GOP is a "National Party No More." Kevin Drum says it's a Texas party.

[BurtWorm]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_12/010320.php

TEXIFICATION....Via Jonathan Singer, the Economist's Lexington notes a delicious irony. A few short years ago it was the Democratic Party that was supposedly in danger of shrinking into a merely regional party, but today it's the GOP that looks to be headed for that fate:

The extent of the southernisation of the Republican Party is astonishing....The problem for the Republicans is that a regional stronghold can become a prison. The South has one of the most distinctive cultures in the United States—far more jingoistic than the rest of the country and far more religious.

....But for every non-southerner who waxes lyrical about southern charm there are many more who associate the South with racial bigotry and cultural backwardness. The 2006 election—which saw social conservatives such as Rick Santorum and Kenneth Blackwell go down to humiliating defeat—suggests that non-southerners have grown particularly impatient with the South's brand of in-your-face religiosity.

Kevin Phillips calls this the "Texification" of the Republican Party, and I actually prefer that term. I explained why several years ago:

The heart and soul of Republican grass roots activism can be found pretty easily: it's in Texas. The New Model radical right took over the Texas Republican party a decade ago and elected George Bush governor. They have since taken over the entire state and propelled one of their own to the presidency and another to leadership of the House of Representatives. They bring a messianic fervor to their task, and after successfully taking over the second biggest state in the union their sights are now set on the entire country. This is not a fringe group. It is the biggest, most active, most energetic, and most determined segment of the Republican party today.

Click the link to read a summary of the Texas State Republican platform for 2000, the one they passed after six years with George Bush at the helm. Like so many revolutionaries before them, they're perfectly happy to proselytize their plan to the world openly with no hemming or hawing. You don't have to guess what their goals are, you just have to read what they themselves say they are.

The South has always been with us, but it's the Texas strain of militant conservativism that's made the South so toxic in recent years. If the country is finally starting to tire of their messianic insistence that you're not a real American unless you worship at their churches, watch their sports, and raise your family the way they tell you, it's not a moment too soon.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

1. Why don't we just give them back to Mexico.

Tell them we relized that it was wrong to take it and hear, you can have it back now.

[depakid]

2. It is one of only two states that has a colorable claim to suceed.

And with all apologies to DU Texans- I wish they would. Or at the very least- keep their fundamentalism, self-destructiveness and their money to themselves and the hell away from Oregon and California.

[Paladin]

19. Apologies Not Accepted

There are hundreds of thousands of loyal Democrats in Texas. We're doing what we can to change things here, and in the long run, trends are in our favor. Not that you'd ever know that from a typical Texas-bashing thread like this one. By the way, the term you're searching for is "secede," not "suceed." We Texans have our faults, but most of us know how to spell.....

[cool user name]

27. Amen ...

I used to have a black shirt that read:

(on front)

FUCK YOU!

(on back)

WE'RE FROM TEXAS!

I loved that shirt.

[girl gone mad]

39. Texas punk...

I can't remember which band started it, but the Loco Gringos and Butthole Surfers come to mind. Those were good times... at least, from what I can remember, they were.

On edit: back then it was Reaganistic corporate materialism and yuppie conformity that we were rebelling against. Remind me again where Reagan came from? Texas was a place to get away from fake California culture, and it still is to some degree. (this was directed at the poster above who thinks we need to secede).

[calimary]

44. Hey, don't blame me! There were plenty of us Californians who

retched at the thought of reagan. Not all of us drank the Kool-aid back then, you know. Even when that "dear, sweet, genuine 'Ol Dutch'" was serving it.

[cool user name]

59. Didn't know it started with The Butthole Surfers ...

... but I dig that band just the same.

:hi:

[SoCalifer]

65. American Hardcore

Texas was a place to get away from fake California culture, and it still is to some degree. (this was directed at the poster above who thinks we need to secede).

Fake California culture? Humm, I wonder why so many people emulate California in so many different ways? Nevertheless, as far as fake, you must mean all those wannabe cowboy posers residing in the state of Texas where still to this day some liberal people and people of color leave and move to the blue state of California (a state that didn't side with slavery) where they are both more welcome and accepted.

(Your response to someone else's post doesn't entitled you to bash so broadly without return criticisms)


Oh and btw your reference to punk. Guess which state and which city American Hardcore originated and then was copied all over the country? Hint: Certainly wasn't any city found in Texas

[depakid]

38. Well then- take care of

your own.

Something that rational people notice about Texans is- they don't seem to do that all so well.

How about taking care of your own business and leaving others alone? Not too much to ask, I reckon.

Your state has more than earned it's reputation- both in the U.S. and abroad.

Lo sciento- but it's true. Look at what you all have done- arrogance over shame.

[Paladin]

47. It's Spelled "Lo Siento" (Spanish For "I'm Sorry")

And I don't think I'll be taking any advice, or paying any attention to a bunch of brain-dead insults, from someone who has proven themselves ignorant in two languages.....

[depakid]

50. ooo I made a typo

Shit happens. Like Tulia.

Which we don't need elsewhere.

[Paladin]

54. Well, Hell. There Goes My Out-Of-State Xmas Gift List

I was just fixing to put my "How To Fuck Things Up Like Every Single Resident Of Texas Did In Tulia" kits in the mail to a bunch of friends. Thanks a lot.....

(Sarcasm alert, for those who are obviously in need of one.)

By the way: what pristine state or nation are you from, allowing you the notion that you can trash my entire state with such rabid enthusiasm? (Hint: If it's anywhere in the U.S., it won't be very convincing)......

[cool user name]

61. BAM! Sweet reply.

:hi:

[cool user name]

60. Fuck off and quit generalizing, you turd.

We Texans need to take care of our own? Do we all think alike now?

Should the blacks do the same? The Jews? The Muslims?

Asshole. :wtf:

[depakid]

62. Precisely the attitude one expects

Your state's fouled up beyond all recognition- and people there from Charles Hurvitz to Dick Armey to Kenneth Lay and countless others are on crusades to foul up other states. As I said, try taking care of your own- you're in bottom rung in just about ever major measure- a shining example of what not to do- and yet the arrogance is legendary.

I'll make you a deal- I'll NEVER step foot in Texas, and you all keep your fundies, corporate criminals and fundamentalists out of Oregon.

[Hippo_Tron]

67. I think the Dixie Chicks said it best

There are certainly plenty of Texans who are ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.

[Ellis Wyatt]

3. I don't qet it

Why do so many posters here use quotation marks to summarize their INTERPRETATION of articles? Quotation marks are supposed to be for DIRECT, ACTUAL quotes.

This is like the third article I've seen posted on this board today with a deceptive (or ignorant) use of quotation marks.

[BurtWorm]

4. I don't "get" it, either.

:hi:

You've never heard of "scare" quotes I take "it."

(PS: In this case, the quotes refer to Zell Miller's book of that name and to the Economist article referred to in Drum's piece, which is ironically titled after Miller's book.)

[Ellis Wyatt]

7. Common use

That's why you can use 'these quotations' to signify quotes of someone else, and "these quotations" to signify direct quotes of the author/speaker.

You used "these quotes" which imply that the author of the article made the claim, which isn't true.

Your point that Zell Miller called it that would call for the single quotes.

It's just misleading and confusing. I'm not saying you were intentionally misleading, but I've opened up threads on this board three times today because the title had very salacious "quotes" attributed to someone, and not once was the "quote" actually ever uttered by the person to whom it was attributed.

[BurtWorm]

13. I'm sorry, but I've never heard that "rule" or 'rule,' as the case may be.

Nabokov used "" for his copious scare quotes (used especially on words like "reality," the concept of which he was skeptical of). What's good enough for Nabokov is good enough for me.

I'm truly sorry to have grated against your pet peeve. My own pet peeve is OT posts on grammatical quibbles. ;) (so we're even.)

[w4rma]

41. I'm just chiming in to agree with Ellis Wyatt. If I see quotes, I don't want to have to research

further to find out that the person implied to be quoted isn't the one quoted.

[elocs]

52. My own pet peeve is OT posts on OT posts about grammatical quibbles.

OOps! Did I just pet my own peeve? :)

[Gelliebeans]

35. LOL.

[elocs]

51. Good luck in trying to reform those here and the millions of others online. n/t

[kimmerspixelated]

5. As a native Texan

I take great issue with your comments! Texas is not my current address, but not by choice. I hope to get back someday. Every person I know there is a Dem or Indie. Certainly, there are bad repubs there...open your eyes and you will find them in every state! Bad eggs are everywhere. EVERYWHERE!

[MrCoffee]

6. ah, but it's so easy to beat up on us in here...

this is what, the 8 millionth anti-Texas thread?

[BurtWorm]

10. Bullshit.

It's not anti-Texas. Or are you offended when the Texas GOP is criticized?

[BurtWorm]

8. This isn't against all of Texas or all Texans.

It's merely pointing out that the National GOP has become the Texas GOP writ a little bit larger.

[MrCoffee]

9. "Why don't we give them back to Mexico" isn't against all Texas/Texans?

please.


On edit: I know you didn't write that post, but any Texas-related thread inevitably results in bashing the hell out of Texas and Texans.

[BurtWorm]

11. That's a post within the thread.

The thread is not anti-Texas. :eyes:

[evilgenius602]

18. which reminds me of a joke

Do you know what the best part of all those Texas executions is? Fewer Texans.

[cool user name]

28. That's fine but another poster wanted us to "suceed" [sic] ...

THAT, I find offensive.

Someone else suggested that we be 'given' back to Mexico.

Fuck that noise, too.

[kimmerspixelated]

58. Well

when some of us say words like, "succeed from the union", it sort of sets me off, I'll admit!

[Little Star]

12. Try being from Massachusetts.....

We have been fighting the elite rap for many years. Ya just have to not take it personal. It can tick a person off though.

[TankLV]

16. or that fucking salsa commercial that constantly ridicules New Yorkers

god how I HATE that commercial!

Sorry, but compared to the hell hole of texas, I'd take NYC in a NY minute everytime...

I'm sick and tired of New York bashing - ALL THE TIME by the repukes and braggart texans...

[tammywammy]

24. But it is good salsa

Pace Chunky Salsa is good, if you're not going to make your own.

:P

I don't like any regional bashing, and being from Texas I've seen plenty of it. I've lived here all my life, my whole family lives here, so I won't be moving any time soon. I also work with and are friends with a lot of independents, I don't really know any die-hard republicans.

[Subdivisions]

56. We need you to come home, Fitzmas!

[madmusic]

14. Did anyone "Click the link" and read Texas GOP Platform?

Please do! That is not dead but i merely stunned before it gets back on its feet, and its not only in Texas.

[madmusic]

15. And Recommend!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

17. I think that the GOP will continue to be regionalized

But kindly realize there are a number of progressives in Texas, my husband's side of the family definately included.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

20. I tried warning people back when bush was stepping up

Texas was used as a republican political experiment, and it was a success. They then applied it to the rest of the US.

Everyone told me that the majority of the US wasn't that easily manipulated. Right. :eyes:

[northofdenali]

21. OK, Texas Dems - now is the time to kick some ass!!

Take back your state! All active Dems will be happy to help, even us Alaskans (the largest state); tee hee (for all who are unaware, this is a long-standing rivalry):P

On Edit: Then, when Texas is again securely Dem, PLEASE come up here and help us do the same!!

[cool user name]

30. Remember ...

We are second in size and population.

What rank are you in population? ;)

[northofdenali]

32. Dead last, cool user name -

And love it that way!!

BTW,are Austin and San Antonio still pretty neat places? I used to love the River Walk in San Antonio (once I got over the shock of the small size of the Alamo) and really loved the TexMex food in Austin!

:hi:

[cool user name]

34. Great places though I haven't been in San Antonio in 15 years.

I grew up in Richardson, just north of Dallas. I'd like to get back there someday.

I've always wanted to visit Alaska. Very beautiful state. I hope we don't fuck it up. :(

[symbolman]

68. Just so you know

Alaska LOSES MORE Landmass on it's coastline during a High Tide than ALL OF TEXAS combined..

So DON'T MESS WITH ALASKA :)

We used to send Texas folks packing when they came up to brag in Alaska.. Anything they got that they claim is BIGGER we've got beat..

Except as Northofdenali says, POPULATION, and I'd rather keep it that way :)

No offense to Texas, just the facts. I lived in Dallas for a few years and while I enjoyed myself, I'd never go back there, and the traffic is the worst I've seen just about anywhere.

Don't forget, BUSH ISN'T from Texas Either.. he's a POSER. :)

[w8liftinglady]

22. i saw 4 bush/cheney and one "W04" stickers tonight

in the span of 30 minutes in a suburb of Dallas-and,yes...I have my DemocraticUnderground sticker proudly displayed.

[eppur_se_muova]

36. Hi, w8 ! Some folks were asking about you ... hadn't seen you post for awhile.

Everything OK ?

[judaspriestess]

23. oh brother another bash Texas thread

San Antonio my hometown has been BLUE for as long as I can remember. I am a fifth generation Texan and I am not a fundie asshole. I hate those redneck assholes just as much as everyone else. and for the last time * is not from Texas.

[KittyWampus]

25. And the only reason Texas is a GOP stronghold is illegal redistricting

[gr8dane_daddy]

45. It's not all that a stronghold for the GOP like it used to be...

Dallas recently elected its first openly lesbian sheriff.
Austin continues to be very blue.
Areas in south Texas remain blue.
Texas used to be a strong democratic stronghold when I was growing up.
Redistricting changed all that, influenced by delay. I remember arguing with my repube brother-in-law about this during thankgivings...remember the dems that fled the state to break the quorum?

We're trying to change Texas back to blue, but it's taking time. For those in the "give it back to Mexico" mindset, kiss my 4th generation Texan ass!

[Hippo_Tron]

71. Dems lack of success statewide seems largely due to finances

The GOP has incumbency and incumbency comes with a fundraising advantage. Because of Texas' size it has to cost a fortune to challenge a statewide incumbent, especially since Shrub can come back "home" and raise a lot of money for any GOP candidate.

This is the same reason that the GOP generally can't do well statewide in California despite the fact that it has some very red pockets. Ahnuld was an exception because he was a celebrity and was well financed.

[madfloridian]

26. It all started there in Texas....from Theocracy Watch and DFA's

Houston Truthmobile.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/693

"The Texas Republican Party Platform can be read as a blueprint for Bush administration policies, and reflects the values of Dominion Theology.

Dominionists believe the federal government should recede into the background. This would be achieved through massive tax cuts. Then the Church would assume responsibliltly for welfare and education. Tax cuts, Faith-based initiatives and school vouchers are the cornerstone of Bush administration domestic policies and recommended in the Texas GOP Platform. These policies are putting the U.S. on the path toward becoming what the Platform calls a "Christian" nation."

[tbyg52]

55. Yes, this sucks and it does come from Texas,

That doesn't mean we (Texans) all agree with it.

I wish people would bash the people who agree with it, not the whole state.

Just like I"m sure we all wish the world would bash the cabal and its supporters, not the people of the U.S. as a whole. Wait! That's mostly what's happening. Hmmmm.......

[Peace Patriot]

29. I've been saying from wa-a-a-a-y back that we must make NO assumptions

about so-called "red states" whose votes are "counted" by Bushite corporations using TRADE SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code, and, in this case--Texas--whose districts have been gerrymandered by Tom Delay to ARTIFICIALLY keep Texas a "red state" forever, and whose politics are awash in billions and billions and billions of Bush Oil Cartel and Texas energy giants' dollars.

We CANNOT PRESUME anything about Texas, or any other state, until we have TRANSPARENT vote counting, and a more level playing field in every respect. More than likely, Texas is a state full of progressive Americans whose votes have been STOLEN, suppressed, switched and disappeared. The visible Republican corruption in Texas resembles Ohio. Give Texans a break! They have a lot to recover from.

Also, who gave the country Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan? Hm?

Hint: not Texas.

And Arnold Schwarzenegger. Talk about EMBARRASSMENT!

[cool user name]

31. Thank you!

:clap:

[BurtWorm]

49. It's very frustrating to see so many people almost willfully missing the point

of this post, which is that the National GOP has taken on the characteristics of the Texas GOP. Why are people talking about fucking Texas? Texas the state and the people is beside the point. The point is the *party* that gave the nation Tom DeLay, George Bush, Ken Lay, Dick Armey, Richard Perry, the Swiftboaters, etc., etc., etc.

[Sapphocrat]

33. Well, it's a start.

But I won't be happy until it's a Crawford-only party.

[leesa]

37. I wonder if we could make some sort of trade with Saudi Arabia concering Texas

seeing as how most of them seem to be best buddies and all...

[Straight Shooter]

40. I don't even consider Texas to be "the South." To me, it's the Southwest.

I think of the South as Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and I'm probably leaving a couple states out.

My home state is Virginia, definitely a Southern state. But I also lived for 10 years in Texas and it never had the aura of being "in the South." It was too much cowboy in some parts and Big City in others. Fort Worth, I believe, is known as where the West begins.

I also thought Austin was absolutely undefinable as either South or West or anything. What a city. :)

[Leftist78]

42. the others you're looking for are

Arkansas, Louisiana, the panhandle of Florida, and the parts of Kentucky that are in Appalachia. Also east Texas seems pretty Southern to me, but opinions vary. Texans aren't as likely to self-identify as Southern as they are to identify as Texan, but the cultural similarities are definitely there. Austin feels Southern to me, just liberal kinda like Athens GA or Asheville NC. 3 of my favorite places by the way.

[Straight Shooter]

57. How could I forget those?

:o

Classic Southern states. I almost included Florida, but I'm not that familiar with it. I agree that Texans think of themselves as Texans first and foremost, but then again, so does the rest of the country think of them that way. :)

You've picked three great cities as your favorites. I bet you're easy to get along with. :hi:

[AspenRose]

63. East Texas is very much "southern."

Texas is big enough that there are different attitudes within the state. East Texas is most definitely "southern" in attitude and culture, moreso than the rest of the state. That's where my dad is from.

*DR, raised in San Antonio (which is NOT "southern")*

[Leftist78]

43. It's interesting...

that some people can talk about forgetting a whole region because of their biases against that region. So I did a little research on http://www.archives.gov and found some useful information if I do say so myself.

AL 693,933
AR 468,631
GA 1,366,149
LA 820,299
MS 458,094
NC 1,525,849
SC 661,699
TN 1,036,477
TX 2,832,704
VA 1,454,742

Now, leaving aside any funny business that may have taken place, these are Kerry's numbers from these Southern states in '04 There are some people here on DU who would just as soon forget that these people exist just because they have some kind of cultural axe to grind. Doesn't seem too progressive to me to leave behind this many people who voted for a wealthy New Englander for president going against the stereotype that many here have, but the prevailing wisdom on DU seems to overrule me.

[Paladin]

48. Thanks So Much For Posting This Information

I'd like to think it will prevent some future Texas-bashing threads here at DU---but to tell you the truth, I'm not very optimistic....

[Leftist78]

53. No problem...

I'm a little tired of the bashing myself.

[Hippo_Tron]

70. The Democratic "solid south" typically went to Dem prez candidates by 70-90%

The GOP "solid south" went to Bush by about 55-60% in '04 and remember that just a few election cycles ago, Clinton was carrying southern states.

[PDittie]

46. .

[crispini]

64. This blog posting is confusing to me.

Here's the first part of the thesis: The GOP is shrinking into a regional party. The original Economist.com story is here:

http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8360116

Here's the first three paragraphs:

The Republicans are in danger of being confined to the South

THREE years ago Zell Miller, then a Democratic senator for Georgia, published an anguished book entitled “A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat”. Today, though, the people who are in that very danger are the Republicans rather than the Democrats.

The Republicans are now engaged in a fierce debate about the meaning of last month's mid-term defeat. Was there anything more to their loss of both chambers of Congress than the six-year itch and an unpopular war? Do they need to press ahead with the conservative agenda or should they revise it? The debate is lively. But it is missing an important aspect: the Zell Miller dimension. Is the Republican Party in danger of shrinking to its southern base? And is it shrinking at exactly the same time that the Democrats are becoming a more national party?

The extent of the southernisation of the Republican Party is astonishing. The party was all but wiped out in its historic base, the north-east. There is now only one Republican in the 22-strong New England House delegation. New Hampshire kicked out its two Republican congressmen (and gave Democrats a majority in both state houses for the first time since 1874). Massachusetts ended 16 years of Republican occupation of the governor's mansion. Rhode Island decapitated Lincoln Chafee despite his moderate record. New York installed Democrats in every statewide office for the first time since 1938.

Now, that's an interesting article, one with some meat behind it.

However, I'm pretty much failing to connect that piece of the blog posting with the second part of the thesis, which is that, to summarize, a lot of the Republican power brokers are from Texas, and that the Texas Republican Party platform is looney. The one does not follow from the other.

Here's the thing: ANY state party platform is going to be naturally extreme; they are written by the crusaders, the true believers. The Texas *DEMOCRATIC* party platform, if I recall correctly, contains an anti-death penalty plank and a medical marijuana plank. So it's interesting, yes, but I'd bet you ten dollars that ANY Republican state party platform will have some weirdo extreme elements in it, if you care to find it.

Now, the other part of the article, that a lot of Republican power brokers are from Texas: Is this news to anyone? And, um, this is a frakking BIG state, with a lot of money floating around, so, um, DUH?

I just don't quite get how the original pieces of the blog posting hang together to give any kind of new insight. :shrug:

[PassingFair]

66. The *ssholes WAY overplayed their hand during the Shiavo

episode. I truly think they lost much
of the north during that little gambit.

[Hippo_Tron]

69. Your analysis is wrong, because the south isn't solid GOP as it used to be solid Dem

The GOP didn't have any US Senators in the South until the 1960's. Almost all of the House seats were also controlled by the Dems and the Southern states went to Dem presidential candidates by 70-90%.

Today in the GOP "solid south" Democrats have 5 senate seats (6 if you count Missouri), over two dozen house seats, the Governorships of Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Louisiana, and most southern states went for Bush in '04 by about 55%-60%.

Democrats may not see much electoral success in the south in 2008 or 2012 but the GOP will not have its current hold on it for the same length of time that the Democrats did and I don't think that they will make more gains, either.