A Change of Pace

An opinion piece by Todd Robberson raises Democrats' hopes for the upcoming Texas election of Governor, raising much needed awareness for the normally republican-dominated position. Robberson notes the effect of the recent misspeaking of State Sen. Wendy Davis, who perhaps embellished her trials as a single mother to the public. A survey taken shortly after revealed Republican candidate Greg Abbott had an unsurprising 11% lead over his opponent. From both the results of that survey and the long history of voting persuasions in Texas, one might assume this election to be another solid win for the Republican Party. 

However, recent mistakes made by Abbott provide a window of opportunity for the Democratic party- an opportunity that, if seized by the people, could change the course of Texas politics and social order completely. In an effort to campaign for the upcoming election, Republican candidate Abbott toured around Texas with famous person Ted Nugent and advertised early voting. When Nugent made some inappropriate remarks on-stage, Greg Abbott refused to apologize on his behalf or even openly disagree with the statements made.

The brash rocker went on record as calling President Obama a "subhuman mongrel", offending more people than he inspired. This was clearly a bust for Greg Abbott’s campaign ambitions, who both failed to please the crowd with his star supporter, as well as refused to amend the situation with an apologetic public announcement.  The writer of this article goes on to say that he predicts this will heavily influence voting this year, giving Davis, and the Democratic Party, a fighting chance.

Robberson seems to be targeting the democratic or unaligned population of Texas, in hopes of promoting voters to cast their ballots for Davis. This would be a huge change of political ideology for Texas. Surveys taken since then have indeed shown an increase in support of Davis and a corresponding decrease for Abbott’s potential voters. I agree wholly with the author, and hope that this example of poor judgment inspires voters to make a revolutionary change in Texas Politics and add some new perspective to this conservative southern state before we fall behind.

Out with the old, in with the Blue

A recent piece written by Jonathan Tilove highlights the decades of nearly unchallenged Republican control in Texas politics, and how their firm hold on our state has effected the representation of the people. Voter turn-out in our beloved State is a shamefully low percentage, especially compared to the other states in our Nation. Nearly every other state has a higher percentage of their population casting their ballots, while Texas "ranked 48th in the nation in voter turnout for the 2012 presidential election". Despite the fact that 62% of Texas citizens are registered, only 36% actually voted in 2010. 

What's truly upsetting is that of the people that did vote, demographic studies show that the minorities (the immigrants, the youth, the less well-educated, and the people of lower socioeconomic class) are not getting their say, and aren't so much minorities anymore. It is these groups of people that vote majority democratic, and yet we haven't had a Democratic Governor since 1994. 

However, it hasn't always been Republican dominance in Texas Politics. According to the Texas Civil Health Report, "In the 1950s, over 70% of Texas voters identified with the Democratic Party." The article explains this effect is, in part, due to the redistricting of county lines, as well as a lack of competitive campaignes. This decline in Democratic participation, and citizen participation in general, can only mean the halt of progress. Without the demands of the people, and the votes of the educated and involved, we simply cannot hope for our state to rise above the rest. I hope this article will draw the attention of Texans who have forgotten their civil duties, and inspire them to vote for the next upcoming election. Maybe then we can see change in our government.