Burnt Orange Report

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!

and where did jason stanford's comments fit into this?

Jason and I talked about a wide variety of things, mostly about the Bell campaign, but some about Democrats problems with elections in Texas. That conversation led me to think about such things again and make this post. It's not a shill for the Bell campaign. I'm not on their payroll or anything if that is your concern. I'd be sure to disclose that if I was.

Note to Edward G in regards to how "It freaks [him] out to see how much the Republican Party is siphoning off Hispanics in the Valley". Has it ever occurred to him that Hispanics, just like other racial groups, are made up of individuals that have the capacity for individual thought and just might vote based on their understanding of the world and the issues? Comments like this are one of the things that drive me crazy about the Democratic Party. There is an implicit, racist condensation toward Hispanics (and other racial groups) when these kinds of comments are made because such comments assume that "Hispanics" (apparently unlike whites) can only have one point of view (e.g. that of the Democratic Party). Much like the political disagreements that exist within "white" America, political disagreements exist within "Hispanic", "black", "Asian", etc. America.

Mr. G can make a commment like "It freaks me out to see how much the Republican Party is siphoning off Hispanics in the Valley", but if he were to substitute "white" for "Hispanic" in the same sentence, he would be looked at as some sort of freak. It could be this sort of implicit racism that is driving people away from the message of the Democratic Party into the arms of the Republican Party.

Quick prediction:

The GOP sweeps every statewide elected office in 2006, no matter what candidates the Democrats throw up there, no matter how innovative their strategies are, no matter if you try to frame this in terms of reform and good government, no matter if Republicans run lousy campaigns top-to-bottom.

Democrats lose on the ideas. Texans just disagree with the way the Democrats think. You would be the perfect example of that, actually. Texans really can't stand people like Margot Clarke and Jennifer Gale.

Well that's a good thing, because Texas doesn't depend on Margot and Jennifer. In fact, I'm not sure who depends on Jennifer, other than comedians.

Why are Margot Clarke and Jennifer Gale being lumped together anyway? They're not anything alike.