No Texans on the ticket
Dallas Morning News' Carl Leubsdorf has a column today on how Texas doesn't have a presidential candidate and won't decide who is on the ticket:
For the first time in a half-century, Texas looms as a nonplayer in the 2008 presidential race.Perhaps it didn't come across that clearly from the excerpts, but Leubsdorf's tone struck me as slightly sensationalist....almost an "oh no! Texas is losing its national influence" sentiment.Barring an unlikely vice presidential selection, the state has no candidates for either national ticket. The strongly Republican tilt of recent years means Democrats are unlikely to spend much time and money contesting the state's 34 electoral votes.
All of this marks a dramatic change for Texas over the prevailing practice of the past 50 years. Four candidates with strong Texas ties – Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson and the two George Bushes – have won the presidency, Lloyd Bentsen ran for vice president, and every election saw at least one Texan in a major role.
In fact, 2008 would be the first presidential campaign year since 1952 in which there won't be a single Texan serving as a major player, either as a presidential or a vice presidential candidate, or in the way the late John Connally helped Richard Nixon win the 1972 race.
Other than that, the only potential factor that could add to the state's long list of candidates would be if the 2008 GOP nominee picked a Texan, most likely Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, as his vice presidential running mate.
No, we don't have a presidential contender this year, but so what? That's because we have a Texan in the White House right now. In presidential politics, success does not beget success. Americans don't want any particular state to perpetually occupy the White House. George W. Bush is very closely identified with Texas, so it is very unlikely we'll have a Texan on either ticket this year. That's just how these things work.
And we've never really had any influence in the past few decades over who the nominees are, so why is it surprising that we don't this election cycle? Although several states have recently managed to encroach on New Hampshire and Iowa's domain as presidential kingmakers, Texas has never really put forth much of an effort into having a say on the parties' nominees.
So yeah, we won't have a Texan on the ticket in '08. But that's not a big deal. Or a surprise.
Posted by Evan @ 08/24/06 02:01 PM
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Comments
Thank God we don't have another idiot from Texan trying to run the show!
We bees ignorant!
Posted by john cobarruvias @ 08/24/06 09:32 PM
George W. Bush is not a Texan.
Posted by Rebekah Collins @ 08/25/06 09:00 AM
we well may have KBH as VP
Posted by hamiltonfan @ 08/25/06 04:55 PM
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