You have to be a pretty lame Republican to botch a run for office in Texas.... Bush was so confident of winning his home state that in the last few weeks he only stumped here once, the day before the election. Typical Lone Star cockiness? Typical, perhaps, but also warranted: the GOP proved, once again, that it is capable of running on cruise control here.
Once upon a time, in a state not so very far away, the Democrats controlled state government from top to bottom. Then, with advent of the Reagan Revolution, Texas began the slow, inevitable drift over to The Dark Side. It's not as if Texas Democrats were incapable of stemming the tide. No, the Progressives who ran the party were, in the end, incapable of adjusting their message in a state that as a whole has never been all that Progressive. Texas, at it's heart, is a very Conservative state. Until the early '80's, Republicans couldn't figure out how to make that work to their advantage. Now, they've got it down cold. We've gone from Barbara Jordan, LBJ, Ann Richards, Jim Wright, and Jim Hightower to Tom DeLay, Dick Armey, and Ron Paul. Scary, eh?? Welcome to Texas, y'all....
Being a Liberal Democrat in Texas (outside of Austin) is a bit like being a woolly mammoth. You know you've got a good thing going, but you've heard the rumblings about an aproaching "Ice Age", and you don't like where the trend is heading. With each election cycle, Texas Republicans grasp the reins of power a little bit tighter. The state House of Representatives is on the verge of having a Republican Speaker for the first time since Reconstruction. A couple inches here, a couple there, and pretty soon there is not a Democrat to be found. (Insert phrase referencing "spitting into the wind" here...)
The reality as it stands now is that few states are more Conservative than Texas. With Shrub hailing from Texas, Republicans here can crow about their power and influence. If you have any questions, about that, please refer to last year's spate of Inaugural Balls. When's the last time anyone has seen such a plethora of boots and 10-gallon hats at a Presidential Inauguration?
Democrats here quite honestly don't have a clue. We have been routed and are in full retreat as the Republicans mop up the last few pockets of resistance. Oh, there are a few Democratic strongholds (Austin and heavily-minority areas in Dallas and Houston, f'rinstance), but at the rate we're going the future doesn't look promising.
The future for the Texas Democratic Party may be bleak, but we're still breathing. There was a time when Democrats like Billie Carr, Jim Hightower, and Bob Bullock were powerful and influential figures. Today, the party has no one who can even approach that Trinity. Until the party can develop and refine a message that resonates with Texans, and unless they can find and nurture solid, charismatic leaders, the view will remain the same. How long will it be before Democrats grow tired of being faced with the hindquarters of the Republican Elephant?? I wish I knew.
Democrats deserve to be more than flys in the ointment. The question is how to ressurect our party from irritant status and transform it into a force to be reckoned with....
