Progressive Texas? (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio: low income, transplants, neighborhood)

[HotHand]

I'm some kinda cross between a hippie liberal, and an intellectual liberal, and I can't find a smaller city to live in than Austin. San Marcos maybe? I've considered Alpine, but I don't think that there will be many singles there.

Hmm, and I used to be a religious and conservative cowboy.

[mboyle1988]

Originally Posted by theloneranger

It doesn't matter if they live in the ghetto, they are still Democrats.

I'm an old school, LBJ/Rayburn Democrat who doesn't like the hippie liberal path the Texas Democratic party seems to think is going to win them elections, but the fact remains that when you add together the minorities and the homosexuals and the intellectuals and the poor people and the people like me, plus all the other liberals, it comes together to be almost half of Texans, and growing with every election.

I really think that is pie in the sky right there. We will see, but I would be surprised if Texas turned blue any time soon. Winning 55-44 is still a very healthy margin in a state of 25 million people, particularly in a very off year for the GOP. You might be right, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[aceplace]

Even if the Democratic party becomes more prominent, they will not be liberal Democrats.

Why is it that liberals cannot be happy in an ideologically diverse society. It seems that their idea of an ideal environment is living in a 100% liberal community... like some fringe religious cult that builds a settlement for itself out inthe middle of nowhere, so they don't have to be exposed to other people's heretical notions.

[hstfan82]

Originally Posted by aceplace

Even if the Democratic party becomes more prominent, they will not be liberal Democrats.

Why is it that liberals cannot be happy in an ideologically diverse society. It seems that their idea of an ideal environment is living in a 100% liberal community... like some fringe religious cult that builds a settlement for itself out inthe middle of nowhere, so they don't have to be exposed to other people's heretical notions.

Really? I'm not liberal on some issues and can tell you every time I argue on one of the local newspaper's websites, such as criticzing Perry for something, I can bet on someone telling me that Texas is just fine, and that if I don't like it, I can leave. I've also been told that since I'm a transplant, I have no right to an opinion. These are the kind of morons that make up at least half of the Republican electorate in this state.

Plus, Austin is not as liberal as San Francisco, and liberals tend to like Austin. For example, McCain got 35% of the vote in Travis County, and the Austin metro in other counties were red. I think that puts a hole in the theory that liberals only like being around other liberals.

[WillysB]

Texas isn't really conservative but is more live and let live. There tends to be more votes for conservatives just to keep the liberals from screwing over the citizens.

A friend from New York once described to me that a liberal in Texas is usually more conservative than a conservative from New York. It doesn't mean Texans are conservative wingnuts, just that there are fewer bleeding liberal bums in Texas.

[hstfan82]

Originally Posted by WillysB

Texas isn't really conservative but is more live and let live. There tends to be more votes for conservatives just to keep the liberals from screwing over the citizens.

A friend from New York once described to me that a liberal in Texas is usually more conservative than a conservative from New York. It doesn't mean Texans are conservative wingnuts, just that there are fewer bleeding liberal bums in Texas.

Texas is not a live and let live state. A live and let live state would be a state like Nevada. In Nevada, as everyone knows, there is no prohibition against gambling, drinking in public, and people could care less about social issues like abortion or even some forms of drug prohibition, but the state is fiscally conservative which makes it "live and let live."

Texas has a higher than average % of evangelical Christians who make up the total electorate. These people, are by their definition, not live and let live people. I do not doubt that there are a higher % of libertarians (people that support Ron Paul and those like him)in Texas than many other states, but the state as a whole is still socially conservative.

For the last two years members of the elected SBOE have been trying to inject religous ideas into Science (and now Social Studies) textbooks. They were barely beat back in the science department, but Social Studies is not certain. Hardly something that would be an issue in a "live but let live" state.

My experience being a transplant is that there are plenty of traditional liberals in Texas, but they are confined to the major metro areas. Outside of the major metro areas the state is overhwhelmingly conservative (with the exception the Rio Grande counties). In fact, I read the other day that if Texas minorities voted at the same levels they do in California, then Texas would be a blue state. Don't forget that California went Republican in most elections until 1992, when minorities made started to make up a big % of the electorate.

[kmc757]

Originally Posted by HotHand

I'm some kinda cross between a hippie liberal, and an intellectual liberal, and I can't find a smaller city to live in than Austin. San Marcos maybe? I've considered Alpine, but I don't think that there will be many singles there.

Hmm, and I used to be a religious and conservative cowboy.

Move to California! You will fit in just fine there.

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by aceplace

Even if the Democratic party becomes more prominent, they will not be liberal Democrats.

Why is it that liberals cannot be happy in an ideologically diverse society. It seems that their idea of an ideal environment is living in a 100% liberal community... like some fringe religious cult that builds a settlement for itself out inthe middle of nowhere, so they don't have to be exposed to other people's heretical notions.

There's a thread on the Texas board asking for a conservative town, so I guess it goes both ways. As for me, I love living among people who have differing political ideals.

[LAnative10]

Heres youre simple answer about liberals in Texas. They are confined to Austin, El Paso, the Rio Grande Valley, and the cities of Dallas and Houston for the most part. You will find pockets in other areas, but thats pretty much where they are.

But then again, the question really becomes, what is a liberal exactly? I for one am a social liberal and an economic conservative. I would consider myself moderate on the whole. If there is one thing I hate it is both "in your face" liberals and conservatives. I actually found more of both in LA than I have living in Dallas (although its still pretty new).

[WillysB]

Originally Posted by hstfan82

Texas is not a live and let live state. A live and let live state would be a state like Nevada. In Nevada, as everyone knows, there is no prohibition against gambling, drinking in public, and people could care less about social issues like abortion or even some forms of drug prohibition, but the state is fiscally conservative which makes it "live and let live."

....clipped

Apparently we live and participate in different parts of the state, which could be within the same city limits.