Chris Bell: Wake up, Texas Democrats. You’re about to blow it.

[cannabis_flower]

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20160219-chris-bell-wake-up-texas-democrats.-youre-about-to-blow-it..ece#commentsOuterWrapper

Below is one of the best comments. It is my sentiments exactly. It seems to me that Hillary's camp is starting to get worried about Texas. I live in Houston and I have seen Bernie stickers on a lot of cars and also yard signs. I have only seen one or two Hillary stickers and no yards signs, of course, I have also seen Cruz and Trump stickers but no Bush, Rubio or Kasich stickers.

"Let me preface this by saying that I'm no youthful idealist, as you put it; nor am I an uninformed voter. In fact, I've voted for you every time you've run for office. While I will vote for Hillary if she gets the nomination, I will vote for Bernie in the primary. I'm getting a little tired of hearing Hillary supporters tell Bernie supporters to stop damaging her. Why not tell your fellow Hillary supporters to stop damaging Bernie? The vitriol from Hill's camp has been equally disturbing and damaging. Most particularly, this insistence that Bernie could never win a general election. Every poll shows him beating EVERY Republican candidate in a general election. I know many conservatives who are very uncomfortable w/ all of their potential nominees and would consider voting blue. But you know who they WON'T vote for, no matter what? Hillary. While Bernie may be too far left in their eyes, they also believe he won't accomplish everything he plans...therefore making him a viable option. Certainly more viable than Hillary, on principle alone. The only person Republicans hate more than their own candidates is Hillary. So, support your candidate but please stop telling those of us who are tired of the status quo (which will continue if Hillary is elected) that your candidate is a shoo-in. She isn't. And stop telling us that by voting our conscience we're going to give the election away to Republicans. I seem to remember hearing the same thing from Hillary's supporters when she ran against Obama, so....


When Bernie gets the nomination, I presume we can count on your vote, Mr. Bell?"

Chris Bell is a former Democratic Congressman from Houston and was the 2006 Democratic nominee for Governor of Texas

[Xipe Totec]

1. You can count on my vote against whatever devil-spawn comes out of the Republican primaries. nt

[MisterP]

2. aw, he's just afraid of Jewish cowboys

[cannabis_flower]

3. Are you from Texas, MisterP?

You seem to know the history here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_gubernatorial_election,_2006

If it hadn't been for Kinky Friedman, Chris Bell probably would have been governor.

[MisterP]

4. nope, just an old DUer; much of the consensus was ... it wasn't Friedman ...

[cannabis_flower]

5. Well, it probably wasn't all Kinky

if Bell had been a better candidate.

[plus5mace]

8. Bell lost on his own.

The only way you can think Kinky cost Bell the governorship is if you believe that 90% of his voters would have backed Bell if Kinky hadn't run, but a great many of them simply wouldn't have voted or would have voted for a different third party. One of Kinky's big things was marijuana reform, and the Texas Democratic Party was opposed to that at the time.

And then you have to ignore the fact that the Republican vote was split between 2 different Republican candidates, so the 12% of the vote Kinky took from Bell was matched by 18% that Strayhorn took from Perry. Chris Bell could not even convince 1 in 3 Texas voters to support him.

[cannabis_flower]

11. Well..

it would have actually be about 80% but you are right. If Chris Bell had just at least supported medical marijuana. If he had at least supported medical marijuana he might have pulled some from Kinky. Texas NORML had lobbied hard at the 2004 state convention to get a medical marijuana plank in the Texas Democratic Party platform (which I proudly participated in) and if he had embraced it he might have been governor instead of Remedial Rick.

[tk2kewl]

6. Hello Diane, I'm Bucky Goldstein

[plus5mace]

7. Chris Bell is hopelessly out of touch with Texas if he thinks Hillary has a shot in the general.

Even Obama couldn't win Texas in 2008, and that's with low Republican turnout. Does anybody really expect low Republican turnout in 2016? It will take someone building a political infrastructure for the left that currently does not exist across most of the state, but the state party keeps on acting like demographics alone will bring them victory.

[w4rma]

9. Sanders is the choice that will help flip Texas. Clinton just, absolutely, assures yet another loss.

These establishment politicians are so stuck in their ways that they have gone insane on electability. They keep trying to put lipstick on neoliberal policy when regular people are in revolt against it and are only getting more and more pissed off about their economic policies.

[malokvale77]

10. Chris Bell is as lame a democrat as they come.

This is why Texas can't elect democrats.

My household just cast three votes for Bernie Sanders today in the Texas Primary. My dog would have if he could.

Chris Bell is the epitome of what's wrong with the Democratic Party. It's time to toss them out on their asses.

[TBF]

12. I am in Brazoria County -

we had a meet up last weekend and folks will be phone banking at La Madeleine today (Pearland Town Center). Even the campaign volunteer from Austin said the same thing - no chance in h*** Texas is going blue this cycle. But momentum is important so the teams have been working hard in Texas to get as many delegates as possible for Bernie at the state convention. Hillary is expecting to win big here, but even if she does it changes nothing for the general. We need a candidate who can beat the republicans - and Bernie can do that in the swing states.

Feel the Bern!!