Insight: How Obama alums aim to turn Texas toward the Democrats

Reuters ^ | 26 Feb 2014 | ANDY SULLIVAN

[mandaladon]

(Reuters) - In one of the country's most conservative states, newly hopeful Democrats measure their progress by ringing a bell.

For those working to turn Texas from Republican red to Democratic blue, it's the sound of one more volunteer agreeing to join their ranks. On a recent Saturday, phone-bank volunteers in a modest office here smacked the bell every five minutes or so, adding to the nearly 12,000 who have joined the effort.

In the past year, alumni from Democratic President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign quietly have built a grassroots army in Texas, where gun-rights advocates brandish semi-automatic rifles on city streets and pickup trucks bear "SECEDE" bumper stickers. Battleground Texas, as the group is known, is backing Democratic state Senator Wendy Davis' underdog bid for governor this November against Republican Greg Abbott, the state's attorney general.

But those involved say their larger goal - likely to take years to realize, if ever - is to make Texas as competitive in national elections as politically divided states such as Virginia and Ohio. That means identifying potentially Democratic voters, namely those in the state's booming Hispanic population, and persuading them to show up at the polls.

It is an unusually ambitious effort in U.S. politics. National parties typically measure progress in two- and four-year election cycles, with less focus on longer-term operations.

If Democrats succeed, they could upend the state's low-tax, low-regulation approach to governance and give their party a decisive advantage in presidential elections for years to come.

[mandaladon]

They also face procedural barriers that they say can make it tougher to register voters than in many other states, and often discourage minorities and low-income residents from participating. Those include a new law that requires residents to show state-issued photo IDs to vote...............Does anyone detect any bias here?

[I am Richard Brandon]

It’s absolutely no different from the GOP’s well developed plan to win in California. /sarc

[kcvl]

https://mobile.twitter.com/andysullivan/photo

Andy Sullivan

I’ll be on MSNBC today talking Ted Cruz and Obamacare.
8:55am - 20 Oct 13

https://mobile.twitter.com/andysullivan

[SoFloFreeper]

Yeah, look, all they have to do is make Texas COMPETITIVE...make the Republican SPEND MONEY there....that is ALL that has to happen to turn the nation into a permanent Democrat/Fascist country.

All monies spent protecting Texas will not be spent in Virginia or Florida or Ohio or Missouri.

Republicans and conservatives are fighting each other while the forces of darkness, in their worship of statism via the Democrat party, creep in.

[kcvl]

Andy Sullivan
lead reporter, money and politics team at Thomson Reuters
Washington D.C. Metro Area Writing and Editing

lead reporter, money and politics team
Thomson Reuters
Public Company; 10,001+ employees; TRI; Information Technology and Services industry
April 2013 – Present (11 months) Washington D.C. Metro Area

Focus on how advocates and influencers shape policy and politics in Washington.
domestic-policy correspondent
Reuters
Public Company; 10,001+ employees; TRI; Information Technology and Services industry
December 2012 – Present (1 year 3 months) Washington D.C. Metro Area

Cover domestic-policy issues like taxes and spending and gun control, illustrating how decisions made in Washington play out in the rest of the United States. Appear on television and radio to deliver analysis of top political developments.
political correspondent
Reuters
Public Company; 10,001+ employees; TRI; Information Technology and Services industry
December 2011 – November 2012 (1 year) Washington, DC

I covered the 2012 presidential and congressional elections, with an emphasis on in-depth analysis rather than day-to-day coverage. My coverage of Mitt Romney’s business career was mentioned in presidential debates, inspired several questionable political ads and one “Saturday Night Live” parody.

[SADMILLIE]

Ain’t gonna happen. Texas is about to send a message to Karl Rove and John Cornyn. The message is “ YOU ARE WEAK”!!

[kcvl]

Last year, Andy’s Special Report on what happened after Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital took over a Kansas City steel plant was one of the most-cited pieces anyone produced during the presidential campaign.

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/andy-sullivan-new-job-reuters_b103454

Andy is a native of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and holds degrees from Macalester College and Northwestern University. He lives in Silver Spring with his wife, Meg, and daughters Ingrid and Claire. Years ago, Andy was an aspiring rock star until the van broke down and the record label went out of business. Today he scratches that itch with his band, Dirty Bomb.

[tatown]

Seems to me that over the past 20+ years TX has become less competitive for the Dems no more. Texas is as red as it’s ever been and that is fact not fantasy.

[SharpRightTurn]

With so many Republicans refusing to secure the border and halt the mass invasion, it’s only a matter of time. The old saw “demographics is destiny” couldn’t be truer. If we continue to import the 3rd world, guess what we’re going to become?

[hadaclueonce]

Just get a blog, pretend to be a journalist and the world is your oyster.

At least the MSM.

Just WTF is Andy Sullivan and why should anybody care what he thinks?

[tatown]

I certainly don’t give a sh&t what he thinks because he is full of sh&t. Anyone with access to Google can look it up themselves. Texas is redder than it’s ever been and Obama’s presidency will do nothing to change that. Period!

[The Sons of Liberty]

Two words - VOTE FRAUD

[Grams A]

We may be more (R)ed, but we are not more Conservative. Big difference IMO.

[tatown]

Ann Richards would be unelectable here today.

[Grams A]

Ann Richards would be unelectable here today.”

Thank heavens. I never could figure out how she got elected in the first place. Have been to a few shindigs in Austin over the years and a lot of the women there often remind me of Ann - blond/white hair, bright red polish on her fingers, too much make-up and lots of bling.

[DaveA37]

On a recent Saturday, phone-bank volunteers in a modest office here smacked the bell every five minutes or so, adding to the nearly 12,000 who have joined the effort.’..

What was that population of Texas again? Sound like the demodummies have a long way to go.

[mgist]

This is cover for the voter fraud that is about to occur.

[Night Hides Not]

Ann Richards would be unelectable here today.

She would never have been elected had Clayton Williams engaged his brain before opening his mouth.

[hadaclueonce]

Just get a blog, pretend to be a journalist and the world is your oyster.

At least the MSM.

Just WTF is Andy Sullivan and why should anybody care what he thinks?

[Grams A]

Hopefully so. There is a new Democrat Women’s group in our city though. They block walk and register voters every Friday and Saturday and had a table set up in one of our local shopping areas. I’ve had two different pairs of ladies stop by my home since the first of the year.

One of the candidates for City Council last year was a young Black lady who had a degree in Community Organization. Candidates can speak at our Meet the Candidate meetings - and we have to include all parties. Took copies of all our forms and literature with her and surprise, surprise, the registration forms for membership are identical to ours except for they are blue printing and say Democrat on them. They are out working and are making inroads.