Texas Democrats stick with their leftist national party on all the issues, relying on demographic changes to make them competitive. Eventually. Some time this century, they swear!
But a funny thing may be happening on their way to demographic destiny. The Texas Democrats may be losing the very demographic they most desire, because of an issue.
Imagine that.
As in other states with significant Hispanic populations, polling shows that Latinos in Texas are increasingly turning against the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. According to the recent University of Texas poll, a majority of the state’s Hispanic population now has an unfavorable view of the law – with a stunning 41 percent saying they have a “very unfavorable” opinion of this new system. Overall, Texans are deeply opposed to the law, with just about half saying their view is “very unfavorable.”
All that’s according to the Libre Initiative, which also notes that Hispanic opinion of Obamacare has gone negative in Colorado. Hispanic voters were once solidly behind Obamacare, but are now split on it. More broadly, Obamacare may have discredited the idea of big government among Hispanic voters, at a time when Democrats are counting on those very same voters to hand them Texas and other states with growing Hispanic populations.
So what does this have to do with Wendy Davis?
The Texas Democrat is nothing if not a creature of the left wing of her party. She is running for governor in a state in which Democrats have not won statewide since current college sophomores have been alive. Davis supports Obamacare and has goaded the state to expand Medicaid. Davis also authored an amendment in the Texas lege that would have had government take over private insurance rates. Davis stayed out on the left fringe, providing just one of three votes against a market-based Texas health care reform for small businesses. And, at a time when Texas has been weathering a storm of regulatory nonsense from Washington, Wendy Davis wanted to raid the state’s rainy day fund to expand Medicaid to support Obamacare.
It’s fair to say that most Texans did not and do not want that to happen.
Wendy Davis is a champion of big government failure, at a time when the key Hispanic vote is trending against big government failure because of Obamacare, an unpopular law that Wendy Davis supports. Come November, that’s liable to have consequences.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member