Addressing Beto’s GOP Elephant in the Room

Texas was supposed to go blue this year. Instead, Republicans ran rampant, and now we’re about to be crushed in redistricting. What happened?

Today, Beto O’Rourke put out an email blast explaining why Texas did not see the giant blue wave we were expecting. If you don’t subscribe, you can read it here:

The TL:DR of this is:

1. The Democratic Party didn’t show up, either face to face or digitally, in Texas.
2. The national message for Democrats doesn’t work everywhere, and didn’t work in Texas.

While I don’t disagree with either of these sentiments, I don’t think recognizing them is enough. Why? Because Beto did all these things. He raised a ton of money in a state with race and age demographics that definitely veer Left. And you know what? He still lost to this guy.

“If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you.” — Lindsey Graham

Ted Cruz has done almost nothing for the state of Texas, and likes to bloviate on Fox News about culture wars issues. The world wonders why we elect this guy. And this guy.

Dan Patrick wants to sacrifice your grandma for the economy.

Seriously, Texas. We’ve elected some of the world’s most obnoxious and destructive politicians. Even other Republicans hate the Republicans we somehow reelect. When East Texas Republican House member Louie Gohmert contracted Covid-19, he literally blamed his mask.

Why is this bar so low? Can Texas not do any better than this?

Democrats talk a fair game about what we want government to do for people. Healthcare for all. Equal justice and protections under the law. All worthy causes to tackle. But we seem to be allergic to talking about a major issue almost all Texans think about:

Their paychecks.

What industries pay Texans’ paychecks?

Let’s look at this by Texas region. You can find data that supports these points on the Texas comptroller’s website.

Oil and gas is the #1 industry in Texas, and one of its biggest employers. It dominates regions like the West, and is a common sector on the Gulf Coast and Southeast. We have a lot of mining and chemical refineries. When you look at the data, the more prevalent oil and gas and refining is in a region, the redder it is. I don’t think this is a conspiracy. Oil and gas is a common but not completely dominant employer in Houston, which might explain why the most diverse city in America votes blue, but not by much, and mostly in local elections. Harris County was almost decimated by a hurricane, and yet 43% of this county voted for a climate change denier who believes windmills cause cancer. Think about the mental gymnastics you have to go through to justify that in your brain. To put this in perspective, Trump only received 27% of the vote in very diverse LA County.

In the Alamo region, the military is a big employer. Then you have companies that make money off of the military, like USAA and defense contractors. When military budget cuts happen, it can impact the San Antonio economy. That might be why a region that is over 70% Hispanic isn’t the giant Democratic powerhouse one would expect. I grew up in Bexar County. My dad worked for a defense contractor. At the time, San Antonio was scared that Bill Clinton was going to cut military bases (which he did). When you lose a military base (like the 18 currently in Texas), countless businesses around it and associated with it close. Bexar County votes blue locally, but doesn’t swing its voting weight, given how big it is. 40% of Bexar County went for Trump. Not a majority, but just enough.

Now let’s look at the border. The border traditionally doesn’t vote in high numbers, and 47% of these voters chose Trump despite the region being heavily Hispanic. A big employer on the border is *surprise* border patrol. Healthcare is also a big employer along the border, as is oil and gas. Support for Trump in this region is mind blowing until you realize that these industries do better financially under Republicans.

Is it because “they” are ignorant” or “too religious?” Is it because they’re “too embedded in machismo” for the Democratic Party?

Seriously?

No. Texas elects baddies because we support a lot of the industries that other Democrats do not like throwing a lot of money behind, such as fossil fuels and the military. To be fair, our tech sector is growing, as is healthcare, green energy, and finance. Austin is a giant tech hub and voted for Biden in huge numbers. Dallas also has a technology sector and is a finance hub, and showed the biggest swing for Biden in the state. These correlations are not surprising.

So while I do think some Texas conservatives truly care about pro-life issues and some really are racist, most people care that they can put food on the table. People want to be able to buy a house and a cool car or truck, and maybe save some money up for college funds or retirement. It’s not really rocket science (unless you are in the aerospace industry, which is also an employer in Texas). Somehow these Republicans have figured out their corporate welfare plan to attract businesses. Then they distract us with cultural wedge issues and we’re unfortunately forced to take the bait.

Please stop sending me 800 emails and texts a week asking for money

So Beto says we didn’t reach out to people enough. He said we should have found a way to knock on doors and talk to people, which as a pregnant lady during a pandemic, I resent. I already feel inundated by the Democratic Party. I received more texts and emails from them than my own family and friends. Is that the entirety of the issue? Was it that there weren’t enough people involved, or is it that people feel jaded about politics in general, and aren’t going to get involved unless they feel personally impacted?

Jobs matter. The economy of Texas matters. Texas Democrats don’t have to get in bed with the oil and gas industry. We absolutely do not have to waiver on support for universal healthcare coverage, fair policing, or immigration reform. But we need to figure out a way to deliver high paying jobs the same way the oil and gas industry does. We need an answer to Greg Abbott’s social media posts touting the new employers moving to our state. This doesn’t require us to abandon our social principles as Democrats. It requires us to actually think about and consider the economy in our platform and messaging. If we don’t, we’ll just be dismissed as “socialists.” That’s not going to work in a state like Texas, no matter how diverse it is.