Just came back from a little election night reception-crashing in Travis County. Thought it made an interesting contrast. First up was the Democrat celebration at the Driskill Hotel. The Driskill has long been the Democrats' preferred election night headquarters, going back to the Johnson/Connolly days. The place was absolutely packed. I was there primarily to be one of the first to congratulate Woodie Jones, who I fervently hope will be the next Chief Justice of the Austin Court of Appeals, for which I clerked after law school. The crowd was pretty blue collar and middle class looking. Lots of people in jeans, sweat jackets, t-shirts. A good number of younger people as well; people that look like they knocked off work for some computer company a couple of hours ago in time to head downtown. Oh, and the food totally sucked. Teeny, tiny little chicken and cream thingies in crust.
After offering early congratulations to Judge Jones, I then headed over to the Four Seasons for the Republican celebration. It was a lot smaller, as you might expect given the concentration of Democrats in Travis County. It was, however, the place for the John Cornyn Senate race celebration. Here, the crowd was more upscale, better dressed, more professional looking. This crowd clearly didn't have the same energy as the Demos, but it wasn't a morgue either, which I was halfway expecting. It wasn't entirely white either; it was a much more diverse crowd than I expected. Also, it was somewhat on the young side as well. Frankly, I had expected people in their 50s and up, rattling their jewelry (to paraphrase John Lennon). It really wasn't like that though. In fact, it reminded me of Republican meetings I used to attend when I was in law school in the late 1980s, and working in the Texas House. Much better food too-quesadillas and salsa.
The late 1980s is back when I wasn't pretty thoroughly disgusted with politics. We Republicans were still very much in the minority in Texas, and there were even Democrats who viewed Republicans as some sort of different species of humanoid. I guess there still are. Betty King, who was then Secretary of the Senate, used to tell the story about when the first Republican was elected to the Texas Senate back in the late 1960s (from Dallas), and all the Senate staff came out of their offices on the first day of the session to go look at him to see what he would look like-they were actually afraid of him.
With demographic shifts and young people voting in greater numbers, I think we're headed back in the direction of those days. It will never be quite that bad, but Republicans will definitely be in the minority. I'll write about this more at some point, but at times like this, just as in business, you have to go back to your core strengths and give people a real choice. Republicans have to stand for something different than the other party, and have to offer a positive alternative to the other party's policies. For some time now, they have not done so. To paraphrase Sam Donaldson, if you give people a choice between a Democrat and a Democrat, they'll vote for the Democrat every time. That process of reflection and rebuilding can actually be a pretty exciting thing. Out of the 1964 Democratic landslide was born the seeds of the 1980 and 1984 Republican landslides. So it can happen.
After offering early congratulations to Judge Jones, I then headed over to the Four Seasons for the Republican celebration. It was a lot smaller, as you might expect given the concentration of Democrats in Travis County. It was, however, the place for the John Cornyn Senate race celebration. Here, the crowd was more upscale, better dressed, more professional looking. This crowd clearly didn't have the same energy as the Demos, but it wasn't a morgue either, which I was halfway expecting. It wasn't entirely white either; it was a much more diverse crowd than I expected. Also, it was somewhat on the young side as well. Frankly, I had expected people in their 50s and up, rattling their jewelry (to paraphrase John Lennon). It really wasn't like that though. In fact, it reminded me of Republican meetings I used to attend when I was in law school in the late 1980s, and working in the Texas House. Much better food too-quesadillas and salsa.
The late 1980s is back when I wasn't pretty thoroughly disgusted with politics. We Republicans were still very much in the minority in Texas, and there were even Democrats who viewed Republicans as some sort of different species of humanoid. I guess there still are. Betty King, who was then Secretary of the Senate, used to tell the story about when the first Republican was elected to the Texas Senate back in the late 1960s (from Dallas), and all the Senate staff came out of their offices on the first day of the session to go look at him to see what he would look like-they were actually afraid of him.
With demographic shifts and young people voting in greater numbers, I think we're headed back in the direction of those days. It will never be quite that bad, but Republicans will definitely be in the minority. I'll write about this more at some point, but at times like this, just as in business, you have to go back to your core strengths and give people a real choice. Republicans have to stand for something different than the other party, and have to offer a positive alternative to the other party's policies. For some time now, they have not done so. To paraphrase Sam Donaldson, if you give people a choice between a Democrat and a Democrat, they'll vote for the Democrat every time. That process of reflection and rebuilding can actually be a pretty exciting thing. Out of the 1964 Democratic landslide was born the seeds of the 1980 and 1984 Republican landslides. So it can happen.
1 comment:
A word from the 30-35 demographic: Please deliver this message to your party--more focus on the country club values that protect my money and encourage fiscal restraint...less blah blah blah on telling my friends and me how to live our lives--then I'll consider switching my vote. Obama '12.
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