This is probably gonna make some people mad, but...

[rpannier]

I don't want to hear anybody from Texas tell me how they are being unfairly characterized as a Republican state, or that their state doesn't love scrub the way the media describes them, etc. After the most Democratic district in Texas had the chance to oust the most flagrant DINO in either house of congress (cuellar) and voted him back in office, there can be little doubt where most of Texas rests when it comes to politics.

[Jane Austin]

1. Where'dya get those straw men at?

BTW, you don't think a bunch of Rethuglicans crossed over to vote for Cuellar?

[rpannier]

5. Oh...I got it at the same place I got

the gov is a puke, the lt. gov is a puke, the majority of elected officials are pukes, the state has voted puke in pres races for over 20 years. I could go on.
When you put enough straws together it's amazing how sturdy the thing becomes.

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Apparently even the most Democratic district is still too screwed up

to be counted on. Texas appears to be a totally lost cause, forget about it.

[gr8dane_daddy]

12. Texas is Lost?

I hate having my state declared lost. News, it was never yours to lose. It was for Dems in Texas to fight for and keep. That's the same mentality that forego supposed "red" states and subsequent concentration on battleground states. However with redistricting and use of electronic voting, that fight seems a bit unfair. I applauded the Dems who went to New Mexico and Oklahoma to stop the quorum. Remember KKKarl was running campaigns down here before hitting the national scene. So stop declaring my beloved state "lost", there are those of us still fighting to save it.

[Bandit]

29. How many Democrats turned out to vote?

That answer alone speaks volumes.

[sam sarrha]

3. after the gerrymandering, there is no Democratic District.. El Paso was

connected to Austin by a 3 foot wide 425 mile long path down the middle of the freeway.. and they just took out the democratic suburbs all over El Paso..

they picked up 7 congressmen.. they had gerrymandered just 2 years before.. also

dont blame the Democrats.. they left the state to prevent a Quorum to stop the vote on that.. they didn't have a chance

[rpannier]

4. And one returned to give them that quorum

They never would have been able to do that if the guy hadn't returned.
Besides that it doesn't change the fact that in a solidly Dem district they voted for the DINO It doesn't change the fact that the Governor, Lt. Gov, et al are pukes. That the state legislature is dominated by pukes.

[LSdemocrat]

6. Texas has open primaries

In other words, the Repubs came over and voted for Cuellar in the "Democratic" primary

[rpannier]

7. That doesn't change the fact that

it has one of the largest Democratic majorities in the state, to the point where pukes don't even run candidates for congress. In a district like that it shouldn't matter, the real Dem should win.

[Neil Lisst]

13. the real Dem is one the people of the district choose

You're not clear on what a Democrat is. It's who the people elect as a Democrat.

[rpannier]

18. I suggest you check his voting record

And that he supported scrub in 2000 and he supports scrubs economic plan. He is the Dem that was sitting on the republican side of the aisle in scrubs SOTU.

Organizations who follow the voting records of legislators gave cuellar between 44 and 67 in terms of his voting record. (He voted with the republicans somewhere between 33 and 56 percent of the time on issues -- which means he voted with the republicans more times than Ben Nelson)

This primary was no secret around the country. It was well publicized. Donations came from all over the country for both men.

The majority of the national party opposed cuellar. If you were unaware of the differences between the two men and their voting records, that's on you, as the majority of DUers were aware of both men and the stakes involved with the election.

If you think that makes cuellar a real dem, well you're entitled.

[Neil Lisst]

26. No, let's all check in with you each time, to find out who is a Dem

Because there's really no other way of knowing without you opining.

The Democratic party is one size fits all. If you cannot accept that, you've got the problem, not the party. I get a real chuckle out of people like you who think it's their prerogative to define what is and is not a Democrat. Why don't you concentrate on YOUR house member and let the people of other districts decide what is and is not a Democrat where they live?

It's called democracy, and you might want to give it a chance.

[Moody Bluz]

8. Tell me about it!

I live in Texas. I feel like the only one around here who has not been taken over by the pod people.

[Jane Austin]

9. Then get thee to a meetup or your local Democratic club.

You'll find there are lots of good, non-bushbot, people here.

[martymar64]

14. Come to Austin

Even though we've been gerrymandered, we're still weird!

[Greyhound]

16. OK, Austin can stay. Besides isn't Kinky running from there? n/t

[Neil Lisst]

10. You do understand, don't you, that only voters in the district vote?

And while we're at it, those Dems in that district are entitled to decide what a Democrat IS in their district. The party was once a majority party, and we did it by being inclusive, not by letting one view of the party exclude others.

[rpannier]

19. No kidding

You mean that only voters in his district can run???? Wow!!! I never knew that (sarcasm).


This is a district that is strongly Democratic, to the point where no republican even bothers to run. If the people in that district want scrub's new b/f to be their rep that's fine. It's their option. But I don't want to hear from Dems in Texas about how their state is not that republican or that supportive of scrub. Because the most Democratic district voted for a representative that campaigned for scrub in 2000 and has consistantly voted for scrubs economic plan.
The state votes republican for gov. lt. gov. the majority of state offices. Texas is a republican state and until the people of Texas vote otherwise, stop trying to convince others that it's not a republican state -- because it is.

PS If you wish to further doubt my assessment, look at the race for governor. The republican incumbent is polling in first, the republican running as an independent polls second, the Democrat polls a distant third.

[Neil Lisst]

27. so, the essence of this thread is you want to complain to Tx Dems

Got it. Very useful. Now we know you won't have it, Tex Dems claiming Texas isn't Bush country.

BTW, where did you find that straw man?

[Freddie Stubbs]

11. Actually, there are Democrats who vote with the GOP more that Cuellar

TX 28: Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX): more liberal than 56%
LA 03: Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA): more liberal than 55%
UT 02: Rep. Jim Matheson( D): more liberal than 54.3%
GA 08: Rep. Jim Marshall (D): more liberal than 49%

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/02/national_journa_4.html

[rpannier]

20. Are any of them from districts that the republicans don't run challengers?

TX-28 is a district that has no republican running in November.
Do their representatives sit with the republicans at the SOTU?
Did their representatives campaign for scrub?
Do their candidates make kissy face with scrub?

There's a world of difference between a district electing a moderate or conservative Democrat in a district where there's a viable opposition party and a district doesn't. TX-28 has no republican running in November.

My Dem friends from Texas that live here in Korea and many Dems at DU will tell me how Texas isn't really all that republican a state. The state hasn't voted for a Dem candidate for Pres in over 25 years, they have a rep gov, lt. gov, and the majority of other statewide offices also go to republicans. To say that Texas is NOT a republican state is delusional (IMO).

[Freddie Stubbs]

28. They all represent RED districts

so they are always vulnerable for GOP challengers.

[atommom]

15. Well, gee, I'd imagine most Texans who read DU are already

feeling pretty frustrated with the state of affairs. I don't see how this kind of post is going to help. :shrug:

[rpannier]

21. Well, gee, then maybe they should stop telling everyone that

Texas isn't really a Republican state. That's a start. In '04, there was at least one post that actually said they thought Kerry could win Texas.
I realise it can be frustrating living in a Republican state -- I lived in Indiana for a brief period and I lived in Colorado Springs (which, while not a state was arguably the most conservative mid-sized city in the north in the early 90's -- Focus on the Family was headquartered there at the time. I think they still are.)
But people need to face the facts, Texas IS a republican state and you need look no further than their elected state officials or the polling for this years governors race. This 'primary' is just further proof that Texas is a bastion of the republican party.

[atommom]

25. I think what they're really saying is that they (and their friends) are

not ready to give up the fight and declare Texas red for good. There are people there working hard to turn things around, much are there are here in Kansas. They can see how bad the situation is. From their vantage point, they can see that even better than you can. Therefore, I still don't see the point of posting to tell them their state sucks. Shit makes the flowers grow, but we red-state Dems are already up to our chins in it.

[cpamomfromtexas]

17. How odd, nearly everyone I talk to in TEXAS HATES BUSH

[rpannier]

22. And yet...

scrubs new best friend wins the Democratic primary. The governor's race is a two person affair between the republican governor and a republican running as an independent, while the Dem polls at under 20%.

[XemaSab]

23. 5,501,496 people in the state of California voted for Bush.

4,526,917 people in the state of Texas voted for Bush.

Think on that.

[rpannier]

24. Yet, Kerry still won in California

Yet, in districts that are predominately Democratic, scrubs b/f's don't get elected.

Oh BTW: There are more people in California. And both Senators are from the Dem party. Most public officials are Dems.

World of difference.

[last_texas_dem]

30. Most Democratic district?

I believe I read that the 28th district voted 53-47 for Shrub over Kerry in '04. There are more Democratic congressional districts in TX.

It's oversimplifying the matter to say that because the DINO won in a Democratic primary that all these other things must be true. For one thing, consider Texas's open primary and the fact that Republicans didn't have any real high-profile races to worry about in their primary, so many across the state voted in the Democratic primary.

Also, consider that it's a misnomer to judge the liberalism of a district simply because they always elect a Democratic Congressperson. As I mentioned earlier, TX-28 voted for Shrub over Kerry. (For another comparison, my home county has only Democrats in all of the local offices as far as I can remember, but gave Shrub 64-percent of the vote in '04.)

Additionally, consider that even generally liberal Democrats in TX-28 may have agreed with some of Cuellar's DINO positions on issues like "free trade" because of the particular circumstances of their hometown, Laredo. I believe this race was more of a competition between voters supporting a Laredo-based politician and voters supporting a San Antonio-based politician, with politics coming in second in consideration. Cuellar got his larger-to-begin-with base to turn out better than Rodriguez did. I don't think very much more can be read into what happened in this race.

And really, I don't see how the actions of voters in one of thirty-two Congressional districts show where the state as a whole is coming from. I think this is an improper way to judge a state's political trends in any state with more than one congressional district.

You'll see no argument from me about whether Texas is currently a "red" state. We definitely have more Republicans and Republican-supporting independents than we have Democrats and Democrat-supporting independents. But even red states sometimes elect Democrats on the state level and no state is permanently locked into being one "color." Texas's long-term trends towards turning "blue" look better than many other states.