Its starting to look like the anger among the Tea Party crowd at Obama and the Democratic Congress, following the disappointing performance of George Bush and his Republican Congress has led to a growing resentment toward anything coming from Washington D.C. Now their antipathy has spilled over to the 2010 Census.
Census caught in anger toward Washington Officials worry low response rate is a form of protest
In Texas, some of the counties with the lowest census return rates are among the state's most Republican, including Briscoe County in the Panhandle, 8 percent; King County, near Lubbock, 5 percent; Culberson County, near El Paso, 11 percent; and Newton County, in deep East Texas, 18 percent. Most other counties near the bottom of the list are heavily Hispanic counties along the Texas-Mexico border.
The most conservative and Hispanic areas are most resistant to cooperating with the census. That will translate to less congressional representation for conservative and Hispanic areas.
There is a reason for the enthusiasm gap on the census: A number of prominent conservative and libertarian Republicans have been blasting the census for months
This seems too perfect to dare hope for. Wingnuts are making a bold statement that will dilute their political power.
Earlier this month, Texas Rep. Ron Paul voted against a congressional resolution asking Americans to participate in the census.
"The invasive nature of the current census raises serious questions about how and why government will use the collected information," the Lake Jackson Republican recently said. "It also demonstrates how the federal bureaucracy consistently encourages citizens to think of themselves in terms of groups, rather than as individual Americans. "
I think its poetic justice for those who hate government to get less of a voice in that institution that has become the object of their obsessive hatred. Especially in a State that has been so grotesquely gerrymandered as Tom DeLay and his bullies in the legislature did when they sliced up Texas' congressional districts.
I agree with the second part of Ron Paul's quote. Republicans want a society with a greater emphasis on competition, while Democrats want a society with a greater emphasis on cooperation.
Think of the implications if this disdain for the census among those on the far right were to turn out to be a nation wide phenomena. This could turn into an undertow for Republicans clawing for more power.