Doesn’t look good for the @TexasGOP out here, I’m in a respectably long line to vote at 2 PM CT in a majority-minority district in Sugar Land. Bless y’all’s hearts. 😘 #SuperTuesday2020
Whew chile I made it out in 50 minutes. Line was just as long when I left as it was when I got there so I feel for the folk who are gonna show up after 5.... 😬
Here’s more background on how the voting process works in states that hold “open” primaries and don’t tie party affiliation to voter registration. texastribune.org/2020/02/28/tex… 
There’s been a lot of talk about the prospect of Republicans crossing over to vote for candidates they perceive as weak or detrimental to the overall goal of beating Trump, so I wanna share a little anecdote from my voting experience today that’s less scandalous/pessimistic...
The first thing to keep in mind is that apart from the top of the ticket, there are TONS of important down ballot races on the table tonight, so it’s a mistake to assume that just b/c the GOP won’t let anyone run against Trump that GOP Never Trumpers who loathe him won’t show up.
When you go in to get your access code for the voting machines (😒) you have to tell them if you want a D or R ballot and that’s what decides what line of machines you vote on and which names are on your ballot, so if your goal is a ratfuck, that means you can’t vote for ANY Rs.
IOW that’s not really a viable opposition strategy for the GOP because they actually need real Rs to get real R ballots and vote for real Rs who will go on to compete with real Ds who were chosen by real Ds. It’s a unicorn fantasy ratfuck strategy, if it’s even a strategy at all.
Which brings me to my anecdote...
My subdivision is also majority-minority, so the voter crowd always looks like a typical D coalition, there were plenty of POC and White women so that part didn’t surprise me but whenever I saw a White man I was curious if he was there to vote R or D....
There was a gray haired White guy in front of me (I’d say late 50s-early 60s) in business shirt and slacks who looked like he just came from the office standing in front of me so I made it a point to be eavesdrop on which ballot he chose...
The really sunken place feeling about voting in TX or really the South in general is it’s such a racially tinged exercise that there’s a sort of a cone of secrecy about party affiliation and ideology, so they give you the option to *silently point* at a square to choose D or R.
Some ppl DGAF & yell it out loud (moi) and others are really sly abt it and either 1) whisper while making intense eye contact with the poll worker or 2) use the silent point escape hatch. The White guy in front of me did both 1 and 2 b/c 1 didn’t work out & he chose a D ballot!
😂😂 I have no fucking idea which D he ultimately chose for the POTUS portion of the ballot, but the basic fact that *that* White guy who so outwardly appears to be a target GOP voter is asking for and voting with a D ballot is a bad thing for the GOP and Trump on ANY Tuesday.
In a state where such a relatively smaller percentage of White men vote D, having Trump in the WH puts them at such a high risk of losing reasonable Rs who don’t vote D (and are therefore somewhat ashamed to ask for a D ballot) requesting a D ballot so they can vote Joe/Mike/Liz.
🚨 Also FYI to everyone who’s suddenly reporting on hundreds of closed polling locations in Texas, this has been a *known problem* since 2013 and it’s why it was always a Jim Crow reboot for SCOTUS/Roberts to declare racism dead just b/c Obama was POTUS. This is a chronic issue.
@TexasGOP Y’all didn’t stop PJ from voting for @JoeBiden though. 🤪 #NoMalarkey2020 #ExpectUs #RidinWithBiden #BetoBelieveIt #SuperTuesday2020 #TurnTexasJoe
Side note, I’m watching @msnbc and the mood is so somber and stunned presumably because they hyped themselves into a corner about Bernie being the “undisputed” front runner and now the results don’t match up because they didn’t talk to enough POC or reliable White allies. Welp.
Please keep in mind when you’re watching the TX reporting that the lines have been extremely long due to reduced polling locations so it will take time for the huge population centers in Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and El Paso to get all the voters through the process...
Apart from that, it’s not just the city centers we’re talking about. Our suburbs are huge (~80-200K ppl) so it will also take time for those precincts to get their numbers out. But once they do come in, the answers will be declarative because of the sheer volume of vote totals.
Welp, Joe just won OK. Also known as a state Bernie won in 2016.
Let me go make a drink... #standby #SuperTuesday2020 #WeKnowJoe
Let me go make a drink... #standby #SuperTuesday2020 #WeKnowJoe
9:50 CT and @msnbc just reported they’re still waiting in line to vote in Houston. It’s gonna be a LONG night, y’all.... #SuperTuesdayTexas 💅🏾
The other thing you need to understand is that the chronically reduced polling locations (since ‘13) disproportionately impact POC, which means we’re gonna be waiting b/c Black voters show up to the polls wishing a MFer would & will STAY in line even longer if we detect Jim Crow.
The other important 🔑 for Texas is GOTV efforts undertaken by Beto, Bloomberg (and even Kamala) dating back to Beto’s 2018 run and the launch of the primary this time last year has been crucial for boosting D registration/turnout in general which is vital for turning TX blue. 💡
Both Kamala and Beto held HUGE rallies at TSU in Houston in March 2019, so despite them not still being on the stage, their campaigns have been connecting and activating volunteers and voter registration to BUILD on the HUGE gains Beto made in Texas in ‘18. Down ballot boost.🔥
Stop 😴 on Texas Democrats. 🚨 #SuperTuesdayTexas2020 #AllEyesOnTexas
Now that Biden’s in the lead in TX, Bernie’s at a bit of a disadvantage going into the final stretch of precinct reporting b/c the last to report will also be the big metro and suburban areas that have had such long lines (so the remaining vote will likely lean Biden b/c of POC).
The other thing you need to understand abt the long lines/closed polling places (GOP voter suppression) is Black voters are *accustomed to these tactics* and will paradoxically wait for HOURS to draw more attention, b/c I’m not exaggerating when I say we need a #VRA Juneteenth.
On the contrary, I think the Texas results are a pretty good example of what happens when turnout is high and traditional R voters aren’t wedding themselves to voting R along racial lines, but are actually deliberatively helping Ds find the best challenger for unpopular Trump.
🚨 AGAIN, it is absolutely INSANE that Ds outside TX continue to habitually neglect the prospect of *38 EVs* in the general when there are determined/enthusiastic voters of color here who are willing to STAY & FIGHT like hell til the LAST *primary vote* is counted. h/t @kprin7 🔥
TX Rs don’t mind switching back to R later b/c if their influence on the selection of the D nominee results in Joe v. Trump, the *Never Trumper TX Rs* can still wash their hands of him and throw him to the 🐺 in the general despite not being able to primary him from within. ☕️
Another 🔑 is this TX primary is occurring against a backdrop of Trump being relatively unpopular not just with Ds but also Rs, who in TX were mostly backing Jeb or Cruz in ‘16. The TX GOP isn’t above letting TX and nationwide Ds take out their trash. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
Also for long game purposes, I think it’s more than likely that a large portion of the Super Tuesday R Never Trumper crossovers in TX and other open primary states will still either switch completely back to R or split their Nov. ticket to 1) dump Trump 2) retain R Senate seats.
Because there are so many possible Nov. options for the R voters who are clearly tipping the scales towards Joe in the D primary, this is a nightmare scenario for Trump/the GOP’s chances of retaining the WH b/c it turns so many of the typically safe red states into TOSSUPS. 🔥
This means that even if the Never Trumper R effort in TX doesn’t ultimately result in TX turning blue, it still boosts down ballot TX races for Ds *AND* it still leaves Trump facing an opponent who could actually flip OTHER red/purple states blue on the EC map and get Ds to 270.
The reason it isn’t an exaggeration to say that Texas once again needs a #VRA #Juneteenth (google it if you still dk what it is yet) is the longer lines/reduced polling places are a CRIME against POC’s voting rights that’s been happening in plain sight at this rate for ~7 YRS.
If the bluff that ultimately gets called is Texas R Never Trumpers/Never Berners using the open primary loophole to help Ds send Joe to a general election where he still loses TX but flips OTHER red/purple states BLUE for 270, I’ll lmao with them on OUR way to the cookout. 💅🏾🔥☕️
People need to suspend their disdain for open primaries (and TX/the South in general) long enough to add up all the D votes in TX in the context of Rs *literally wasting a chance to impact down ballot R races* to cross over and help deliver the Deep South to Joe on Super Tuesday.
Much like Texas Ds, Texas Rs are unique and have a flare for ALL things DGAF when it comes to local/state politics. They’re a hybrid of Bush/Rockerfeller Rs and Libertarians, they love money and racism but they love law & order more. They relish being the GOP’s premier deciders.
As such, what TX Rs REALLY don’t fucking like is a sleazy, broke, fraud Yankee on Putin’s payroll hopping into the ‘16 GOP primary and boxing out their poster boys Cruz & Jeb despite their 💵 advantages, decider status and the Steele Dossier oppo research that they ALL PAID FOR.
The FACT of the matter remains that if the compromised, bought-and-paid-for-RNC hadn’t forbidden the whole party from primarying their *impeached forever* POTUS, Trump wouldn’t stand a chance against ANY SANE Republican in these red states, especially TEXAS, the premier decider.
In case you don’t believe me, here’s a flashback to ‘16 when JEB! completely wasted $130 million of “J. R. Ewing’s” collective 💵 for NOTHING. TX Rs have been plotting revenge ever since like any Texan worth their BBQ would do in this situation. Enter Open Southern Primaries/Joe:
The “J.R. Ewing” TX R will sleep better with Biden in the WH. He remembers how well he slept when Obama was POTUS but he couldn’t fully express gratitude for it back then b/c Blackness (💅🏾). Now that Trump is an endless disaster, Uncle Joe looks even MORE safe. ☕️
In other words... #WelcomeToTheSouthYall
Once again this is where I’m gonna have to point you right back to LBJ, a VP who inherited a nation in immense turmoil and social unrest, yet simultaneously clamoring for a *transformative* expansion of civil rights/social justice & a dismantling of Jim Crow. Sound familiar?! 💡
What better state to recognize when White supremacy and right wing extremism have totally jumped the shark but the state that forever lives in infamy as the place where JFK was killed? The “J.R. Ewing” TX R is decent enough to know that any stain on HIS city is bad for BUSINESS.
IOW, what if TX Rs along with R crossovers throughout the Southeast joined together with the multicultural D coalition to “rise again” against Trump for law and order and a return to the more covert bigotry they were accustomed to prior to his hijacking of their party & America?
The ☕️ is there *were indeed* tons of TX R crossovers voting with us on 3/3 but it turns out WE were on the *same BLUE team* this time. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the true one, Trump is atrocious enough to turn enemies into friends for America’s sake. 🇺🇸 #TexasLovesJoe
The pundits may never arrive at the most salient conclusions, and folk #onhere may never fully listen to or internalize us, but voters from America’s most prominent *civil rights battlegrounds*, BOTH D & R, are signaling that Joe can be trusted for the job b/c he’s been THERE b4.
If the utility of “open” primaries in Southern/former Confederacy/“red” states that allow White Rs a free pass to course correct for the racist, atrocious mistake *they* made in the prior election is still confusing you, please Google slavery, abolition, Reconstruction/Jim Crow.
If the utility of “open” primaries in “safe red” states is it allows White Rs a free pass to course correct for the treasonous mistake *they* made that resulted in THEIR OWN PARTY selling out to Trump/Putin and refusing to remove him, isn’t a TX R voting D the right thing to do?
Condescension doesn’t build coalitions: TX Down Ballot Edition #SuperTuesdayTexasResults ☕️
