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It’s time for this red state to bleed a little blue

October 9, 2018 by Joe Southern

Anyone who knows me well or has read my columns for any length of time knows that I am just a tad bit on the conservative side.

As a journalist I strive to maintain political neutrality and afford equal access to people of all parties. My personal politics, however, run a deep red. That’s why I find it very hard to write this next sentence. It’s time for Texas to bleed a little blue. It’s been said that too much of a good thing can be bad for you and I think that holds true in politics as well. Republicans have had such a stranglehold on so many levels of government for so long that it is creating problems.

Specifically, I see complacency and disenfranchisement. More than just see it, I’ve experienced it. For quite some time now Democrats have been talking about a Blue Tide this November. I think a Blue Tide would be bad for the state, but a Blue Trickle is necessary to maintain a system of checks and balances.

I think one of the reasons Democrats are so well organized and forceful this year is because they’ve had enough of the status quo. They’ve been put down and ignored for a long time. In the past they’ve run token campaigns against the Big Red Machine with less than marginal success. This year I see more than token campaigns. I see unity and determination among Democrats.

The marquee matchup is the U.S. Senate race between Republican Sen. Rafael “Ted” Cruz and Democrat Rep. Robert “Beto” O’Rourke. My general observation so far is that O’Rourke is running a positive, grassroots campaign that is appealing to a lot of people in this area. The Beto signs seem to outnumber the Cruz signs locally.

Cruz, on the other hand, is running a negative, anti-Beto campaign and seems to be relying on establishment support and the benefits of incumbency. It appears to me that his campaign is centered around tearing down his opponent rather than building on his accomplishments. I have moral issues with that approach. I still won’t vote for O’Rourke, but I’m going to have to hold my nose and pull on the hip waders to pull the lever for Cruz.

On a local level, I generally support the local Republican candidates, but I’m finding my support weakening over time. A lot of it has to do with my wife’s healthcare plan. Most people don’t know this, but Sandy has been working on a national healthcare plan ever since the Obama Administration rolled out the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). She has studied this topic and fine-tuned her plan over several years. And she knows what she’s talking about. Sandy has a master’s degree in health care administration, a nursing degree, and is employed by the UT Health in the Texas Medical Center.

Her plan, in a nutshell, places the emphasis on preventive care over emergency care. Getting anyone in government to pay attention to her is nearly impossible. We did get to meet with U.S. Rep. Pete Olson at his office on Aug. 25, 2017. The meeting was interrupted by a thunderstorm that knocked the power out. It was the first wave of storms from Hurricane Harvey, and everything we discussed was quickly forgotten.

Undaunted, she has reached out to the offices of Gov. Greg Abbott, Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, and State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst. None of them has responded to her. Not even so much as an acknowledgement that they received her request. All these elected officials are Republicans. If this is how they treat people within their own party, I can just imagine what it’s like for Democrats, independents, and people of third parties. That’s why I say it might be time for this state to bleed a little blue. How can we expect to be heard if we are under the leadership of a single, large, deaf, party?

Additionally, our school districts are suffering from less state funding and being tasked with more unfunded mandates. In the last Legislative session, we heard a lot of talk from legislators going in that they supported public education, but their votes spoke otherwise. I’m looking specifically at Sen. Kolkhorst and Sen. Joan Huffman, both of whom represent parts of Fort Bend County and both of whom sit on the Senate Finance Committee.

There are other issues as well, but I won’t belabor the point. To be sure, our elected officials are generally doing a good job, but without competition, they grow complacent. With a party monopoly in power the disenfranchised have nowhere to turn. As much as I love living in a deep red state, I think a little purple might do us all some good in the long run. Even the Republican Party can benefit from having a few wounds to lick. It’s through failure that we learn and grow. Success is built on failure, not monopolies.

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Filed Under: Joe Southern - FAITH • FAMILY & FUN

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jan Elias says

    October 10, 2018 at 10:09 am

    Thank you for writing this article. It’s exactly how I’ve been feeling.
    I am 66 years old. I pretty much voted Republican since the John Anderson days, over 45+ years, for those who don’t know who John Anderson was. I have never, ever seen my country in this divided, even during the Vietnam War protests.
    There is no longer a place for moderates like me. I’m now an independent because I don’t have a political party.

  2. Hillary Goldstein says

    October 10, 2018 at 11:04 am

    Joe,
    Thank you for your honesty and insight. It is time for the elected office to stop ignoring those who disagree and to stop the nasty vile comments being made to their opponents. The people deserve better. No matter which side of the side you sit on courtesy, transparency, and honesty, and most of all Respect For All must be given.

  3. Sid Leake says

    October 11, 2018 at 3:34 pm

    TY Joe Southern, esp re your wife Sandy’s attempt to express her ideas on healthcare to those whom we are constituents. To me, I don’t think they care to hear from us w/o we bring in a treasure-trove of campaign contributions supported by a pledge of securing thousands of voters to their support. I let this motto be my guide. I will not support any candidate whom I believe will “comfort the comfortable and afflict the afflicted.” Therefore, I vote Blue.

  4. Glenn Bugge says

    October 11, 2018 at 8:02 pm

    Frankly, I don’t understand why you bothered to write this piece. Basically, it seems you feel that things have gotten out of hand with Republican stranglehold on our government. Your solution, hold your nose while voting for Cruz. Yea, that should do it. You know what they say about the definition of insanity?

  5. Carolyn Hopkins says

    October 13, 2018 at 11:06 am

    What a balanced article. Thank you for sharing some issues with the Republicans controlling so much of government that they find it unnecessary to listen to other points of view. The Republican Party has changed and is following their president without question. Many do run on negative campaigns. It’s time to make changes. If one thing positive has come out of the 2016 election , it’s that people have been motivated to stand up and be heard, to run for office and to offer a positive message and plan that will benefit all people. If one has always voted Republican, and you are seeing more negative decisions made about things you feel are important regarding education and healthcare, and you see negative campaigning, it’s okay to vote for change. It’s the only thing that will result in change. Doing the same things, expecting different results is insanity. I wonder how your wife will be voting. Thank you for this great article.

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