Everything is bigger in Texas– except the government, unemployment rate, and taxes.

The state has no personal income tax, comparatively few regulations on business, and the dollar in general just seems to go a little farther.

In contrast from the days of the Dust Bowl, people are fleeing the bankrupt cities of California for the hopes of a fresh start in Texas. With so many great things going for the state, who would really want things to change? Enter the Democratic Party.

Texas has been seen as the Republican Party’s safety net. As the largest Republican controlled state and with the second most votes in the electoral college, Texas is powerful. This power, however, should not be taken lightly.

Democrats have a dream to turn Texas purple or even blue. They have enlisted the same people who have worked in battleground states across the country in a campaign called “Battleground Texas.”

I know it is everyone’s first reaction to completely blow this effort off, but think about how much damage a blue Texas would mean to the Republican Party as a whole. Under the current electoral college, a blue Texas would mean a blue President– with very little competition coming from Republicans.

Texans have taken advantage of the fact that we are a red state. During the last election, citizens complained that their vote does not count because they already know who will win. With the lowest voter turnout in the country, Texans have fallen into a pattern of laziness when it comes to politics.

One of the side-effects of this trend that you already see is progressive candidates hiding in ballots with an “R” next to their name. Politicians have been able to advance themselves by gliding through the low-turnout primaries, and easily winning the straight-ticket votes on election day.

Voters need to be wary of politicians claiming to be Republicans just to get elected. You have to look past party identification at their actual beliefs–and if they’re an incumbent, their voting record.

If there is one thing that can be learned from Wendy Davis’s filibuster a couple of months ago, it is that there is still a lot of work to be done in Texas. For starters, how did such a liberal Democrat win in a Republican district?

Voters are not the only ones who have gotten lazy. The Republican Party has largely ignored their biggest supporter. National candidates rarely make it to the state, and when they do, seats at their fancy fundraisers are simply out of most people’s budget.

Republicans have taken Texas’ support for granted.

Battleground Texas is staffed mostly with former Obama for America organizers–they are powerful, well-organized, and have experience in winning. They are a force to be reckoned with. They have winning over voters down to a science.

What they do not have is a winning message.

Texas has flourished under Republican control. However, Republicans need to reorganize, mobilize, and educate our grassroots supporters. Texas conservatism will be better than ever with better educated and more involved citizens.

Let voters send a message to the out-of-state liberals: don’t mess with Texas.

Don't Mess With Texas 2-02