A piece this Sunday on Texas Gov. Rick Perry in The Des Moines Register by the paper’s top political reporter, Jennifer Jacobs, caught my eye. Jacobs’s observations about seeing Perry on the stump in Iowa in recent days matched my impressions from a meeting with him last month. Jacobs observed […] Read more »
Hiding in Plain Sight: Congressional Primaries and the Future of American Politics
Congressional primaries are the neglected stepchildren of American elections. Journalists mostly ignore them, except when a scandal-ridden incumbent is defeated. News organizations never conduct exit polls of primary voters. Congressional primaries also receive scant attention from scholars. … But the surprise arrival of the Tea Party in the 2010 midterm […] Read more »
Why Texas Could Flip Quickly From Red to Blue
For students of politics and demographics, Texas has the look of a state in transition. The Lone Star State is a Republican Party stronghold, and also is home to a growing number of Hispanics, who tend to vote Democratic, as 2012 showed. Despite Texas’ large Hispanic population, GOP presidential candidate […] Read more »
The real story in Texas primary is the ascendancy of GOP right wing
Establishment and tea party Republicans can comb through the results of Tuesday’s Texas primaries and find something to feel good about. But the real story out of Texas this winter is the degree to which the most conservative wing of the party is ascendant. This is not the same party […] Read more »
Texas: Looking Ahead and Seeing a Different Mix
The potential of the state’s growing Hispanic population to change the political equation typically dominates the conversation in Texas. But another issue looms almost as large for a Republican Party trying to maintain its statewide control: On social issues, young people are more liberal than the aging Texans they are replacing […] Read more »
Changing Demographics in Texas and the Politics of Immigration
A new report by Latino Decisions about the growing Hispanic vote in Texas outlines opportunities and challenges for both the Democratic Party and the GOP. Although Hispanics represent a large swath of the electorate, weak turnout levels have undercut their power at the ballot box. At the same time, their […] Read more »