Robert Pratt
One headline Tuesday night read “Blue Hopes Drowned by a Sea of Read”, another “Democrats fail miserably in attempt to turn Texas blue”.
Yes, for the first time in this century Texas has a new governor and it is Greg Abbott. Big change or not? There will be a big change of culture and style in the Governor’s Office, only small changes on policy. And from my perspective and the perspective of a huge majority of Texas voters, that’s a very good thing.
The serious question that comes from the Texas 2014 General Election is this: Is the Texas Democratic Party a viable political organization? I’m not being flippant. There is election data which points to the idea that all money, time and effort put into keeping the Party going is pointless, essentially wasted treasure.
Statewide results show that the Democrats’ nominee for Agriculture Commissioner, a man who refused to raise money, campaign, or even attend his Party’s convention, pulled about the same vote percentage, within two percentage points, of the Party’s big-spending, heavily press covered candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and Comptroller.
What does this tell us? One thing is says is that all the millions of dollars and thousands of volunteer and staff hours invested by Democrats had no significant return. I’m not talking about losing, I’m talking about not even outperforming non-campaigning candidates.
“Not the Republican” as a label would have likely pulled the same vote in all races without campaigning or spending a dime.
Is the Texas Democratic Party now little more than student council playing at governance and handing out titles but in reality having no power or purpose?
