What a night! What a victory (or victories)! Think about what we've gained over the last four years. Over ten senate seats, dozens of house seats, governorships across the country and now the Presidency.
Many of us are staying up late to watch the senate races come in. We're staying up until they call INDIANA, North Carolina, and possibly Montana for the Democratic candidate for President. Four years ago, the thought of a Democratic Indiana, North Carolina, and Montana was a dream. It was just a dream....
Now it's real. And in addition to those, we've got Georgia on the mind, and Colorado is safe in Democratic hands...
The Senate class of 2004 comes up for re-election in 2010. We have to continue to widen the spectrum -- make the field larger...
Which brings me to Texas.
Parts of Texas showed amazing promise in 2006. Dallas County recorded an unprecedented wipeout of elected Republicans in favor of Democrats. I diaried the Dallas Sweep back in 06 here.
It looks like 2008 is a harbinger of more good things to come.
Among the largest counties in Texas are Harris (Houston), Dallas, Bexar (San Antonio), Travis (Austin), and El Paso.
All five went for Obama. All five went for Noriega. None of them were particularly nail-biting. This has got to have the state GOP crapping themselves.
The impact of this cannot be overstated. Harris County, the largest county in the country by population went for Obama by two percentage points. As a lifelong Texan, this is amazing to me. Dallas County, the place where Henry Wade was elected District Attorney for decades, is now solidly Democratic proving that 2006 was not a fluke. If Houston -- HOUSTON -- can go Democratic, then so can Fort Worth. If DALLAS COUNTY, the home of the "Wade" from Roe v. Wade can flip solid Democratic, then so can Collin County. So can those far right holdouts in Midland and Lubbock and throughout West Texas.
In short, don't give up on us. Those 35 electoral college votes we offer will not forever be safe in the Republican column. And when they do flip, things will change -- change in the sense that the Republican Party will have to fundamentally change if they're ever to be relevant again in National Politics.
This is the building of the wave. It has not crested. We left it on the road -- twice now -- but now is not the time to get complacent.
UPDATE
I should have mentioned that the Texas Legislature looks like it's going to even out some of the Republican dominance this election. (Thanks sberel for pointing this out). BOR has updates. Looks like the Dems gained 3 seats in the State House.
If we can make gains in state, then we're not far off from statewide victories. This just reinforces my point, we're really close to having Texas become a viable tossup state.