Only to someone who doesn't live in Texas. I'm tired of Texas getting painted with a red brush. Need I remind you that we elected Ann Richards, and liked her, even while everyone called her a socialist for her Robin Hood plan?

George W was the last big shift to the right, and now it's swinging back. You'll see.

Ann Richards?! She's dead, right? Wasn't her reign in a previous century?

Yeah... Ann Richards... you're right.

And Bob Wills, and Ray Benson, and Billy Gibbons, and Janice Joplin, and.... on and on. You are right to remind us that the transplanted Yankee fraud isn't representative of Texas, and in fact isn't even a REAL Texan, in spite of his patently fake accent and phony "aw shucks" jive.

Since we're into the Golden Oldies, remember Trent Lott and the drama of first taking over the Texas lege, then redistricting to force incumbent Democrats out of their Congressional seats?

And then, as soon as Texas got a majority Republican delegation to Congress - the Repubs became the minority party in Congress?

Heh, heh, heh.

If the Republicans are so worried about Texas, they must be shaking in their cowboy boots over PA. Specter is up for re-election in 2010 as well. His popularity here, I assume, must be shrinking. Not to mention the fact that he has had some recent serious health issues. If all else stays the same (and I hope it doesn't), a flip in PA will give the Dems the 60 they need.

Barbara Jordan is also dead, and we elected her, in the past, too.

My point is that Democrats painting our state red and writing it off is the reason the Republicans are dominating here.

Texas isn't red or blue, it's a wave function, it was red for a while, but now there's a big tinge of purple.

Take advantage of it instead of making remarks that make it seem you're amazed that the ignrn't hicks can learn som'n, and we might see that wave function go blue.

With Voinovich's retirement, and Ohio's decided shift towards the Democrats, his seat is more than likely to leave GOP hands in the 2010 election.

It's absolutely hilarious that former GOP Rep. Rob Portman, who is almost completely unknown outside Cincinnati, is considered a formidable candidate to retain this seat for the party. Dream on, folks. This seat is a goner to the Democrats, probably to Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher.

We are quite possibly looking at a Democratic super-majority in the 2011 Senate significantly surpassing the number needed to end a GOP filibuster.

I think the reason most people consider Texas to be a 'red' state is that it hasn't given its electoral votes to a Democrat since 1964 (and he was a Texan).

I wonder what the last time was that Texas went Democratic in a Presidential election where the nominee (and VP nominee) was not a Texan?

I sure hope this article is correct. If Texas turned blue, I might have to say I've seen it all...

but I got tired of hearing about Texas about 3 days after Bush's inauguration. y'all gonna have to earn back some respect.

What a wonderful woman. Her keynote address at the 1976 convention gave me goosebumps. She was my constant choice for the first African-American woman to be elected president. And a lesbian - the total package. Get all those barriers out of the way in one eloquent, principled fell swoop. Good lord - the elocution.....one of Texas' shining stars.

Despite its reputation, Texas does have any number of liberal/progressive strongholds. Lloyd Doggett is from Texas, of course. Tom Delay practically had to do backflips in his post-gerrymandering gerrymandering in order to give the Republicans a majority in the state lege (as Molly Ivins would say). And speaking of Delay, the guy who prosecuted him was . . . a D.A. from Texas.

The growth of the hispanic population, the movement of the younger generation away from Republicans and towards Democrats, and the influx of more liberal folks from other states (Californians escaping the high California state income tax, for example), make it seem, well, pretty durn likely.

My only regret is that we didn't send John Cornyn packing. You can't have everything.

Is there a draft Kay Bailey Hutchinson for Gov movement? Because all of the sudden I am REALLY wanting her to be at the statehouse.

"But several experts I spoke to for an article I wrote in November about the Hispanic vote said they believed the state's sizeable Hispanic population could make Democrats a real force in Texas within the next decade. 'The future's bright in Texas,' Cuauhtemoc 'Temo' Figueroa, the Obama campaign's Latino vote director, said. 'Whether in four years or whether in eight years, I do see potential there in Texas, because of just the sheer magnitude of the numbers.'"

And that, my friends, is as good a capsule explanation for why the Republicans are so virulently anti-immigration as you're going to find anywhere.

Texas came pretty close this year to electing a Democrat to replace John Cornyn. The challenger, unfortunately, ran a campaign that would have been better suited to a student council race.

2010 will be different. One declared D is Bill White - Houston's smart, competitive, and well-funded 3-term mayor. White was one of the few politicians who looked good post-Katrina; he handled Ike well, too. He also pulls many Rs across party lines to vote for him.

He will not make the same mistake that this year's D challenger made - White will run an aggressive, strategic, and relentless campaign.

It just might happen ...

And Molly also said "the next time we tell y'all not to vote for somebody, will you please listen?"

I do so miss her.

Yes, the Rs have had a statewide stranglehold for the last decade or two, but times are changing. The entire Dallas County courthouse changed from R to D over the last two cycles; Harris County (Houston) is now following suit. The state House of Representatives now has only a one representative R margin; one result of which is the departure of a particularly thuggish Speaker. With quality candidates and quality funding, taking things back is not out of the question. Howard Dean was on the right track.