Texas electoral politics tend to elicit sensationalism. Jeb Bush has suggested the Lone Star state, which voted for Romney by 16 points in 2012, could somehow turn blue in 2016; Ted Cruz, who doesn’t even favor comprehensive immigration reform, similarly said that new Hispanic voters would turn Texas blue and bury the GOP alongside the Whigs. And yesterday, New York Times writer Thomas Edsall seemed to confirm Bush and Cruz’s worries with a sober, data-driven take on Texas’ Democratic future. Texas, Edsall argued, was “ripe for realignment” and on a “path to first turn purple and then blue.” Unfortunately, he was armed with suspect data. [cont.]
Nate Cohn, New Republic