Where is the GOP?

Where is the GOP?

Yesterday, Democrat Dan Barrett beat Republican Mark Shelton in a race for Texas House to fill the seat vacated by Republican Anna Mowery. The results of the runoff in State House District 97 (Fort Worth) are telling of three things, none of which are good for conservatives. While many blogs today say that this election is a referendum on Texas Speaker Tom Craddick, I believe this election continues the recent trend that spells problems in 2008 for Republicans.

The first thing I notice is that the Democrats ran only one candidate in this special election. Republicans fielded multiple candidates and splintered over the issues while the Democrats played their cards carefully and chose one candidate that could articulately hold to the platform of the Democratic Party. While Republicans divided, Democrats united. This is a page out of the Republican playbook from 1960 when John Tower defeated a multitude of Democrats for US Senator when Lyndon Johnson became Vice President.

The second trend I noticed is that many counties that used to be strongholds for Republicans and were redistricted for a Republican to win are now falling to Democrats. This is true of many Texas House districts, including three in Austin (47, 48, 50), two in Fort Worth (93, 97), one in Dallas (107), and one in Houston (149). Let’s also not forget the Dallas Massacre in 2006 in which Republicans lost nearly every seat on election day. There are many other districts in these areas in 2006 in which the Republican saw stiff competition from a Democrat challenger. What most of these candidates have in common is their relative youth as most of the Democrat challengers are under the age of 40. These younger candidates appeal to the younger voters in the districts that are undergoing urban gentrification. The candidates that appeal to the “Yuppies” are young, articulate Democrats who speak on the issues that resonate with the younger crowd.

The third thing I notice also revolves around youth, but not the youth of the respective candidates. The officers and leaders of the local Republican parties are generally old. This is not to knock the service and leadership that these individuals have given to the Republican Party over the last three decades, but the younger people moving into the neighborhoods find it hard to relate to a person who was actively campaigning for Ronald Reagan in 1976. The GOP leadership is getting older and in many ways, complacent. The upper echelon of the GOP is more concerned about fundraising than grassroots efforts which are allowing Democrats to win more contested races.

There is still time to reverse this trend in time for the 2008 general election, but it takes time and commitment from our Republican leaders to involve themselves in true grassroots efforts. As it stands today, a reader can find a grassroots training manual on the Texas Democrats website but not on the Texas GOP website. Young Democrats have found a way to effectively communicate their message through blogs and websites while Republicans are still trying to determine if DSL is a better investment than a phone modem (sarcasm). The GOP must utilize a true grassroots effort, like the one implemented in the 1970’s in Texas, to make sure our conservative values are represented in our elected leadership after the next election. It starts in the 2008 primary.