Institutes of Health and defense studies would hurt university research funding.
- In health and human services the areas in Texas that would suffer: Health and Human Services Commission; Department of Family and Protective Services; Department of Aging and Disability Services; Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services and Department of State Health Services. The Department of State Health Services would suffer the most. Overall, programs would total 59 to the tune of about 327,000 clients.
- Texas Workforce Commission, where 85 percent of funding comes from the federal government and more than $50 million of that is subject to sequester, especially in the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture. Those areas funded by the Department of Labor include unemployment insurance and employment services would be hardest hit. The study predicts closing up to 15 workforce centers over the state and 351 Commission employees without work.
- The Commission’s Child Care Services would be cut the most – about $20 million. This provides subsidies for child care for low-income families, allowing parents to work or attend workforce training or get education to wean them off social services.
-Sequestration of Head Start in Texas would cost 1,463 jobs and see 7,022 fewer children served with a reduction of more than $43.8 million. Upshot? Parents lose jobs because they don’t have child care and go back on public assistance, straining the state’s social services.
And not for nothing, isn't Rick Perry the very same one who was simultaneously collecting retirement pay while drawing his regular salary? All on the taxpayer dime, too.
The idea that we are waiting around for Austin to become more progressive is a little amusing. But for the record, in their last elections respectively 2,733,784 Texans came out in support of Rick Perry and 3,308,124 Texans came out for President Obama. So then, who is the legitimate representative of this state? Perry, Obama... Mitt Romney? err... that is an unpleasant thought. It strikes me to observe Governors like Rick Perry and Ann Brewer so actively pursuing increasingly conservative policies under the justification of representing their constituencies.
Do not be duped by those numbers.... in the primaries, I voted for Paul in the primary, but voted for President Obama in the general, I did NOT vote for Obama in the general in 2008, why? I voted for Clinton in that primary, that's why... and I was a BIT tweaked he usurped her. Plus I did not realize then that McCain was JUST as 'bat-sh*t' crazy as his running mate. He had until he was defeated in 2008 seemed mean, but sane and even reasonable at times....
Hope in my remaining years we will see a Blue Governor, tired of this so called governor speaking on behalf of this great state of ours , he is embarrassing on the national scene!! Or on any scene, he wants to look like such a smart & tough guy, LOL!
I live in Houston, have ALL my life. I am extremely proud of both our current and former Mayors. This small blue dot is working hard to help turn our entire state bright BLUE.
It's always been a product of the great prosperity Texas has experienced since the end of WWII. The benefits of the mass migration to the South and West to Texas, Arizona and California have been overlooked by persons such as Perry. That plus OIL makes Texas hard core conservative. Tough to change.