Texas Blue Dog Coalition plays critical role in Lone Star Democratic revival

Texas has been dominated by the Republican Party for too long. As the second most populated state in the country, it is very important to rebuild the Texas Democratic Party. To become competitive again in the Lone Star State, Texas Democrats are revitalizing the moderate-conservative wing of the party. Running as your typical across-the-board progressive does not win elections in Texas (outside of the Austin City limits) and other red states. The October 24 edition of the El Paso Times reports that Democrats are expected to make gains in the Texas Legislature. http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_10806213 The likely increase in Democratic-controlled legislative seats this November is in no small part due to the activities of the Texas Blue Dog Coalition. That is why I am shining a spotlight on these fine Texas Democrats today. Here is some information obtained from the group's website:

Blue Dog Democrats are Yellow Dog Democrats that hold to traditional, moderate-to-conservative-views on certain issues based upon deeply held personal, cultural or religious beliefs, and may otherwise be Progressive and Populist, but have been “choked blue” by increasing Party opposition to these views. Anyone that believes that classical liberalism and traditional conservatism are not always mutually exclusive are encouraged to join us.

Our aim:
-To ensure that Democrats with moderate-to-conservative-views maintain a voice in our Party.
-To guarantee that the diversity of our Party remains truly diverse by including a full spectrum of political viewpoints less we become just the flipside of our narrow-minded Extreme Right opponents.
-When possible we hope moderate-to-conservative-views will complement Progressive and Populist opinions and result in better policy than when considered separately.

Collectively we will take back Texas by providing government that is truly accountable and responsive to the real majority - ALL Texans.

Moderate voters in the 2008 Texas Democratic Primary stay steady while conservative voters increase

62% of voters in the 2008 Texas Democratic Primary described their ideology as moderate or conservative. Much of this increase is from a significant increase of independent voters. Independent voters increased from 20% in 2004 to 25% in 2008 of the Texas Democratic Primary voters. Republican voters increased from 5% to 9%, and despite all the talk of Republicans voting for Clinton to create conflict, Obama actually received more Republican votes than Clinton (The Texas Blue Dog Coalition did not endorse a Primary candidate, we encouraged our members to support the candidate of their choice). Also, there is no question that the Clinton and Obama contest has generated much activity; however, we feel strongly that much of the increase in Conservative Independent and Republican voting is due to down ballot local and County races where we have strong Democratic candidates and incumbents that represent districts with current Republican voting indexes. For example, 33 Texas State Representative districts with current Republican voting indexes are represented by Democrats.

Source of 2008 Exit Poll: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/#TXDEM

2004 Texas Priamry Exit Polls: 55% of voters in the 2004 Texas Democratic Primary describe their ideology as moderate or conservative.
Source: CNN Exit Poll www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/primaries/pages/epolls/TX/index.html

http://www.txbluedogdems.org/