The Political Future of Texas

I lived in Texas for a number of years and loved every minute of it.  Texans are like no one else in the world.  It has been a conservative state for many years, even though it has had Democrat governor, like the late Ann Richards.  Even Texas Democrats are a different breed. 

There is an effort on the part of liberals to turn Texas in to a swing state.  The left turned the once great state of California into a deep blue Democrat stronghold.  Colorado has gone from a generally conservative swing state to a solid counter in the Democrat column.  The expansion of government employees moving into Virginia has moved it from Republican to not only voting for Obama but electing one of the most despicable humans on the planet, Terry McAuliffe (I don't care how you spell his name), as governor.

Florida is no longer reliable, nor is Ohio.  If Texas falls, it's bad news.

Rand Paul expressed some concern over the demographic future of Republicans in Texas, as reported by CNN:

...[D]iversity is needed not just along ethnic lines, but in appearances, too, he said.

“We need to have people with ties and without ties, with tattoos and without tattoos; with earrings, without earrings,” he said. “We need a more diverse party. We need a party that looks like America.”

That might be part of it, but most of it is the flawed message.  Effectively opposing the Statist Party means being Not Statist.  Government does not have a good solution for every problem or even most problems.  Those who wish to win elections need to emphasize the dangers of intrusive government, of the NSA, the TSA, and the militarization of police forces.

By and large, Republicans do not want to do that.  They are, as a whole, just as supportive of stupid, big-government style solutions, just as devoted to pork barrel spending, just as much pawns of the financial sector as their Democrat counterparts.  The only difference is they like tax cuts and are more socially conservative, and they usually vote against gun control.  I do appreciate their support of the Second Amendment.

The reason it may be harder to swing Texas to Democrats is that many Texans of Hispanic heritage are more socially conservative.  Gallup reports that the Democrat advantage among Texas Hispanics is much smaller than the national advantage.  That squares with my experience.  There are a lot of good, decent, hard-working people still in Texas, though it has changed much -- grown much -- in the years since I left. 

Frankly, I think the Republican Party may have outlived its usefulness.  I could be wrong.  But to change my mind, the GOP needs to fully embrace the Tea Party and libertarian ideals -- ideals Ron Paul stood for for decades.  No more big government.  If that means stepping away from some social issues, being less eager to wage foreign wars, focusing more on reducing debt and spending and less on tax cuts, and ending the war on drugs, we ought to at least have that discussion. 

I guess what I hear is Republicans talking about better government.  That isn't going to happen.  Government has an inherent tendency to suck up all available resources and expand relentlessly.  The only way to fix it is to make it smaller.