Texas is hot against Bush!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Here are a few links to some Texas news to lighten your souls. If Texas can get riled up over Bush enough to GOTV like we have, just imagine what is going to happen in the swing states.

http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=122444&SecID=2

The first day of early voting in Travis and Williamson County brought in twice the number of people who voted early in the 2000 presidential election, according to election officials.

And while convenience is a factor for some voters, it does not completely explain the high numbers.
Cedar Park's first day numbers are four times what they were in 2000.
Swing state or not, some Texas early voters said they want to make sure their choice for president wins the White House.
" 2000 and the war in Iraq have really heightened the emotion levels on both parties,” William Lutz, a political communist for the Lone Star Report, said.
Democrats feel that they won the election and want to make sure that there's no repeat of what happened in 2000 and the war has really angered some of their base. The Republicans feel like Bush won everything fair-and-square, and they resent the attacks on the 2000 election and they support the war," Lutz said



Burnt Orange Report
http://www.burntorangereport.com/archives/002516.html

October 24, 2004
Texas Votes: Breaking Records Across the State
Much has been said of the the stunning early vote number pouring in across Travis County. This has been seen across the state's largest counties as reported by the Secretary of State's office. Though the latest numbers won't be up until Monday, it is very likely at this point that over 1,000,000 Texans have cast their ballots, over 10% of Registered voters.
So is it happening just in the urban core of Texas? A little research from the Texas Newspapers list shows that is most certainly NOT the case.
Something is different this year. Turnout is up across the state from the biggest cities to the smallest towns. There is something fundamentally different about the electorate. (I've overheard that here in Travis County, 17% of those who have already cast ballots have never cast one here in Travis County before: think students and inactive long time registered voters.)
~snip~
more


http://www.polstate.com/archives/006109.html

Nearly 700,000 Texans have registered to vote since early March, a surge driven by interest in the presidential race and hotly contested congressional races, officials said Friday.
~snip~


We have about 13 mil registered voters in Texas. About half that number is what our turn out was in 2000!

You should really read the Burnt Orange Report.. It is truly inspiring.

[AnIndependentTexan]

1. I've been trying to tell you all this

[indigobusiness]

46. Me too, I've been pounding the table - TEXAS IS IN PLAY

dammit

[bri_in_austin]

2. i have a stupid question

what does gotv stand for? i've been trying to figure it out all day!

[mhr]

5. Get Out The Vote = GOTV

eom

[KBlagburn]

6. GOTV

Get Out The Vote

[Oreo]

8. get out the vote

[welshTerrier2]

10. teach a man how to fish ...

check it out for yourself ... just enter the acronym in the search box ...

http://www.acronymfinder.com/

[mhr]

3. I Worked As An Early Vote Clerk In Richardson, TX

Of Those Voters That Asked For Assistance And I Watched Vote, They Voted 100 to 1 for Bush.

Sorry But That Is What I Observed.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

14. I don't doubt that.

There are many areas that won't show a change in Texas. The point is that there are more that will. I by no means am saying we will take the state, just that it has a really good shot of being closer then in 2000. It's all about baby steps. Give us time and I think we can finally turn it around. IF not for the NRA this year, it would have been a lot closer.

My own County is going to be red. Yet I have seen more people for Kerry then even were for Clinton.

[jsaro]

16. Richardson is Solid Republican

I grew up there in the sixties and got out after high school, and not a moment too soon. My parents still live there so I visit regularly. Phony suburban "cowboy" cultural schtick, blue collar and low-paid white collar, right wing, intolerant, Rush country. I'm sure Bush will carry Richardson, as will that crack Congresscritter Pete "Streaky" Sessions. I would think that Texas trends towards Kerry would be in areas with lots of newly registered and more well educated voters. I live in Austin and would like to hear about what people think about Kerry's chances of making Texas close. I don't think there's much chance of Kerry's winning, but it would be great if it were Bush-Kerry 52-48, instead of 60-40.

[RB TexLa]

27. Martin Frost????

How did they vote in the Sessions/Frost race? If your precinct in in that congressional district.

I think Frost is going to win, judging by the number of signs and bumber sticker for him in N. Dallas and Richardson.

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DuctapeFatwa]

4. Now that's a visual I could have done without.

[pinkpops]

7. My mom is 86 - voted this year for the FIRST TIME IN HER LIFE

in San Antonio - and it was for John Kerry.

[Reciprocity]

32. Give your mom a Texas size hug from me. n/t

[phish420]

9. Wow, can you imagine??

If * lost Tx after all the stink they made about how Gore couldnt get TN (a conservative state) that would just be HILARIOUS!

[NEOBuckeye]

12. If Bush loses Texas, the election will be a rout

[Liberal Mommy]

13. Williamson County, Texas here

We voted early and people were coming and going the whole time. Let's turn Texas blue! :toast:

[GaryL]

21. Same here!

Another from Williamson.

[newyawker99]

45. Hi Momof3inTexas!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[johnnyrocket]

24. C'mon folks, let's not get dellusional.

These are Texans, after all, and this is Texas...is Kerry actually on the ballot there??

[Reciprocity]

33. More Texas bashing, nothing to see here. Move along.

[indigobusiness]

47. Texas was traditionally a Dem state until Reagan hypnotized it

We just might be waking up from the trickle down.

[bri_in_austin]

11. thanks!

It's so good to know what that means...

Anyway, I'd love to think TX will swing for Kerry, however the signs (literally) point otherwise. At the early voting location nearest my house in Austin (Congress and Oltorf), all the prez signs were Bush/Cheney.

Also, I did cold calls for the Dem Headquarters to newly registered Texans and many of them told me they were voting for Bush, and that's in Austin, which pretty much goes democratic I think.

Anyway, it would kick booty if Kerry won Texas. I'll try to keep optimistic. However, it won't matter who won Texas when Kerry wins the whole country.

[Jane Austin]

18. The part of south Austin you mention is reliably blue.

n/t

[venus]

25. There were several previous posts saying Austin

was going Kerry. But your post has got me down. Sigh..

[Weembo]

26. Don't be down

All that meant was the * people came out the night before and tore down all of the Kerry signs - Austin will go Kerry

[Reciprocity]

15. I was surprised to see this in my local paper.

Remember this is God, Guns, and Gays country.

Oh and Lufkin is in Angelina country ,deep East Texas close to the Louisiana border.


Local voters mainly concerned about economy
By HILLARY MEEKS The Lufkin Daily News

Snip
A handful of local residents who were randomly interviewed seemed to be split evenly between Bush and Kerry, but there was one thing everyone polled had in common: They are going to vote, or have already voted.

Snip
"I think Kerry would do a better job than Bush ever thought about doing. I feel like Republicans are more for the richer people and Democrats are more for us poorer people," she said.
Economy was a common thread for the local residents who were interviewed, as young and old alike repeatedly said it was the most important issue for them. Many voiced the same reasoning as Matchett: They are not wealthy, and feel like a Democrat understands that better than a Republican. Most who were concerned about the nation's current economic status are leaning toward Kerry, hoping that a new person in the Oval Office would lower gas prices or decrease unemployment.

Snip
"I voted for Bush/Cheney because I believe President Bush would make his decisions for the best interest of the country," said Annette Carswell, a claims adjuster. "I know the values of the Bush family, and they're more in line with mine ... which are Christian family values."
For more..
http://www.lufkindailynews.com/news/newsfd/auto/feed/news/2004/10/30/1099193208.18121.5428.7148.html?urac=n&urvf=10992793341880.5992331441748352

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[bri_in_austin]

20. hey

we might live in the state that bush comes from, but we matter, too!

[Reciprocity]

36. For the record..

Bush was born on 6 Jul 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut. That said I know what you meant.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

23. That was uncalled for

So, democrats that live here should just not bother to vote then?

The point of the post was that if even a solid red state like (Texas) is having second and third thoughts about Bush, that is nothing but good news for Kerry.

It's OK though I know emotions are running high.

edit.. placed blue where I meant red...

[PartyPooper]

30. Save your breath. The dude has been tombstoned.

:-)

[gjb]

31. Don't dis Texas Dems! They didn't vote for Dufus.

[Zen Democrat]

34. Relatives in Timpson and Garrison who are voting Dem this year.

They have always voted Republican, just because of God, Guns & Gays, but this year they are hurting so bad economically that it has turned their heads around. Also, one cousin has a grandson in the Guard and isn't happy about Iraq.

But there's still a huge redneck vote there in Deep East Texas, as well as in West Texas. But I think it's going to be a lot closer than a lot of people think. In fact, without the Republican brainwashing on the evangelicals, Texas would be very BLUE, in my opinion.

[ThePhilosopher04]

19. Logically, no one expects Kerry to win Texas, but...

if he can narrow the gap significantly there and in other red states, it will help his national vote total which would be key when it comes to a mandate.

[okasha]

22. South Texas is blue

It's a traditionally Democratic area, and has remained so even though much of the rest of the state has been taken over by DeLay's surrogates. I voted at a hospital on my way home from work on the first day of early voting, and patients were coming down off their floors in wheelchairs to vote. Friday, the last day for early ballots, I was at the county court house on other business, and the lines were substantial.

Young people are coming out to vote, too. There were polling places set up at both community college and university, and I'm told they both had heavy turnouts.

[npincus]

28. why assume the high turnout is for Kerry?

as much as I wish it were, I don't see anything in the post that indicates the increased voter turnout is going for our guy. Chimpy's people have been also working hard on voter turnout, so i suspect that the land of ten-gallon hats is hot for Bush.

I expect a very high turnout in swing states will go our way, but I don't have that expectation in some regions where people see G-d in the Chimp.

[lastliberalintexas]

29. Well typically

high voter turnout indicates that the incumbent is in trouble. But then no one said this was a typical election year. :-)

[Zen Democrat]

35. The Democratic vote will be higher in Texas this year than in 2000.

[jsaro]

41. High turnout in solid red states is probably better for Bush

I agree with you that high turnout is not uniformly good news for Kerry. People like my mom and her husband (good people, but total Fox-newsified Bush worshippers) would stand in line for days in a freakin' blizzard to vote for their Leader, jes' to show that the 2000 selection was LEGIT! Really, that's the mind set. They're Rush Lim-bots, but there are lots of 'em in Bush country. They get such a deep satisfaction from CONFORMITY, that they will deny all doubts and legitimate concerns just to be on the winning TEAM. Ugh! Groupthink at its worst.

[Bridget Burke]

42. My neighborhood has far more Kerry than Bush signs.

People around here rarely wear ten gallon hats, either.

Guess you can't see that all the way from New Jersey.

[cjbuchanan]

50. If you look at the counties that have high early voting numbers

Most of them are strong Dem counties. Harris (Houston),Dallas and Travis (Austin) counties had almost double the 2000 Early Voter turnout. Same can be said about El Paso and a bunch of counties along the Mexican border. These are areas Dems do very well in.

With the exception of Collin county (the most conservative county in Texas as far as voting history) Republican counties have not shown as much of an increase in Early Voting.

So could Texas go for Kerry? The odds are still very much against it, but if Texas could get the vote closer then it was in 2000 (59 Bush 38 Gore), then that will be a big win for Texas Dems. Who knows, it might even make the national party take the state party seriously again. Also, every Kerry vote in Texas helps out the popular vote total nationally. Finally, there are a lot of good Dems running for congress and other down ballot positions, so the more we get people to the polls the better their chances of winning.

Just one last reminder, if repugs were not afraid of Texas Dems, why would they have pushed so hard for an illegal redistricting plan? They knew they could not win in a fair fight, so they stacked the deck.

[MarieP]

37. Bush Could Win Texas by Smaller % Than Expected

Just returned from Texas last week after visiting relatives & friends. Last Sunday the Waco paper endorsed Kerry/Edwards. All my relatives (except for my niece's republican husband who isn't registered to vote..ha!)voted for Kerry in early voting. The only one of my friends who voted for Bush is a brain-washed religious freak (while she was watching the Obama/Keyes debate she was saying "amen" to everything Keyes said...good thing there were several tv's in the house).

So it would be sweet justice if Bush won Texas by a smaller than expected margin.

[ibegurpard]

43. And that's MUCH more important than people give it credit for.

If we win the electoral vote, which I'm cautiously optimistic we will, a loss or smaller-than-2000 popular vote margin would be a difficult obstacle for a Kerry presidency to overcome. If we can reduce the Bush margins in EVERY red state from 2000 then we could do BETTER than the 500,000 we won by in 2000.

[Zero Division]

38. Excellent, motivated Dem voters in red states means a greater

chance of winning the popular vote convincingly.

[TriMetFan]

39. I have heard that Texas is a lot close then what we think.

I have family that lives up and down I35 Dallas to San Antonio and they say they have been seeing a lot of Kerry stickers and signs. I think that My old home state is going to be some thing like 55% Bush 45% Kerry.

[krkaufman]

44. Hilarious..!! ==> "a political communist"

Hilarious. Reality mimics art.

" 2000 and the war in Iraq have really heightened the emotion levels on both parties,” William Lutz, a political communist for the Lone Star Report, said.

Bill Maher made a similar joke about Ann Coulter on last Friday's 'Real Time' (i.e. "communist" in place of "columnist"), but I expect this one was just a typo. Maybe.

[mad_hatter]

48. I live in Williamson County

Had to wait in line for over an hour to vote. I was a partisan hack. Voted strait Democratic ticket. Realistically I don't believe we can take the state. Too many neo cons in Texas right now. I think we can make it considerably closer than the polls show though.

[in_cog_ni_to]

49. Can you just imagine the HUMILIATION

if the idiot loses his home state??? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Remembr how the repukes made such a BIG DEAL out of Gore losing Tennessee? Well, the chimp losing Texas would be even WORSE because he IS the prez and he spends every friggin' weekend there! I can hope. I can hope. Come on, Texas! Humiliate the hell out of him, would ya? Pleeeeeeeease? :hi:

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

51. For those of us who live in Texas...

defeating Bush here might serve an additional sweet revenge: may be the peevish child will leave Texas if we dont hand it to him :)