Other than the presidential election, your vote in Texas matters much more than Florida (and even then, Texas is still potentially competitive if Biden really pulls of a double digit national popular vote win). There are multiple competitive Congressional districts in Texas (there are maybe 2 seats at the most in Florida that are competitive). The Texas House is approaching border line toss-up status while both houses of the Florida legislature are untouchable. And while I think the Senate seat in Texas isn't that competitive, it isn't so far off to where your vote doesn't matter either. Plus there are all the downballot judicial and county elections (all of which will be competitive at various levels).
The first thing I thought of when I heard that Abbott had made the incredible move to force all Texas counties to close all but one ballot drop box? A shocking decision which has Harris County with over 4.5 million people going from 12 to 1 drop boxes, and Travis County, where we live in Austin and which has over a million in population now, dropping from 4 to 1? The reason is that they are worried about control of the Texas Legislature. Yes, it helps suppress the vote, which also helps trump, but what really has Abbott and Patrick wetting their pants is down ballot. Democrats picked up seats in the legislature in 2018 and will pick up more this time around. With the race between Biden and trump literally neck and neck, and the Democratic turnout in Texas elections typically under estimated, as the Washington Post’s excellent articles point out (thanks, OP!), the GOP could get hammered in our legislative races. Guess what? Redistricting is right around the corner. Repugs losing control of the state’s House and/or the Senate, or even coming close, would have a huge impact on redistricting. Redistricting is the only thing allowing the GOP to still dominate Texas politics. Democrats control every major city in the state, including Dallas. They have been making big gains in the suburbs, they have always been strong in the Valley and in Central Texas surrounding Austin, and with huge numbers of people from the West Coast moving to our state (the numbers moving to Austin and Central Texas are stunning and driving up home prices like crazy), here’s another “guess what?” A majority of them are progressive and tend to vote Blue. What Abbott did was an act of desperation and he wasn’t thinking all that hard about trump when he did it, in my opinion.
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/pol...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer More at the link above
Yeah, Texas going blue is one of those things that you believe it when you see. It has happened (2018) at the local level, but not regionally or nationally. Go out and vote, but it will take a miracle for Biden to win the Lone Star.
Yep. The only places out in the Texas countryside where you see BIDEN HARRIS signs are as you approach Austin (in 2016 when I saw Hillary signs outside Lockhart on the way to our favorite BBQ spot, I thought, Wow....but it has to be an Austin thing). Basically, voting for a Democratic Presidential candidate will probably only get you jury duty. But I'm going to try. One day the state'll flip (if only someone besides old white people who blame Bill Clinton for 9/11 would vote).
I'm glad they're spending the money here for once. I'm still highly skeptical it will work but when you're polling within margins of error, there's a chance that enough people could flip to make the difference. It's a monopoly of thought in many areas of Texas where who you vote for isn't even a thought, you just check the R. Many of these people aren't really exposed to well put together checklists of the mans eff ups. Everywhere they go, all they get from their community is affirmation that the left is the devil.
I've spent the last month traveling across TX, NM and CO. I can't tell you how many trump signs i've seen outside trailer parks and houses that look like junk heaps across the rural areas of all 3 states. Colorado is the only one of the 3 that I've seen an almost equal ratio of Biden to Trump signs.
I don't think Biden has a chance in Texas. But if they use digital marketing (not TV) like Trump, at the right time in the right place, who knows. With the exception of East Texas. That place is a lost cause. I don't even think they have internet there. Don't run anything there @biden.
Drove to Victoria on Sunday and then drove around a lot of rural areas and can confirm wherever there are houses with rusted appliances and broken trampolines in the front yard there were Trump signs too. Keep voting against your interests rural Texas; the cost of all those “freedoms” you think you have is abject poverty.
I think people are underestimating how tired people are with Trump. I live in what I guess you would call south central Texas which is probably 60% white and rural but within a 15 minutes of a medium sized city and the lack of Trump signs is glaring but when Trump is mentioned there is a lot of head shaking. I will say this though there are a lot of hispanics who lean right to get that veneer of respectability or you can say whiteness so that's a thing but I believe those are the voters who will probably sit this one out. With that said I went into the donut shop this morning and everybody had on mask except 4 middle aged white guys but even they looked uncomfortable to be the only ones not masked.
Does the same argument apply in the 3rd Ward ghettos? What has voting democrat gotten those folks over the years?
Great news! About time. Everyone should read the articles in the Washington Post about why there is reason to be optimistic about Texas turning Blue. @Invisible Fan has the links in his OP. The two articles aren't long and weren't behind a paywall, at least when I checked them out (I get the digital New York Times, but not the Post - not yet). There's reason to be optimistic, but in politics, nothing's a "sure thing." It's why everyone should be sure to vote. Far too many sat out 2016 and it made a huge difference. It gave us trump. Don't sit out 2020 because you think trump can't be beaten in Texas. Win or lose at the presidential level, redistricting is coming up and like I said in my earlier post, the Texas Republican Party is freaking out about the possibility of heavy losses in the Texas legislative races. It's critically important that Democrats become a force in the legislature again and have a hand in redistricting, so get out there and vote! Less than 30 days before the election, folks.
Despite what you sense tho, every poll of likely voters in Texas has Trump by two or three points. The registered voters polls are closer but even those are about even at best. A little money could go a long way so I'm happy they're giving it the old college try but I'm not personally all that optimistic.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton outperformed the polls in Texas by over 4%. That's why Biden is putting millions into the Texas race.
