this is moving the goalposts from my thread. federal elections have absolutely been fucked with, but the GOP’s dominance in multiple states is not completely, or even well, explained by gerrymandering or elections bullshit.

I might be, though I have friends/fam in TX metros so I’m not too dumb lol. But my “take” is that majority rule in TX, a place that has a long practice at ruling a majority with a minority (and lots of willing goons on their side) is not a mere technical/policy challenge, but political (imo).

I don’t want to sound like I’m denying dark stuff and intimidation and bullshit to deny what working people and students want, I’m saying that Texas gov’t has been run by people who like the way that war has been going, and attracting people to it, going back to the Alamo.

RWers and business moderates have been moving to Texas for many decades, arguably a century, attracted by the business friendly climate and sympathy to the project. DFW has been Nut Country for decades, fueled by this very dynamic.

I sympathize with the dynamic, but the RWers moving there aren’t shenanigans or even tactics, it’s people moving there out of ideological agreement with what they perceive TX to be. CO has had a lot of liberal people move here in the last two decades (good), but it’s not akin to gerrymandering.

100%. and you and I get this but: there are people who move to places because they like the politics of the place, each way. Queer kids move to liberal towns, resentful assholes have fled the Denver area for Idaho over the past decade, etc.

and as one of the loudest We Gotta Persuade People accounts on this app, I see people all the time escape to the Dreams Of Nefarious Shenanigans to explain things they don’t know how to persuade out of people.

sure, gerrymandering exists, but it’s also just exquisitely obvious that there are people who’ve only lived in a couple places, and never seen how the other parts live. it’s bordering on an axiom to say that places take on the qualities of their residents! Regional differences exist!

Update: 🎯

the reason folks weigh in is because they have non-analytical reasons to resist or resent the speculator. There’s not enough evidence for anything else.

I’m not saying I know what the end result is, but: there’s just no reason to weigh in as “the thoughtful boundary of analysis” about all this! all you’re gonna do is look boring, at best, and super dumb and wrong at worst.

i catch the strays about Dave Portnoy, such is life on our pirate ships

disregard the TV doofuses, what evidence do we have that running the ball for Michigan with mega backup running backs is “safer” than 10 yd outs?

lol