Stage 5: Hope for the Democratic Party of Texas

Republicans rule the state of Texas, there is no doubt about that. For almost two decades, the Democratic Party has had to sit idly by while the dominating Republicans took control of the house, senate, and most of the state. Currently, about 80 percent of the Texas counties identify as “Strong Republican” while only about 10 percent lean democratic. The GOP holds 19 of the 31 seats in the state senate and 101 of the 150 seats in the house, not to mention the recently re-elected and longest running Texas Governor Rick Perry remains their fearless leader. Coming from a family of strong Democratic allegiance, my question is, does the Democratic Party have any hope to regain power and precedence in our state in the near future?

Unfortunately, my answer to this question will have to be no. From what I have learned so far this semester, the Democratic party is destined to stay in the shadows of the GOP due their currently lack of unity and infrastructure. For a party to maintain substantial effectiveness, they require a degree of complexity in the organization of the party, such as budget planning and a labor division as well as an ability to perform party building functions. This effectiveness is measured through fundraising capabilities and opinion polling results, and to the Democrats dismay, the popularity is not in their favor. This is not to say the Democrats are a “weak” party, but compared to the strength of the republicans, they will have to unite and make changes to be back on par. Unfortunately, their unity is looking bleak given the mass amount of internal debate and infighting between candidates for the primary election, such as the pointless lashings between candidates Juaquin Castro and Lloyd Doggett (see my previous post).

Undoubtedly, the Democrats have their eye on getting one of their own into the governors mansion soon in order to shift some power back to their side, yet even if they do get their act together and elect a solid candidate for Governor, they still face the army of residents that possess a republican party identification. I have little faith that Democrats can win an election unless a number of those counties shaded red start changing to blue, yet another thing which is unlikely to happen. Lets face it, things are actually “going well” in Texas under republican rule, especially compared to other states that have a much higher rate of unemployment and property prices. Unless things get worse in Texas, voting residents aren’t likely to change their allegiance, leaving the Democrats of out luck.

That’s not to say times wont worsen. The newly proposed state budget will leave a big impact on education, which has many residents in an uproar. Who knows, maybe Rick Perry will find himself caught in some kind of scandal. Either way, something will eventually need to occur to give Democrats the chance to re-achieve the power and dominance they once held in this state.