Which is why I yelled and clapped my hands in happiness when reading about the new Texas Democratic Party Chairman, Gilberto Hinojosa, saying that moving to the right and compromising on liberal issues hasn't worked out for Texas Democrats. He said, "The role of the Texas Democratic Party is to deliver the base."
To win, Hinojosa said Democrats must address other liberal issues that motivate core supporters, something the party hasn't always done in the past. Hinojosa admits he was one of the party leaders who thought pushing centrist positions was the way to win back independents and attract Republican moderates.It all comes down to turnout. And getting the base to turn out in higher numbers than in the past would help turn Texas blue. It'll take lots of hard work, and contacting voters over and over again, but it's possible."They have left — not to return," Hinojosa said, adding that hard-core Democratic supporters lost interest and stopped voting.
The party will no longer hesitate to embrace issues important to the base, such as abortion rights, decriminalization of marijuana and equal marriage rights for nonheterosexuals, Hinojosa said. The party's platform takes liberal stances on many issues, and Hinojosa did not try to backpedal.
It's time to stop talking like Republicans and using code words to try to appeal to moderates. This is about elections, and getting people to turn out for our guys. We can't get that done if the language we use ends up depressing the base.
After all in 2008, we came damn close to reigniting the Democratic base. Even though John McCain won by 12 points in Texas, more than 3.5 million voters voted for President Obama. As the article says, that's 1.4 million more Democrats voting in 2008 than in 2010, and twice the number Bill White needed to beat Perry.
I'm with Gilberto Hinojosa on this, and will do anything I can to help him out. I love Texas, and I've been born and raised here for much of my life. I still believe that Texas will turn blue within my lifetime.
