first learned how much votes matter in the year 2000. At my age then, I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on when it seemed to me that President George W. Bush was crowned victor by the Supreme Court over Al Gore. I did understand from my parents and older siblings that it was very, very close in terms of votes, and that ultimately it wasn’t fair. I remember thinking distinctly, how can our system be built to favor the minority?

Well, since then I’ve had many a similar lesson. In today’s political landscape, the goal is not to attract the biggest number of voters, at least not for the Republican Party. It’s to make the smallest number of votes count the most. As someone who has worked in and around the Texas Capitol for the past four years, I’ve had a firsthand look at how relationships, reputations, and the drive to gain (or hold) power fuels the radical policy decisions that create national attention today.

However, in my view, the problems facing Texas are not only a Texas issue. By taking a look at the state’s history, the current political landscape, and how we got here, we’ll uncover the real threat to our entire nation. To combat it will take coming together, not splintering apart.

The History

A red Texas may seem like a tale as old as the state itself, but it isn’t. Dems held the state legislative trifecta (House, Senate, and Governorship) in 1994. Texas had provided a Democrat as president in LBJ; a legendary Democratic Speaker of the U.S. House, Sam Rayburn (for a record 17 consecutive years); and at least one Democratic U.S. Senator for 86 years in a row. Simply put, today’s red Texas is not the only Texas.

So how did Texas swing so far to the right? There are many factors. However, the main driver is narrative: a story based on cornerstone Texas ideologies like economic freedom, low taxes, and hands-off government. These traits were not always viewed as only Republican ideals. But as politics began to become more polarized in the late 80s and into the early 2000s, Republicans made the claim that they were “true Texan”—only they would uphold the most popular values in the state. Suddenly, Democrats lost any perceived claim over these popular Texas values. They began to lose their strongholds in the state House, Senate, and Governorship. Just how powerful was this GOP move? As some moderate Democrats began scrambling to get voters on board with more liberal ideals, others jumped the aisle to become Republicans--and stay popular with that base. One of the most notable was Rick Perry, who became a Republican governor and a Republican candidate for President.

Taking this to a national scale, Republicans have continued to build their narrative and champion a smaller number of policy ideas to fire up a cohesive, loyal base. Democrats have tried to play catch-all and be the everything party to everyone. As Texas history has shown us, crafting a small, simple narrative and building a party around it is much more powerful than trying to incorporate all policy ideas. That strategy produces a party that can’t seem to agree on what legislation to prioritize, or how to even go about passing it.

The Power of Narrative

Many of my out-of-state friends and family make comments about the current political landscape being a singular problem for Texas. When they ask how I can live in such a state, I fear they fail to see the forest for the trees. Narrative-building is something Republicans have been using to their advantage for years, and they now see that they can take it to a further extreme.

The state of Texas just passed legislation to restrict voting access and make it more difficult to vote--under the guise of preventing (unproven) voter fraud. Texas Republicans also rammed through a near-total abortion ban. Mere years ago, this type of legislation would have seemed impossible, even to state Republicans. But they found a way. And where did they learn that way? From none other than Donald Trump.

Trump showed the country that despite breaking the law, throwing out both tradition and decorum, and by outwardly insulting large groups of people, he could still be competitive. Why? Because his voters want to be part of his narrative, including guns, “freedom”, religion, and “winning.” He opened the door for states to polarize further, and he showed them that they could win by doing it.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott passes far-right policy after policy. Still, most political experts expect him to win his gubernatorial re-election in 2022. This despite 56% of Texans disapproving of his response to the pandemic, and 63% disagreeing with Texas’ new abortion ban. How is this possible? It’s the power of narrative. Despite voters disagreeing with some of Abbott’s policies and his leadership, they still vote for him. He represents the narrative they want to be part of.

So, when people outside of Texas are astounded by the types of laws passing in my problematic state, I understand. But I can’t help but be frustrated with their preference to classify this as a problem in one state, rather than a cancer that has been metastasizing for years.

The Road Ahead

So, what can we do? For starters, we who oppose such Texas measures need to figure out how to classify ourselves. The sheer ideological space between a moderate Democrat and a Democratic-Socialist is too big to expect a base to support, year after year. Voters are confused about what the Democratic party stands for, while the Republicans are using that divide to convince the general population that Democrats are actually Socialists. Democrats are having an identity crisis. Regardless of the direction chosen, we liberals need to decide on some core values to champion, and we need to build a narrative around them.

It doesn’t mean that everyone should conform in order to fit in, but it does mean that those who hold socialist ideologies probably shouldn’t try to shoehorn all those ideals into a party platform where so many largely disagrees with them.

So, let’s ask ourselves this: which things do all liberal voters care about? What resonates? We, of course, think of ourselves as the party, “of the people, by the people and for the people.” But what’s our counter-narrative? How can we live our ideals through a concise set of policy ideas? Where can we build momentum? I’d imagine fighting for healthcare reform, voting rights guarantees, and combatting climate change would be a good place to start.

But maybe I’m wrong. Either way, it’s certainly time to stop pretending the lessons from Texas are an outlier. Instead, they’re a masterclass in how a political minority can use its narrative to push policy change on the majority.

All Articles

The Power of Narrative: The Texas Lesson

by Blue Belle