Taking back Texas

[furrbear]

Excellent diary on DailyKos on taking back Texas. We're getting closer. Dallas used to be a republican stronghold, now most elected positions are democrats. My own state senator, a 20-year republican, was replaced by a former city councilwoman from Fort Worth. Republicans have a 2 seat lead in the house 76-74. A candidate in Irving is losing to the incumbent republican by 20 votes. This is doable. YES, We Can!

Taking back Texas
by txjackalope
Mon Nov 10, 2008 at 09:47:34 PM PST

Taking back Texas. An overview

With an Obama landslide largely due to the success of both the DNC and Obama 50 state strategy it seems an opportune time to discuss how Democrats might penetrate the largest "red" state.

Current events: Obama lost Texas by 12 points. Please however remember that Texans are a nationalistic lot and Bushes have been on the ballot every year since Texas went for Carter in 76. In fact only 2 Democrats have ever been elected without Texas, Clinton(twice) and now Obama. Given enough time and organization an Obama win here could have happened, understandably they went for lower hanging fruit. Democrats did pick up seats this election though. They now stand 2 seats down(76-74) from a majority in the state house. Also Bexar (San Antonio), Dallas, and Harris (Houston) counties went Democratic in the Presidential, which they did not 4 years ago.

Why Texas?: Pushing Texas back into the Democratic territory would drive a stake into the Republican party. It is the equivalent of removing New England from the Democrats and is by far the largest Republican state.

What are the problems:

1. Democrats in Texas do not have a majority in either house nor any statewide elected officials. Ann Richards has passed on. Henry Cisneros discredited(countrywide board). There appears to be no easily identifiable Democratic leader in Texas(no one the common folk know at least).

2. Disjointed centers of power. There are basically three centers of Democratic power in Texas. Generally they are 1. South Texas and El Paso(Heavily Hispanic leans conservative)2. Dallas, Houston, and southeast of Houston especially Port Arthur(heavily African American and moderate) 3. Austin(Liberal as in very)

3. Republicans have been pushing into the traditional base of Hispanics in South Texas in order to shave enough votes to prevent anything but a very moderate Democrat from winning.

4. Unorganized county parties. Most precincts even in Democratic areas do not have a precinct chair or have an appointed one that is not capable. Big lack of training, and desire for walking around money.

5. Due to fights over tort reform, and the fact that in many areas they are the money, trial lawyers are the "face" of the party.

What are the opportunities

1. Texas is inherently Populist and not inherently Republican. Think Ann Richards style. It's populism is also of the Western variety rather than the Southern. The republican governor did not receive a plurality in his reelection.

2. Near violent opposition to the trans Texas corridor in rural areas has inflamed populations in very Republican areas against the Governor. It has also signaled a corporatist slant in Republican party politics.

3. The border fence has polarized South Texas border communities against the Republicans(but not necessarily for the Democrats), as have the Passport requirements for travel to Mexico, and an inability to contain drug violence from spilling into the U.S.

4. Smaller cities in West and South Texas, Midland/Odessa, Lubbock, Corpus Christi lean or are very Republican but are also in the heart of the U.S. wind power corridor T Boone Pickens keeps talking about. They also almost all economically collapsed when the oil companies moved the high paying engineer jobs back to Houston. They desperately need education opportunities and renewable energy, Democratic strengths.

5. Low turnout in traditional areas tends to offer a chance for organizing.

What needs to happen.

1. Needs a high profile leader. Bill White, Houston's mayor is probably the best option. He is well known and admired for his management of Houston during Hurricane Ike. He also has done very well shepherding Houston's Council along, and working on the environment. In other words he's a good manager first and a liberal second. He also worked as an Undersecretary of Energy under Clinton. Has some fame from cussing out FEMA for being too afraid to run delivery trucks overnight to PODs after Ike, thus causing many to stand in line for hours waiting for ice, food, and water. The Governor apologized for his use of the word fuck, he a normally very staid man did not.

2. Needs dedicated party building activity. Possibly need to add a layer of organization between state and county or offer some pan regional leadership opportunities within the state party (Texas has several hundred counties [254 - FB]). Need good ground game building training and need to engage people to carry it out. Basically need a grassroots element.

3. More focused platform the current one sucks read it here http://www.txdemocrats.org/...

What I think is a good start

Energy- Republicans deregulated it and now we have the highest electric rates in the country. Ercot's grid is one of the most centralized in the country and includes both the wind corridor and the big cities and industry along the Gulf and the Golden Triangle. Development of Wind Power and transmission capacity should be a top priority, and can be a countrywide example.

Health Care- Through the county indigent care system mandated by the state, each county's residents fund medical care for those that can't afford it. Yep that's right Texas has free care for the poor. Problem? it sucks and is very expensive. Democrats should run on eliminating the system and replacing it with a statewide one. It would be a good way to cut property taxes too since the costs are distributed by county level property taxes.
Also Texas has more children without health insurance than any other state in the country with many who qualify not signed up. A major push should be made to streamline the process, such as registering children at school or hospitals and cutting down the paperwork needed(18 pages of forms last I checked). Expansion of SCHIPs should happen at the federal level.

Transportation- Run against toll roads. Run against toll roads. Nothing is more antithetical to the kind of Texan that votes for republicans than paying to drive around. The trans Texas corridor(a plan to put 1000 ft wide arteries for pipelines toll roads etc. throughout the state) cuts massively against the Republicans. It involves government takings(cutting farms in half), it is all being farmed out to foreign corporations, the purpose doesn't seem to benefit anyone other than the people building it, and it pisses off the rural Republican base. Only problem is it's so toxic the republicans may/are trying to bury it. Don't let them!

Insurance- Texas has extremely high homeowners, auto, and windstorm insurance rates. All of them need strong oversight and regulation. Insurance companies are flat out over charging us.

Education- Remember how Sarah Palin is so generous by giving Alaskans 1000 bucks a year? Well Texas has a lot of state oil royalties as well and they go into the Permanent University fund. What's this fund pay for? The Universities of Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech and associated smaller schools. Maybe why there are 34 million people in Texas and not in Alaska. That being said their are two big problems 1. West and South Texas need graduate schools. 2. The fund took a huge hit in it's investments and oil and gas won't be around forever. Since Texas still owns a lot of State Land(unsettled land was still in state hands after annexation), it can make a bundle off leasing for wind power, so much so that it can set the standard for contracts and royalties off ground leases. Take that money put it in the fund and then require the Universities to spend a certain larger portion spreading out from the main campuses in Austin, Lubbock, and College Station. May even consider creating a system for small schools to get assistance from the fund directly along the lines of New York States system.

Environment- Try and convert the existing coal and pet coke projects to carbon sequestration using federal money. Because Texas has old oil fields close to where the plants are being built if there is a place to try out the injection technology it's here. Second, expand the ag exemption to include ranches and farms that convert to wildlife sanctuaries or B&B/hotel establishments and preserve the wilderness. While everyone already gets away with it, legalizing it will create rural jobs and encourage eco tourism. At the same time allow cities to end the ag exemptions of small pieces of land within built up areas.

Social Issues- Don't start a culture war because at this point we'll lose. If anything go to the right of them. What do I mean? When asked about abortion don't talk about rights which we all agree with. Instead say,"I'm not going to let murderers, rapists, and child molesters out of prison to make room for doctors and 16 year old girls, I guess my opponent will."