More than a river in Egypt

Denial as political philosophy?

Present, not voting. Hal, Half Empty

Hopelessly outnumbered, because Texas Democrats forgot to go to the polls last November

That's one way of looking at it I guess. That Democrats were swept out of power in historic fashion in 2010 not because a majority of Texans disagreed with their message, but that the vast majority who do simply forgot to go out and cast a vote. It's not that Texans look at Democratic blather such as this and are turned off. It's that most Texans are so angry they didn't mark their calendars.

Not that all Democrats are like Mr. Cobarruvias, walking around angry all the time and using clunky humor to try and make their point, it's just that even the serial block-quoters slip up and forget politics is a marketing game from time to time. That's right Democrats, it's typically not a good idea to insult the values and dreams of those people you are trying to woo. Doesn't work out too well.


Nor does it play well to tell your remaining supporters that they're dense and forgot to vote. Certainly not when it's most likely that you're not giving them much to vote for in the first place. The reality is this, at its upper leadership level (in both practical and policy terms) the Democratic party (both State and Nationally) is a rich White-folks club. Ecomentalism doesn't spawn in the ghetto, neither do "smart-streets". Poor families of all races aren't sitting around contemplating farmer's markets and taxes on their sodas.

In short, it's not that Dem voters "forgot" to go to the polls, it's that the party failed to present them anything to vote for.


As a one-time, self-identifying Democrat, this makes me sad. As a one-time, self-identifying Republican, it makes me happy. As a current, self-identifying independent, it depresses me. Because I'm a firm believer in the philosophy that Government works best when there are two strong parties with different, honest ideals providing a policy back-and-forth that weeds out the worst ideas on both sides, providing a healthy amount of gridlock and letting the truly good ideas through the firewall to keep the State from running wild, it concerns me.