The roses may be yellow in Texas, but I’m wondering if the politics aren’t turning a bit purple. Apparently Texas has a case of Trumphasitis, which is a rare but deadly disease where people are rendered unable to pick up their wallets and donate to Republican candidates. The treatment for this malady is to put in a 911 call to the RNC and that’s what happened.
Just to underscore this: the RNC needed to put $1.3 million into Texas last month.
That's never happened before: https://t.co/lmEy7Nompm https://t.co/jpKkvNDnLl
— Derek Willis (@derekwillis) September 21, 2020
Texas is supposed to be an ATM for the national Republicans. Instead, they're fighting to hold it.
— The Franchise ? (@CAFranchise) September 21, 2020
Now the comedy of this, is that Trump has predicted that the GOP is going to take back the House this year, and the reality of the matter is that there are seven House seats in Texas alone, which are embattled and that is probably where the RNC money went because the Democrats are outspending them. Texas Tribune:
TV ad bookings for the fall help tell the story of the state of the Texas battlefield. The major Democratic groups — the DCCC and House Majority PAC — have announced a combined $13.4 million in reservations in the state, spanning five markets, while their Republican counterparts — the NRCC and Congressional Leadership Fund — have announced less than half that, $5.5 million. The GOP’s reservations include no defensive buys, with almost all of the $5.5 million being booked for Hunt’s race in Houston.
As for the seven seats that national Democrats are working to flip, a general hierarchy has emerged around where they are most hopeful. The 23rd District is predictably at the top, followed by three of the four other seats where they have named Red to Blue candidates: the seat of retiring Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell, as well as those of retiring Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, and Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin. The fifth race where they have a Red to Blue contender — the seat of Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston — is the toughest of the batch.
These are some races to watch. Meanwhile, Joe Biden is in a statistical tie with Trump and in ruby red Texas, that is not a good sign, to put it mildly.
I live in chipster russian roys district. He is running against Wendy Davis who ran for governor a few years back. The district is a toss up. Advertising has to be split between Austin and San Antonio as the district touches both cities in some crazy gerrymander. My daughter lives in Crenshaws district, he has one of the most gerrymandered districts in the country. They basically used maps to make sure he had just about every white person in Harris county in his district (which can be quite the challenge in a diverse city like Houston). He is still struggling. None of these districts should be competitive, only Will Hurd’s district is supposed to be competitive and Gina Ortiz is going to win that one going away.
I’ve asked myself many times, which is worse, gerrymandering or voter suppression and I can’t decide. The GOP is masterful at both.
I’ve said this before. It bears repeating. If they lose Texas, GAME OVER. And the best they’re able to send is 1.3 million to counter 12.4 million? That’s like trying to bind up a sucking chest wound with a Bandaid.
If they lose Florida, game over. If they lose Texas, it’s beyond game over. That would mark the downfall of the GOP in a major way. I don’t know if it can happen. I read all the tea leaves, that the demographics of Texas are changing, all that. Texas is hard core GOP, but it might vote for a Democrat in this cycle, since Trump is the Republican candidate. The only thing to say for certain, is that it is emphatically not a good sign about the money, here, or the statistical tie Trump and Biden are in. No way to read those facts as anything but trouble for the GOP in Texas.
Exactly, Ursula, which is what I meant by “GAME OVER”. Not this election but the entire generation is DONE if Texas goes blue this year. And that’s before you get into the suddenly competitive other states that would be just as bad to lose for Trump.
It was only a matter of time for Texas after Austin-Fort worth became a major tech hub. It was like importing blue voters.
Every dollar the GOP has to put into Texas is a dollar they can’t be putting into other states as they normally would have been and continue doing. The same is true of every campaign event held by GOP elected officials and their surrogates. Even worse for the GOP in Texas is that their iron grip on that states legislature is starting to crack. Money that would have gone to federal candidates/races is having to be spent within the state on “mere” legislative seats and state level statewide races! The GOP has long feared this could happen, but are likely shitting bricks that they are staring it in the face so soon!
Agree. I loved that tweet about how Texas is the ATM for the rest of the races. Not right now, apparently.
It’s the second largest state both in size (to Alaska) and population (to California) and there’s an awful lot of money in TX. Especially from all those oil barons. However, while there’s still time their initial push to shore things up seems to have netted a pretty lame haul for a state with so many filthy rich people!
Ronna must be delighted that she tied the RNC to trump. I know I am.
I wish I could draw. I see an image of the silhouette of Texas and a giant anchor that looks like Trump weighing it down. I love political cartoons. I think those people are geniuses.
A letter I got from the Idaho Democratic Party says that we ave outraised Idaho Republicans. Now I suspect that is because Republicans correctly figure they have the state locked up and don’t really bother donating. But it would be such fun to stage a few upsets.
I’m coming late to this party so maybe this is found elsewhere already. But if not, here it is:
there is some calculus that the Repubs don’t think their monumental level of hypocrisy is going to hurt them on the Supreme Court issue because, wait for it, quietly it is being said by party insiders that they believe they’ve already lost the Senate so who cares?
I agree with CAR, I think at this point if you look at the direction of public opinion with covid and all – I’d say it’s time to cut the lines
Can Texas flip for Biden? Here’s how I view the data…Trump is fluctuating between 45 and 47.5% of the vote. Biden is on his tail with 43.5-45%. There are 6-8% of undecided voters.
This is a picture that’s pretty similar to 2016 in many of the swing states Trump flipped…this time in reverse. Biden needs those undecideds to break for him and vote for change…that’s how we see it flip.
538 gives Biden a 1 in 3 shot. That’s not bad considering we’re flush with cash, we have some down ticket races to energize people with, and the current voter shifts we’re seeing. Fingers crossed.
Diamond and Silk are doing that: being outrageous wingers not because they believe that crap, but because it brought them wealth and fame. Shameful. http://www.acashkit.com