Circle The Wagons: The Left Goes Gunning For Texas

There are some Texans who may think that what happened in Colorado–and is currently happening in North Carolina and Virginia–cannot happen in Texas. That is, they do not believe that Texas can fall prey to an open-yet-quiet push by Left-wing groups like unions, Battleground Texas and others resulting in Texas ending up as a blue state in the next four to six years.

Unfortunately, they are mistaken.

The threat to Texas–and, consequently, the rest of the nation–is very real.

Further, if Texas conservatives do not wake up to this fact, the Lone Star state may very well turn blue over the next several years.

The Colorado Model…

In 2007, I sat in the audience at a conference in Colorado Springs. The speaker, a Colorado attorney, was telling the audience about something called the Colorado Model–a largely successful effort by the Left to turn the “red” state of Colorado “blue” within a short period of time–two election cycles.

In 2004 and 2006, Democrats had captured the governorship, both houses of the state legislature, a U.S. Senate seat, and two U.S. House seats.

The closing sentences of the attorney’s speech, however, made some of us sit up straight in our chairs.

To paraphrase, he said, “If you think this can only happen in Colorado, you’re wrong. This was the test case and, based on its success, they are planning to use it across the country.” [See Progress Now and ProgressTexas.]

A year later, by 2008, it was too late for many of us to realize how right he was.

In writing about the Colorado Model, the Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes told his audience about the Colorado Model’s seven critical “capacities”:

Eric O’Keefe, chairman of the conservative Sam Adams Alliance in Chicago, says there are seven “capacities” that are required to drive a successful political strategy and keep it on offense: (1) the capacity to generate intellectual ammunition, (2) to pursue investigations, (3) to mobilize for elections, (4) to fight media bias, (5) to pursue strategic litigation, (6) to train new leaders, and (7) to sustain a presence in the new media. Colorado liberals have now created institutions that possess all seven capacities. By working together, they generate political noise and attract press coverage. Explains Caldara, “Build an echo chamber and the media laps it up.”[Emphasis added.]

When looking at the great state of Texas, with 38 electoral college votes, it is one of the last big strongholds of Republican dominance. If Texas turns blue–in 2016 or beyond–it will be a long, long time (if ever) before the nation will recover from the disastrous policies of the Democrats. Moreover, the threat to Texas is very real.

Liberal migrants…

Consider that Texas is a magnet for those persons migrating from states poisoned from Democratic rule. From 2004 through 2010, for example, Texas was flooded with 185,122 Californians. Further, in just one year, 2009-2010, Texas had gained a total of 130,000 residents.

While these migrants often come from different (and often more liberal) parts of the country in search of more opportunities, the mores they bring with them from their home states has a tendency to shift the political landscape.

Unions have recognized Texas as a target-rich environment for years.

Texas is a case study for smart unions that have deep pockets and a long-term view of organizing. SEIU and CNA have been planting seeds in Texas for several years. SEIU began gaining a foothold in 2006 when it initiated a corporate campaign against major building owners and building maintenance companies in Houston in an effort to organize janitors. The campaign attracted strong support from civil rights activists and union members in northern states. It worked, and SEIU has spread its size and influence in major cities throughout the state. [Emphasis added.]

In addition, like the hydra Blueprint NC that was exposed for its plans to attack North Carolina Republicans, the Left has already begun to build its infrastructure in Texas.

Enter Battleground Texas, a heavily-funded group that plans on community organizing its way into turning Texas from Red to blue.

The Lone Star State is changing – and with its size and diversity, our state should be a place where all elections – from local elections all the way up to the President of United States are hotly contested.

[snip]

Over the next several years, Battleground Texas will focus on expanding the electorate by registering more voters – and, as importantly, mobilizing those Texans who are already registered but who have not been engaged in the democratic process. And we’ll use the data-driven, people-focused approach that has helped win grassroots campaigns around the country.

According to the Texas Tribune, Battleground Texas will be spending tens of millions over the next few years.

The organization, dubbed Battleground Texas, hopes to mobilize the state’s growing Hispanic population, as well as other minorities, young people and progressive groups, in hopes of delivering the state’s coveted 38 electoral votes to future Democratic presidential candidates and aiding Democrats running for statewide office, as Politico first reported last month. Texas hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994. [Emphasis added]

Given the pending immigration reform, and eight million new “progressive voters” (nationwide), the trends do not portend well for the Lone Star state.

To make matters worse, Democrats’ long-term strategy doesn’t just stop with Texas either.

Georgia is also on the Left’s radar screen:

Democrats are adopting a strategy to retake the state in 2018, leaving control of the Governor’s mansion a key factor in who will draw the maps in 2021 – and thus set a partisan advantage for the next decade.

Fortunately, it is not to late to expose, educate and mobilize in both Texas and Georgia…If activists and leaders realize the threat and commit to take action.

What you should be doing now:

Recognize the threat is real.
Become a “community organizer”
Join (or organize) a group of like-minded citizens
Lead with a purpose, such as…
- Coordinate efforts to recruit (see the triangle below)
- Collaborate with other like-minded groups
- Organize outreach programs to educate fellow Texans (and Georgians)
- Begin working to fill your voting precincts–it begins with knowing who your neighbors are
- If you’re fighting the head-in-the-sand ‘establishment’ get involved with precinct activism and take over your Republican Party
Organize events to take action (walk the talk)