However, at the base of it all, might I offer up a different theory: In today's most recent post-mortem focused on the historic losses experienced by the so-called "Yellow Dog" Democrats ChronBlog reporter R.G. Ratcliffe reported the following quote from losing Democratic incumbent candidate for Angelina County Justice of the Peace R.G. Bowers:
"They were so anti-Obama that they just pushed one button. I said they couldn't spell R.G., so they just spelled R," Bowers said.It's hard to have people vote for you when you (and your State Party) are continually insulting their intelligence.
"You're all a bunch of dumb, stupid, mouth-breathing, inbred, illiterate rednecks....but vote for us" doesn't typically make for a good campaign strategy. Add to this a State party platform that's out of step with a majority of voters and you have a recipe for electoral disaster.
After the '08 election, when it seemed Democrats were on the verge of transforming back into a viable political party in Texas, I praised them for their move toward ideological purity within their ranks. To a large extent Republicans in Texas have mimicked that strategy to a victory in 2010. The Democrats problem is that, by and large, they have abandoned their working class roots in favor of a North East ruling class, condescending progressivism. Their current ideology is more of a mangled statism, far removed from the lean roots of liberalism that just wanted to ensure the little guy got a fair shake. All today's Texas Democrats seem to want is to take advantage of the little guy for votes, all while taxing the heck out of their employers and funnelling State money to trinket projects within urban cores. (Now with MORE world-classiness!!!)
Is it any wonder the rural areas have soundly rejected them?
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