Note: I am, like, the worst DK diarist ever. I think the last one I wrote was in 2008. But I'm getting pissed, and must make my thoughts heard in something bigger than the 140 characters allotted on Twitter. Tangentially, as a Yankee born and bred, I never ever thought I'd be defending anything about Texas.
So, we're hearing a lot now about some Texan nutjobs wanting to secede. Yeah, they've hit 20,000 on their petition. There are 25 million+ Texans. I'm sure your home state, be it blue or red, has an equal number of idiots. Mine, Pennsylvania, certainly does.
Some folks have suggested that Austin can stay, but we should let the rest of Texas go. I know it's in jest, but it reflects a wider attitude.
In the meantime, Texas Dems are doing some AMAZING things.
My area has a wonderful state senator, Wendy Davis, who we re-elected. Fort Worth has councilman Joel Burns, whom you might remember from his"It Gets Better" speech in front of the city council.
The mayor of Houston, Annise Parker, is an out lesbian. Yes, in Texas. And before y'all say "oh, but that's Houston," it's still in Texas.
In San Antonio, Mayor Julian Castro's "Pre-K 4 SA" passed, and his brother, Joaquin, was elected as a U.S. congressman. You might remember the Castro brothers from the Convention. Still in Texas.
In North Texas, we're sending Marc Veasey to Congress. Nicole Collier will be representing us in the Texas House.
It's not enough, but it's a start. And it was done without much support from national Democratic groups. We need more from them. We need them to help find and support challengers for districts. We need their, and your fundraising help. It's one thing to fundraise for high profile races, but we need it here - in Texas.
We know the Republicans are fearing our demographic shift. They should fear more than that. While we can hope we preserve Latino Democrats, we need to embrace young hearts and minds, as well. We know that even evangelical younger people don't have the same opinions on social issues as their elders - we can win them. The more the Republicans make themselves a party of white older men, the bigger our opportunity.
Help us. And we'll help back.
Tue Nov 13, 2012 at 11:37 PM PT: Holy crapballs. Rec list. Just as I go to sleep. Well, I'm going to bed happy!
3:45 PM PT: I'm trying to answer all the awesome comments, but DKos isn't being helpful today. :D THANK YOU ALL AGAIN!