Rand Paul warns Texas could turn Blue

[Mustang]

Rand Paul warns his former home state, Texas, could turn blue ? CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

That doesn't mean we give up on what we believe in, but it means we have to be a more welcoming party,” Paul said. “We have to welcome people of all races. We need to welcome people of all classes - business class, working class.”

That diversity is needed not just along ethnic lines, but in appearances, too, he said.

“We need to have people with ties and without ties, with tattoos and without tattoos; with earrings, without earrings,” he said. “We need a more diverse party. We need a party that looks like America.”

Talk is cheap.

With that said, demographics is not the only thing working against conservatives. Years of incendiary rhetoric and hostile policies towards people of color are the indigestible icing on that unappetizing demographic cake.

Let's fast forward in our minds about, let's say, 25-30 years or so. White conservatives have been losing more and more elections until they can't even gerrymander their way into a majority of representatives because they've lost control of the state legislature.

Then something happens. Some people might call it payback. Others might call it poetic justice. Still others might call it an all too human tendency regardless of race. What is it? Whites suddenly find they're being discriminated against, or that's what they claim. Truth is, too many of them don't speak Spanish which hurts them in a state where Spanish is widely spoken while many if not most Hispanics are bilingual. But aside from that, Whites suddenly find that they're losing out on jobs and other opportunities to Hispanics who tend to favor people who they see as being more like them.

So, here's the question: Would Whites then support the idea of affirmative action for themselves? Or would they hold firm to their principles (so-called) that affirmative action is nothing but a form of discrimination?

Or would they all move to Oklahoma?

 

[rightwinger]

Now you are backtracking? Did a one party dictatorship occur under Bush and a Republican Congress? Did it occur under BHO and the Democratic Congress?

Bush did not need a dictatorship. He had something better

A 9-11 card

This card could be used against any political opposition, good to start wars, create new federal agencies, pass a Patriot Act, engage in torture

what would Gore or Kerry have done with that card? given carbon credits to the taliban? used it to plug coal mines? traded it to the chinese for a million chop sticks?


Bush screwed up with his stupid Iraq and Afghanistan invasions, although both parties authorized and funded them, but Gore or Kerry would have put millions of americans in much greater danger.

They would not have invaded Iraq, that is certain

 

[Redfish]

Bush did not need a dictatorship. He had something better

A 9-11 card

This card could be used against any political opposition, good to start wars, create new federal agencies, pass a Patriot Act, engage in torture

what would Gore or Kerry have done with that card? given carbon credits to the taliban? used it to plug coal mines? traded it to the chinese for a million chop sticks?


Bush screwed up with his stupid Iraq and Afghanistan invasions, although both parties authorized and funded them, but Gore or Kerry would have put millions of americans in much greater danger.

They would not have invaded Iraq, that is certain

and you know that how? The UN authorized it, the US congress authorized it. Do you think Gore would have ignored the UN and congress? Gore seems to love the UN, they support his global warming lies.

You have no idea what those two clowns would have done.

 

[JakeStarkey]

No, the UN did not authorize it.

The Congress did not have the power internationally to authorize it.

Gore would not have gone to the Congress at all about invading Iraq.

I think Gore would have trashed Afghanistan after 911 and been out by the following April

 

[rightwinger]

what would Gore or Kerry have done with that card? given carbon credits to the taliban? used it to plug coal mines? traded it to the chinese for a million chop sticks?


Bush screwed up with his stupid Iraq and Afghanistan invasions, although both parties authorized and funded them, but Gore or Kerry would have put millions of americans in much greater danger.

They would not have invaded Iraq, that is certain

and you know that how? The UN authorized it, the US congress authorized it. Do you think Gore would have ignored the UN and congress? Gore seems to love the UN, they support his global warming lies.

You have no idea what those two clowns would have done.

The UN never authorized it. In fact, they urged Bush not to invade. Bush ignored them

 

[Contumacious]

Yup, Texas will be blue NLT 2024 and possibly by 2020.

Red simply cannot fight the demographic changes and stats.

My prediction is that the entire nation will be black and blue by 2020. We will be another Somalia , another banana republic destroyed by middle of the road socialists.

.

 

[JimH52]

It will take generations for the GOP to finally accept everyone into the big tent. There is a battle raging now between the far right, dogmatic branch of the party and the portion of the party that wants to see more inclusion. This contest could decide the fate of the Republican Party.

While I think Rand Paul is practicing some fear mongering, he is correct in stating his fears. Either the GOP learns it must accept the inevitable or fall farther behind in the public's acceptance.

 

[Mustang]

I remember that old axiom from my younger days.

It goes something like this: Those who speak the loudest often have little of value to say.

Considering the red hot rhetoric raging on the right and the sheer decibel level of their ranting, I can't help but think of that old axiom.

 

[rightwinger]

It will take generations for the GOP to finally accept everyone into the big tent. There is a battle raging now between the far right, dogmatic branch of the party and the portion of the party that wants to see more inclusion. This contest could decide the fate of the Republican Party.

While I think Rand Paul is practicing some fear mongering, he is correct in stating his fears. Either the GOP learns it must accept the inevitable or fall farther behind in the public's acceptance.

I don't think the Republican Party is capable of self correcting. They are too in debt to the Koch brothers and rightwing talk radio.
When handed a loss, they double down on conservatism
They will lose to Hillary in 2016 and blame the media and whatever clown the select to run against her
When they finally lose Texas sometime in the 2020s it will have gone too far to recover.

 

[JakeStarkey]

I hope you are wrong.

But if so, we will build a better and cleaner party.

 

[rightwinger]

I hope you are wrong.

But if so, we will build a better and cleaner party.

I think eventually, they will

But they have to hit rock bottom first

 

[Nyvin]

Once the older generations start to die off and the GOP isn't forced to be so religious and nutty they'll improve. Also once the baby boomers make up the bulk of the elderly population they'll be less socially conservative.

Until that happens the Republican Party is more or less trapped. They can't escape from the chains they put themselves into.

Might sound a bit morbid, but it's true.

Being fiscally conservative (not just ultra-rich butt kissers) is actually a viable position to take sometimes and could sell to the public. You have to be careful how you do it and not come off as too corporate and rich oriented.

 

[JimH52]

I thought they were moving on immigration until the speaker turned tail and ran from the inevitable. I guess he is protecting that extra bump that he gets in his check each month. In any case, the last thing that this party wants to do is alienate an entire segment of the voting population. But as their hero, RR once said....."There you go again!"

 

[RKMBrown]

All the far right and libertarian bull shitting means nothing.

Either we meet minority and women's needs or the GOP goes on the ash heap of history.

The irish were a minority.. what happened? Answer: they got jobs, and turned conservative.Some of the poor immigrants may be initially swayed by the free ride democrat party,... but when they get jobs and earn a living they soon switch to liberty offered by conservatives over the slavery the democrats force down their throats.

Take a look at the Asian immigrants.. why do you think there's a difference in voting between each ethnic group?

Don't worry, as the poor toss their failed cultures aside they will move to becoming more conservative. Failing democrat families eventually self destruct, or grow up and become conservative families.

Have you ever been to Boston?

Point taken.

 

[rightwinger]

I thought they were moving on immigration until the speaker turned tail and ran from the inevitable. I guess he is protecting that extra bump that he gets in his check each month. In any case, the last thing that this party wants to do is alienate an entire segment of the voting population. But as their hero, RR once said....."There you go again!"

The Republicans are short sighted.

They look only to the election of 2012 and the chance to win he Senate. Now is the time to make strides with the Hispanic population. they are jeopardizing both Florida and Texas for a two year majority in the Senate

 

[RandomVariable]

I thought they were moving on immigration until the speaker turned tail and ran from the inevitable. I guess he is protecting that extra bump that he gets in his check each month. In any case, the last thing that this party wants to do is alienate an entire segment of the voting population. But as their hero, RR once said....."There you go again!"

I don't know enough of the language of the immigration bill but if a whole lot of Mexica-Mexican/American, the group that vote 71% for Obama nationally, become citizens in Texas, for example, their own party alienation might turn out to be the least of their worries.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Bush did fine with the Hispanic vote.

However, our far right is determined to give it ALL to the Dems.

 

[RandomVariable]

I thought they were moving on immigration until the speaker turned tail and ran from the inevitable. I guess he is protecting that extra bump that he gets in his check each month. In any case, the last thing that this party wants to do is alienate an entire segment of the voting population. But as their hero, RR once said....."There you go again!"

The Republicans are short sighted.

They look only to the election of 2012 and the chance to win he Senate. Now is the time to make strides with the Hispanic population. they are jeopardizing both Florida and Texas for a two year majority in the Senate

There are considerations in both elections, as I mentioned earlier. If the Republicans do pass immigration now it brings in a whole bunch of possible Democratic voters. If the Republicans don't they upset the current Hispanic voters, even more. If the Republicans pass it next year or so new Hispanic voters will come in even more upset because of the wait. If reform is not passed by 2016, well, I have no idea.

 

[emilynghiem]

Texas will turn blue. Demographics dictates that. The GOP has many good people trying to turn the party away from the hateful demogoguery of the last decade, but that is going to take time, and they don't have that time.

??? As if the Democrats aren't equally responsible for political fraud and corruption?

As a Democrat, I honestly ask that before Democrats spend another dime on election campaigns for office, the party pay back taxpayers for millions in damages done by previous corruption, whether they admit to fraud against their own party principles and constituents. The party principles talk about holding Republicans accountable, but what about Democrats? Why not set an example by cleaning up your own messes first?

Why not clean that up first in order to hold government accountable to taxpayers
and the Constitution?

All this time the media has focused on the negative rightwing, what about the genocidal warehousing of poor blacks and pimping of voters by the Democrats who sold them out?

We also "ran out of time" to save national history while Democrats spent millions of dollars running for offices against each other, and billions of dollars to get Obama re-elected.

I live in a national historic district all but demolished and sold out to developer interests abusing taxpayer money and authority to profit corporate buddies of Democrat officials.

Freedmens Town is the ONLY settlement of Freed Slave, African American church and Civil Rights history in the entire nation; and the Democrats boast of electing the first African American president. Yet of the billions raised by Democrats to run for office, not one candidate has offered a fraction of that to save the remaining history not already destroyed right under the noses of Democrat administrations who gave public funds to their friends.

How easy to point the finger at Republicans for political gain.

When it comes to political integrity of their own, the Democrats look the other way.

 

[emilynghiem]

Bush did fine with the Hispanic vote.

However, our far right is determined to give it ALL to the Dems.

Dear Jake: If you stood on Constitutional principles, you wouldn't need to play the same pathetic political bullying games as the Democrats to manipulate elections by majority rule.

By enforcing the Constitution, laws would never be passed or enforced that don't comply.

If you keep relying on party politics, the Democrats can keep playing the numbers and media games to manipulate the votes emotionally.

Stick to the rule of law, and these games do not apply. Play the same game and you lose both principles and the gamble on party politics.