Commentary by nomandates: Precision Matters.
It is indeed regrettable that Texans have not elected a Democrat to a statewide office since 1994, but Democrats and progressives and liberals here are actively working to change that.
Texas Republicans do not represent all Texans. They don't usually even bother to pretend to do so; instead, they pander to their base. So I am stuck with GOP Gov. Rick Perry, GOP Sen. John Cornyn, GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, and GOP Rep. Steve Stockman, and they never listen to my calls or emails, nor do they represent the views of other Texans who voted for their Democratic opponents in every election. I certainly accept responsibility for my role in this because my efforts to help elect Democrats to those offices have not been good enough. Yet.
Here's the thing: Posting diaries with titles attacking "Texas" rather than "Texas Republicans" is not productive. If someone writes a diary calling out Republican Gov. Rick Perry, Republican Sen. John Cornyn, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, and Republican Rep. Bill Flores for their hypocrisy and cruelty, I want to be able to rec that diary and to share it on Twitter and Facebook. But I will not do so if the diary indicts "Texas" and fails to emphasize that these hypocrites are all Republicans. In fact, I'm probably going to post something like this:
Texas *Republicans*!!!!! (6+ / 0-)
The proper title for this diary would be "Texas Republicans want federal disaster aid that they have refused to give others."
Every single politician whom you call out in this diary is a Republican. That fact should matters at a site where we're supposedly working to elect more and better Democrats.
Is it too much to ask for precision here?
Do you think that Texas Democrats, liberals, or progressives support their hypocrisy and pandering to their cruel base?
"Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism." Hubert H. Humphrey
by nomandates on Thu Apr 18, 2013 at 05:49:32 PM CDT
I realize that no one at this site is obligated to help Texas Democrats, liberals, and progressives to take back our state. But I am requesting that folks think twice and please clearly identify all Texas Republicans as such when posting diaries.
Note: This commentary has been published as a separate diary based on a request in the
comments for another diary.
7:14 PM PT: From doraphasia in the comments:
What makes many of us sensitive to the need for precision right now stems from all we are learning about our state as we work to turn it blue. For example, Perry received less than 18% of the vote from eligible Texas voters in the last election. Get that? Less than 18%. This means at least two things: 1) just as a vocal, toxic minority calls the shots nationally, so do they call the shots in our beautiful state. 2) If we register those eligible voters, educate them about the danger of Republican policies and politicians, and GOTV, then we win. Our job is so much harder if we have to continually answer to an unthinking generalization on top of all the other messaging we have to do. It's much harder to convince people to listen to us if they are already defensive.
Fri Apr 19, 2013 at 4:32 PM PT: Please take a moment to read and to sign this DKos petition
both supporting immediate federal disaster aid for Texas and also urging Texas Republicans to start supporting federal disaster aid when other parts of the country are in need.
Note that "Texas Republicans" is used throughout :-)