"This is a challenging time to be a Republican. No question about it. What happened in Dallas can happen anywhere in Texas. We know that. . . .We're the underdogs and we have to act like it." That's what Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams told a meeting of Republican GOTV workers last Tuesday night.Just two years ago that would have been a laughable statement. After all, there are few states, if any, that were redder than Texas. But then Dallas County, long a Republican stronghold, did the unthinkable and turned blue in the 2006 election.
Since that time, the general public has turned against the war in Iraq and the economy has gone into the toilet. Add that to the fact that Democrats turned out about twice as many voters in their primary as Republicans did in Texas, and you have a formula for a possible Democratic victory. Even the well-financed Republican incumbent senator is leading his virtually unknown Democratic opponent by only 4 points.
Now Williams was trying to light a fire under his Republican workers. I don't think Republicans are quite underdogs in Texas -- not yet. But they know they have not done well with their turn in charge of this country and this state.
The stage is set for a real battle for the first time in years here in Texas. Will the Republican base turn out to support a candidate (McCain) that they're not really exicited about? Can the Democrats get that record number of primary voters back to the polls? We won't know the answer to those questions until November.
But for the first time in a very long time, the Republicans are running scared. There's a very good chance they face a devastating loss across the nation this Fall -- and it could even extend to the state of Texas.
