A shocking new survey of registered Texas voters by a Houston-based GOP pollster finds that the Texas Republican Party is in very serious trouble -- and what was once the reddest of the red states is in imminent danger of going blue, absent a major shake-up. I've just posted to the web my exclusive column about the findings. Excerpt after the jump:
Things are tough all over for Republicans these days, but at least the GOP is holding tough in Texas, right? After all, the state party's Web site asserts, "Without a doubt, Texas is the strongest Republican state in the nation."It's an empty boast. A shocking survey of registered Texas voters taken after the November election shows that the party that has dominated Lone Star politics for a generation is in very serious trouble.
The statewide poll of 636 active voters by Hill Research Consultants, a Houston-based Republican polling firm, is a five-alarm wake-up call to the GOP. Among its findings:
•Half the voters polled believe the state is on the wrong track; only 37 percent believe Texas is headed in the right direction.
•On nearly every measure, the Republican brand is "significantly less appealing" than the Democratic one.
•Voters believe the GOP is out of touch, lacks common sense and is more interested in looking out for special interests than the common good. When voters were asked which party "champions the needs of homeowners, small businesses and average taxpayers" - classic GOP constituencies - Democrats score an astonishing 13 points higher.
•Republicans lead in negative characterizations ("arrogant," "racist," "corrupt," "angry") by double-digit margins. Dems, by contrast, lead by double digits on positive descriptions like "smart," "fair," "innovative" and "party of the future." Perhaps most devastating to the GOP's future, only 14 percent of those polled agreed it was "open and welcoming" - a whopping 33 points lower than the Democrats' rating.
Read the whole thing. The news is actually even worse for Republicans than I was able to indicate in the space constrictions of a newspaper column. The support Democrats have is strong, according to the poll, whereas those who back the GOP are lukewarm. Texas is getting Obamacized, for sure.
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This debate always makes me laugh the loudest because 1) My Texas roots as Rod knows go back over 200 years 2) My memory (unlike my voting record) is like an elephant.
There was no such thing as a Republican in Texas for all itents and plitical purposes until the latter 70s-throughout the 80s into the 90s.... when a northeastern (primarily) migration came to Texas, transforming everything from its cuisine to its political landscape. Trust me, this state has always been red at heart, but it has been traditionallly-historically---blue.
Per the 1:03 post, that was of course moi.
Kirk
December 4, 2008 12:40 AM
A big problem with the Texas GOP leadership is Governor Perry's Trans-Texas Corridor Project.
yep
Perry plows forward with his plan to buy up (via eminent domain) thousands of acres of Texas farmland upon which to build a super-highway that will link ports in Mexico through the American heartland all the way to Canada. The State of Texas is not suddenly becoming more liberal; the Republicans have a real problem with the base!
I'm a little confused here as to what, exactly, the objection is to this. Okay, granted, buying thousands of acres of land via eminent domain is annoying to the landowners, I can see that, but I'm not seeing how it's a 'conservative' issue per se. (Unless it's just pissing off the population in general at Republicans.)
Is it just the size of the project? But conservatives talk a lot about doing things at the right level of the government...this really does seem to be a state-sized project. And, logically, such a road could pay for itself fairly quickly, if it was a toll road, especially if other states followed suit and linked up.
Border states always want some way to make money from the border, and they're prohibited from taxing it, but a toll-superhighway designed to run from the border to the north of the state (With presumable linkages to other states highways.) that is 95% non-Texas traffic would seem a good way to raise money. It's a 'usage fee' libertarians are always yammering about, and, as an added bonus, one mainly on non-Texans.
Is there some objection to this besides the eminent domain thing?
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