The Politics Done Right sounded exasperated. She wanted directions to turn Texas blue. I presented her with the only option I think can work.
How do we turn Texas Blue?
I felt the caller’s pain, exasperation, and dread about the polarization many talk about and live through. Texans know that the state is neither red nor purple. It is a blue state. The problem is that many buy into the fallacy and think it is immaterial to vote. They believe it is a waste of time to vote, given that they think there is no chance in hell that Democrats can win in Texas.
I explained to the caller that we must disregard the narrative and engage. I interviewed a group of activists in a red district in Northeast Texas. The Texas Democratic Party has invested little in mining the area and reaching out to a population that would benefit from the policies the Progressives and Democrats support. These activists decided that they would do it on their own. And while they did not win the district, they got more voters activated than ever. More importantly, they opened the door to dialogue.
Fox News and Right Wing MAGA sycophants believe that Democrats are horned-driven baby killers who want to bring down America. They showed their district the real side of the coin. They made it clear that they had no intentions of ceding rural America to Republicans. They intend to challenge.
It won’t be easy to reach those who the Right Wing and large swaths of our plutocracy have invested millions in indoctrinating. But one has to start somewhere. A party cannot overturn neglect in one or two election cycles. My experience has shown me that an adversary will at least listen once trust is earned. And if your adversary is listening, some seeds will sprout and even bear fruit.