Hurricanes may help steer Texas politics
HOUSTON -- Ron Booth voted Republican in the presidential election four years ago.
In the staunchly Republican state of Texas, home to President Bush, that's not much of a surprise. Booth says, however, that in November, he'll cast his vote for the Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama.
"You can't do the things of the past to solve the problems of the future," says Booth, 45, a finance manager, as he lunched recently at an outdoor cafe in downtown Houston. "We need change. That's Obama, clearly."
The majority of voters in Texas may be more like Laura Lansberry, 48, a hair salon owner in the Bellaire suburb of Houston, who says she considered voting for Obama, based mostly on his personality. However, Obama's tax policies and spending plans worry her, she says.
"We're going to get a big part of the tax burden," she says. "And I feel I'm paying a big part already."
She'll most likely vote for the Republican candidate, Sen. John McCain, as will her husband and most of her friends.
Texans have long had good reason to visit the polls on presidential Election Day. Stretching back to Ronald Reagan's first run for office, there has been a favorite son on every presidential ticket for three decades.
The fact that there isn't one this year might be symbolic of a subtle shift in Texas' political landscape. Republicans are likely to carry the state easily in the presidential election, but some pockets long considered Republican territory may be inching toward the Democrats' camp, political analysts say
The last Democratic president to carry Texas was Jimmy Carter in 1976. In 2000, Texas Gov. George W. Bush took Texas over Vice President Al Gore, 59% to 38%, according to secretary of State records. Four years later, Bush again won Texas, 61% to 38%, over Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry. In a Research 2000 poll released last week, McCain holds a comfortable 12-point lead over Obama.
Some areas long considered Republican strongholds, such as Dallas County, though, are rapidly turning purple and may be all-out blue by Nov. 5.
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