Texas is a prideful state. Embarrassing them is something you just do not do. (Rout 66: "You don't give up 66 points at home when you're Texas!") You will pay for that.
There is some courtliness to the cutthroat politics of Texas. The Bushes. Lloyd Bentsen. Donald Trump was never really Texas' cup of tea. Flimflam men from New York are not. But as between a big mouth New York braggart and an "elitist" New York woman, they easily went with the big mouth man.
But Trump has now embarrassed Texas. The Republican Party has embarrassed Texas. "Texas is ready," then governor Rick Perry said as Hurricane Katrina bore down. This country and this state were not ready for COVID-19 and that's on Donald Trump. Trump is incompetent. And the more the man lied and denied his lies and denied responsibility the more embarrassed Texas became. There is now a seething anger all across this country at Donald Trump and nowhere more deep-burning than in Texas.
Joe Biden is more Texas' style, much more. He has the daunting disadvantage of being a Democrat. But Biden is not an ass, not a fake, and he's competent. There is not a man or a woman in this country who does not think that Biden, or Hillary, or Obama--or most anybody--would have handled the COVID-19 crisis more competently than has Trump.
The Republican Party has bulwark strength in Texas. Any national Democrat attempting a breach runs his or her head into that bulwark. But COVID-19 has undermined it. It has seeped invisibly in the air through unseen cracks and over and under the ramparts. Joe Biden can win Texas if he dares.
There is some courtliness to the cutthroat politics of Texas. The Bushes. Lloyd Bentsen. Donald Trump was never really Texas' cup of tea. Flimflam men from New York are not. But as between a big mouth New York braggart and an "elitist" New York woman, they easily went with the big mouth man.
But Trump has now embarrassed Texas. The Republican Party has embarrassed Texas. "Texas is ready," then governor Rick Perry said as Hurricane Katrina bore down. This country and this state were not ready for COVID-19 and that's on Donald Trump. Trump is incompetent. And the more the man lied and denied his lies and denied responsibility the more embarrassed Texas became. There is now a seething anger all across this country at Donald Trump and nowhere more deep-burning than in Texas.
Joe Biden is more Texas' style, much more. He has the daunting disadvantage of being a Democrat. But Biden is not an ass, not a fake, and he's competent. There is not a man or a woman in this country who does not think that Biden, or Hillary, or Obama--or most anybody--would have handled the COVID-19 crisis more competently than has Trump.
The Republican Party has bulwark strength in Texas. Any national Democrat attempting a breach runs his or her head into that bulwark. But COVID-19 has undermined it. It has seeped invisibly in the air through unseen cracks and over and under the ramparts. Joe Biden can win Texas if he dares.
