Isn't it odd how Texas and Florida...up UNTIL Junior and Jethro got their

Grubby little paws on those states, isn't it odd how Texas and Florida up until 1996 and 1998 were actually pretty good at electing Democrats for Governor and for Judges and at local level?

Up until Jethro Florida was STILL the state of Claude Pepper and Lawton Chiles.

Up until Junior Texas was STILL the state of Lyndon Johnson and Ann Richards.

Since Junior and Jethro isn't it odd that Democrats don't seem to be able to get anywhere in Texas and Florida anymore?

I've often thought about this.

money running through them than all the others?

Since Junior and Jethro, there's been many odd things that have happened with Texas and Florida.

he'd probably be governor of Colorado by now.

:scared:

It was my first experience with Rove's tactics, and I actually think it was his trial run to see if it would work. It did, and after a few years, he used those same tactics nationaly...thus a Shrub in the WH.

Ann Richards was HUGELY popular, people adored her and we're supposed to believe that this jumped up little shit Junior beat Richards?

Richards I recall tried to warn Gore about Junior and Rove's methods, Richards told Gore that if Junior and Rove were going to steal the election she said to keep an eye on what was happening with the absentee ballots...and isn't that where Bush Inc. stole it in Florida, with the absentee ballots?

It's funny, prior to Junior, Texas had ONLY had one other Repuke Governor in State HISTORY...Clements. Prior to Junior we always were in control of the State Legislature, prior to Junior we had Democrats on the State Supreme Court.

Something VERY odd has been going on. The other thing, I hardly see a Bush car sticker or hear anyone say they like Junior in Dallas, Ft. Worth, Irving, Garland, Plano...the only place around there that I've ever encountered Junior freaks is in Arlington...and well THAT IS Arlington, so I expect to get Junior freaks there.

didn't that change becaause of redistricting? Actually, I think redistricting is what affected all the elections in Tx.

I can only hope that DeLay is found guilty of not only money laundering, but of much more serious crimes through his Abramoff connections, and that will open the eyes of all Texans. Maybe it will even get the damn redistricting lines reversed!

I lived in Tampa from the age of 3 (1962) until I was 25 (1986). In other words, for Florida I was a native as much as anyone! I still am, I'd move back in almost a heartbeat - some reservations there now with the gun laws and repukes in power; but I'd go.
Thinking about growing up in Florida, I remember it as being more Democrat the Repuke. I remember Lawton Chiles walking across Florida; I remember seeing Claude Pepper, and you forgot to mention Bob Graham who was our Governor for several (? can't remember how many) terms BEFORE being our Senator.
The lifestyle and attitude of Floridians is much more liberal than all these elections indicate IMO. It is something that I've found very curious.

And Lawton Chiles' son had to drop out of the Governor's race...and his Dad was MEGA popular.

Something is very rotten in Denmark.

and I lived there the first half of my life. I've lived in New England this second half. When I left in 1980 it was still a reasonable place and I was proud to be a Floridian. Since I left, however, it has too swiftly shifted dramatically right. It isn't natural. But it is the Republican Party. Hence, money, lies, and cheating are the name of the game.

Claude Pepper must be spinning in his grave to know what happened to his beloved state.

I wouldn't go back there for any amount of money. Many family members I used to know as moderate and even liberal Democrats are now so far right we can't even speak about politics any longer - and we were a politically connected and savy family. It truly is gays, guns, and god.

not funny ha-ha but funny. Those dirty bastards.

Both Chiles and Richards opposed "shall-issue" CCW laws.

How did Texans go from voting for Ann Richards and Jim Hightower to voting for * and John Cornyn?

There were several factors at play, of course, so I'm not saying this was the only factor, but a HUGE part of the breakdown was the direct result of Democrats failing to stand by their fellow Democrats.

Texas labor groups stopped helping feminists protect women's rights; feminists stopped helping consumer advocates protect consumers' rights; consumer advocates stopped helping environmentalists protect our air, water, and land; environmentalists stopped helping urban activists protect the rights of the inner-city poor; urban activists stopped helping the GLBT community protect gay from discrimination; and gays stopped helping labor protect workers' rights, etc.

I'm not saying that all the members of these groups walked away from each other, I'm saying that they didn't support each other as much as they should have. This is the genius of Rove's hatred politics. He'll demonize unions so other Democrats are weaker than they should be in supporting workers' rights; he'll demonize trial lawyers so other Democrats give up on protecting consumers; he's demonize feminists so some of the Democrats feel alienated from the fight to ensure women's rights. That Karl Rove's talent -- drawing us apart. He's not a hate-savant like Joseph McCarthy, but Rove's got some impressive talents in the field of hate mongering.

This is part of the reason why I get so disheartened when I see threads which are deliberately calculated to denigrate death-penalty opponents, or vegetarians, or gays, or liberal Christians, or any group we should support. If we can't stand by one another, we have no chance of working our way past this reign of witches like Rove and his hate mongering colleagues. Remember the words of Thomas Jefferson: "A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt. If the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake."