We Texas Democrats are being told to focus on the ground at our feet, at the little steps we need to take to rebuild our party by inches, the shuffle-steps of precinct, county and district gains that some day, some decade, will lead us back to the statehouse.
The press, the pundits and the poli-sci profs are the doleful Greek chorus urging this path on us as our only sensible choice - Texas Democrats are dead, my dears - no money, no chance, so sorry. Run along now, and file for county commissioner.
Focusing on fundamentals is never bad advice, but this year we would be fools if we didn't also raise our heads and look up...
at the political storm gathering in this nation and this state; a storm of massive voter revulsion and anger
- against a president who betrays the country and the Constitution,
- against a Republican Party that enshrines corruption as it defiles democracy, and
- against all the lapdogs, Perrymanderers and tinpot idealogues in Texas who made the betrayal and the corruption possible and support it to this day.
Now add to the gathering national storm an "only in Texas" political tornado - four strong candidates running for governor simultaneously - and lightning really could strike with a plurality that blasts a Democrat right into the governor's mansion.
It could if we Democrats can hold our base together and tap into the power of the storm.
The problem for us, as faithful Democrats yearning to start the process of rebuilding Texas, is this: which Democrat should we choose on Tuesday to stand up for us on Wednesday, ready to ride the lightning, when it strikes, right into Austin?
Please, pundits, quit telling me it can't happen. I was there when it happened before - when Texans unexpectedly rose up in disgust and threw the rascals out of the statehouse and began a reform era of open meetings, open records and open government that it took the Republicans 30 years of vote-buying and fear-and-hate-mongering to suppress.
Reform swept through Texas government, toppling ancient political fiefdoms and empires - and the impulse for change then was only a tiny fraction of the power of the impulse sweeping across the country and the state now.
Back then we hardly realized what was going to happen before it did.
Now you can read it in the polls and you can smell it in the news and you can feel it through the deckplates of the American ship of state that tremble with the skittering of Republican rat-feet scampering for the lifeboats.
So in this unique year, in the midst of this unique storm, whom should we choose to give us the best chance of seizing this unique chance?
My choice is Bob Gammage, the man who's been there before, who helped make that last reform happen and helped turn the impulse for change into better government for everybody.
A retired naval reserve captain, former soldier, Texas Supreme Court Justice, Congressman and state legislator, Gammage packs a resume Texans can respect.
Bob Gammage also is a man who makes his own electricity - even in his short campaign this year, thousands of people have felt it crackle through halls and meeting rooms as he calls on them to reach for the best within themselves.
I suppose we're not very sophisticated, but that's what a lot of Texans look for, more than policies, party or promises - a leader who inspires them.
When Bob Gammage is the Democratic candidate, with the Democratic base behind him, hundreds of thousands more will feel that electricity at meetings, at rallies, through televised debates - and be inspired by it to work with a will to win on Election Day.
Two Republicans and a joker will litter the airwaves with slick appeals to an increasingly offended electorate - offended because, sandwiched between the political ads, voters will be watching Iraq unravel, Texas schools still in crisis and politicians perpwalking past the cameras.
Meanwhile, we stick together behind Gammage, we work together with Gammage, and we knock on doors, talk to our neighbors, write the editors and gather our friends to tell them the Democratic Party is back and ready to rebuild a Texas we all can be proud of. We'll work for Bob and Bob will work for us, and for all our candidates up and down the ticket.
Then - if lightning strikes, and it really might - we can start building our party again with strength at the top AND the bottom.