It is painful to live in a blue area of a red state, but it is heartening to see that Harris County (Houston) went for President-elect Obama. The county by county map of Texas shows that Harris, Dallas, Bexar, and Travis counties went Democratic in 2008. Three of the largest cities in the country are housed in those counties.
However, there is some amazing news inside the numbers and they are something that should set off alarm bells inside the GOP high command.
George Bush beat John Kerry in Texas 4,526,917 to 2,832,704.
John McCain defeated Barack Obama in Texas 4,450,403 to 3,514,788.
The GOP candidate had a decrease of 76,514 votes between 2004 and 2008.
The Democrats had an increase of 682,084 votes between 2004 and 2008.
Democrats came 'out of the closet' in places like Fort Bend County which is suburban Houston. It will not be easy, but there are some trends which favor Democratic growth here in Texas.
We will see what happens in 2010 in the governor's race. It is expected that Sen. Hutchison will take on Gov. Perry on the GOP side. Mayor Bill White of Houston is looking at a possible run. That could be a great race.
On a different issue:
Houston has nonpartisan elections for Mayor and City Council. A major test will happen in 2009 when, it is expected, Annise Parker will run for Mayor. She has won six consecutive city-wide elections as an openly gay candidate. If she were to win it would be a huge sign of how Texas is changing and how cosmopolitan Houston truly is.
I don't have a crystal ball, but we will see what happens as things unfold. All I can say is things do look a lot brighter here in Texas.