Thinking about Texas
By Karl-Thomas Musselman
This morning I had a chance to catch some coffee with Chris Bell blogger guy Jason Stanford on the Drag here in Austin. Being a bit late thanks to a cantankerous alarm clock, I didn’t recognize him at first but figured that it was one of the two guys sitting outside by himself.
In any case, it was refreshing to chat with him, about the nature of the Bell campaign, Texas strategy changes in this elections compared to last, and the importance of not taking the base for granted in Texas statewide elections anymore. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m more of a liberal Democrat when it comes to campaign candidates, styles, and strategies. I’m the kind of person that is attracted to campaigns that are innovative, grassrootsy, and maybe odd. I was a Deaniac, the closest thing to a Margot Clarke supporter on this blog, and someone who will sign Jennifer Gale’s ballot access petitions at 1:30 AM in the middle of the Drag for whatever race she may run.
But having spent some time around Byron and Andrew, as well as many of the Austin politicos, I have a greater respect for some of the more old-fashioned Democrats and campaign styles. It’s not that I think they are wrong; it’s just that I think that we keep trying them and losing. (See 2002 as Example A-F) In small local elections, be it out in the Hill Country or East Texas, getting some old LBJ family member or Texas legend to run and win can work and should be done. But the days are fading where we can continue to do that on a statewide level and hope that our never-changing strategy of huge turnout in the Valley and Urban Counties will give us a win over the other 230 counties in the state. Why? Because those two regions would be our base, and when campaigns are set up the way they have been, we offer very little for our base to get out and vote for.
Since the old way isn’t working, and we can only wait around so long for demographics to turn our way (while the GOP eats away into our traditional Hispanic support), why don’t we try something different? Let’s run against corruption in a mainstream to populist way (in a slightly less “Van Os”ian way). Let’s run Bell against Perry (like Kinky is). Let’s run a Courage against Smith. Let’s run primary challenges against turncoat/Craddickrats. On the state and federal Texas elections, let’s run on reform and good government. That’s not liberal or conservative. It’s just Good and Right. Run on that and you won’t have to worry as much about the social politics which always dog us.
To crib from Kinky, Why the Hell not?
Posted by Karl-Thomas Musselman at June 14, 2005 10:30 PM
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Or to crib from the late Sam Peckinpah/Warren Oates in my favorite film, "The Wild Bunch," simply "Why not."
Win or lose in the short run, it's crucial to stay in the game and get well practiced for the long haul.
And to crib from my late old man: "there's always the unexpected, isn't there?"
I think you are dead right. We do need to move away from the old caliche and patron style politics. As a Rio Grande Valley resident of Cameron County, I was stunned when Bush won Democratic Cameron County. There were reliable Democratic precincts in neighboring Willacy County that voted for Bush, though Kerry still won, just barely. I understand Kerry was a terrible candidate, but losing should not have happened in one of the last Democratic Bastions in Texas, but it did. It freaks me out to see how much the Republican Party is siphoning off Hispanics in the Valley. Unacceptable!
