I visit Texas kinda often and it’s crazy how many people just don’t bother to vote, because they’ve made it so hard to vote.
There’s that, but there’s also a lot of learned helplessness. People assume that the state will always be red, so they don’t vote, thereby ensuring the state stays red and reinforcing the learned helplessness and teaching it to new generations. It doesn’t help that vulnerable minorities are fleeing the state, for understandable reasons, naturally, but everyone who leaves is one less vote against the entrenched republican hegemony.
Much of Republican policy in the state is centered around preserving this hegemony for its own sake. If you look at Republican policy through that lens, it becomes clear that Republicans have identified which demographics are likely to vote for Democrats, and are deliberately implementing policies to incarcerate or drive off those demographics.
When that dam finally breaks, Republicans are gonna have a very hard time coming back from it. Not only at the state level, but at the national level. So if Allred wins, expect every possible dirty trick. Expect the Supreme Court to get involved.
There’s that, but there’s also a lot of learned helplessness. People assume that the state will always be red, so they don’t vote, thereby ensuring the state stays red and reinforcing the learned helplessness and teaching it to new generations. It doesn’t help that vulnerable minorities are fleeing the state, for understandable reasons, naturally, but everyone who leaves is one less vote against the entrenched republican hegemony.
Much of Republican policy in the state is centered around preserving this hegemony for its own sake. If you look at Republican policy through that lens, it becomes clear that Republicans have identified which demographics are likely to vote for Democrats, and are deliberately implementing policies to incarcerate or drive off those demographics.
When that dam finally breaks, Republicans are gonna have a very hard time coming back from it. Not only at the state level, but at the national level. So if Allred wins, expect every possible dirty trick. Expect the Supreme Court to get involved.