Why Doesn't Texas Vote Democratic ?

New estimates by the United States Census Bureau shows that minorities now make up 35% of the total population and whites are 65%. In 2000, minorities made up 31% and whites were 69%. The Census Bureau now estimates that minorities will be more than 50% of the population by 2042 (and maybe sooner). Consider just what happened in the last year (2009). The minority population rose by a full 2% (to 107.2 million) while the white population remained virtually flat (at about 199 million).

This could spell doom for the Republican Party with their racist and anti-immigrant policies. Instead of adjusting their policies to the coming reality, they have chosen to try and fight against the growth of the minorities. They may think this makes sense, but it is more like trying to stop raging flood waters with nothing but a mop and bucket -- just a futile gesture.

There are four states where whites are already a minority -- Hawaii, New Mexico, California and Texas. Three of these states are pretty reliably Democratic states and will probably be even more so in the future. That begs the question -- why is Texas still a very Republican state?

Some might think it's because some of the Hispanic population is undocumented (and therefore unable to vote). I don't believe that is the reason. There are plenty enough white Democrats to more than make up for that.

Others would say it is because the Hispanics don't vote in a unilateral way. I don't believe that either. After the racist and anti-immigrant policies the Republicans have adopted in the last few years, Hispanics are becoming more reliably Democratic voters with each passing day. And just look at South Texas where Hispanics easily outnumber whites and elect Democrats almost exclusively.

So if it isn't because of undocumented immigrants or ticket-splitting Hispanics, then what is the reason? The short answer is incompetent state Democratic leadership. Texas is a huge state with 254 counties, but Democratic leaders put almost all their efforts into just a few of those counties -- the urban areas and some South Texas counties.

The state leadership seem to have written off East Texas, West Texas, the Panhandle and many parts of North Texas. Maybe East Texas is a lost cause (although I doubt it), but there is a lot of untapped potential in the other parts of Texas.

Take for instance the Panhandle and West Texas. While these areas were once almost exclusively white, that is no longer the case. The younger whites are moving out at an alarming rate while the older whites are dying off, which means the percentage of whites is dropping every year. Meanwhile, the Hispanic population is growing fast in both of these areas.

In fact, there are already several counties in both West Texas and the Panhandle where the Hispanic population is larger than the white population. In a very few years, both areas will have Hispanic percentages rivaling those of South Texas. And yet, both areas are still considered safe for Republicans and return Republicans to both state and federal elected positions in every election.

This will continue to happen until the state Democratic Party stops writing these areas off and puts a serious and continuing effort into organizing the Hispanic vote in West Texas and the Panhandle. It's not going to happen by magic. The Republicans are not going to go quietly, and you can be sure they will try every trick to suppress the Hispanic vote and retain their stranglehold on power.

But there is a huge potential for Democrats in both these areas if the Democratic leadership will get their heads out of their butts and fight for it. And that potential is not just in the future, but right now.

There is a state Democratic convention coming up in a couple of weeks. I think it is time to elect some new party leaders. Leaders who will fight for votes in all 254 counties. Leaders who will launch a serious and continuing effort to organize and register voters in West Texas and the Panhandle (and East Texas too).

There's an old adage that says you can't expect a person to vote for you until you ask them for their vote. It's time for Democrats to start asking for those votes in ALL parts of Texas.