AHC: Texas is a liberal state.

Maybe immigration is handled better,

But whatever the reasons, the State of Texas is a full-fledged liberal state. Elected Texas representatives and senators are proud that all children receive a good education and an equally good education. And they don't just mouth the usual platitudes about this, they have the energy—and money—to follow up.

And not quite as popular, but still with a clear majority, is support for a solid welfare system. In this ATL, a Texas governor recently said, 'A modern economy does not produce enough jobs for every able-bodied adult who wants one. That's the fact of the matter.'

Bonus Points if other southern states remain conservative.
 
Have Texas become as popular a destination for North-Eastern Americans to flock to as Florida did. Southern Florida is quite liberal at least compared to norther Florida and the south as a whole.

I think if Texas had become as popular a destination for inter-state migration as it is right now attracting people from California and other more liberal places some 20+ years earlier, combined with Texas ethnic demographics (it's a minority-majority states) I think Texas would have arguably been a blue or at least purple state by today.
 
It's not that hard really. Despite being Republican at the Presidential level since the '80s, Texas was Democratic leaning at the state and local level well into the '90s if not up to the early 2000s. I think, if I remember correctly, George W. Bush had a Democratic legislature throughout his Governorship.

You could do it by having a less conservative and weaker Republican party in the '80s and beyond, or have it, as someone else said, be like Florida and have it be a popular place for North eastern Americans to flock to.
 
It's not that hard really. Despite being Republican at the Presidential level since the '80s, Texas was Democratic leaning at the state and local level well into the '90s if not up to the early 2000s. I think, if I remember correctly, George W. Bush had a Democratic legislature throughout his Governorship.

You could do it by having a less conservative and weaker Republican party in the '80s and beyond, or have it, as someone else said, be like Florida and have it be a popular place for North eastern Americans to flock to.

Have the moderate Republicans ascend to dominance in the GOP.
 
It's not that hard really. Despite being Republican at the Presidential level since the '80s, Texas was Democratic leaning at the state and local level well into the '90s if not up to the early 2000s. I think, if I remember correctly, George W. Bush had a Democratic legislature throughout his Governorship.

You could do it by having a less conservative and weaker Republican party in the '80s and beyond, or have it, as someone else said, be like Florida and have it be a popular place for North eastern Americans to flock to.

Still, having a less conservative Republican party just means that Texas is more conservative Democrat - not that Texas will be liberal.
 
It's not that hard really. Despite being Republican at the Presidential level since the '80s, Texas was Democratic leaning at the state and local level well into the '90s if not up to the early 2000s. I think, if I remember correctly, George W. Bush had a Democratic legislature throughout his Governorship.

You could do it by having a less conservative and weaker Republican party in the '80s and beyond, or have it, as someone else said, be like Florida and have it be a popular place for North eastern Americans to flock to.

Yeah, but that was the leftovers of the old Southern Democrats, many of whom were as conservative, if not more so, than the Republicans.
 
It's not that hard really. Despite being Republican at the Presidential level since the '80s, Texas was Democratic leaning at the state and local level well into the '90s if not up to the early 2000s. I think, if I remember correctly, George W. Bush had a Democratic legislature throughout his Governorship.

Democratic =/= liberal. Rick Perry was a Democrat in 1988, but he was not a liberal even then.
 
Democratic =/= liberal. Rick Perry was a Democrat in 1988, but he was not a liberal even then.

Really? I knew the second part (him not being a liberal), but I had no idea about him being a Democrat. Of course, it makes sense, but...
 
Really? I knew the second part (him not being a liberal), but I had no idea about him being a Democrat. Of course, it makes sense, but...

He was a Gore backer then. As for the OP, you'd need some quite distant PODs to prevent the Southern realignment...
 
Maybe have the Republicans pass something akin to Proposition 187 like the California Republicans did and have it backfire just as spectacularly.
 
I think if Texas had become as popular a destination for inter-state migration as it is right now attracting people from California and other more liberal places some 20+ years earlier, . . .
This did happen with auto workers from Detroit. Starting around 1979, many of them did come to the Houston area to work in the petrochemical industry.
 
Gov. Bill Clements (R) 1979-'83

Gov. Mark White (D) '83-'87

Gov. Bill Clements (R) '87-'91

Texas had an oil industry slump around '86(?). If Democratic Governor Mark White was seen as giving it the good 'ol college try . . . and especially if Democrats succeed in actually delivering the goods regarding middle-class jobs, Texas politics might be very different.
 
You'll need to find a way to prevent the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Southern Strategy and have the Democrats stay a southern focused party.
 
Mark White was a moderate Democrat, not a liberal. If you want a *really* liberal governor of Texas, have Ralph Yarborough defeat Price Daniel in 1956. Some say he *did* and was counted out... https://books.google.com/books?id=Abt7AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA135
Even though I've lived in the state of Texas most of my adult life, I don't know that much about Gov. Mark White. (Surprisingly!!! Maybe I should. Didn't follow politics so much in my younger years.)

Would not surprise me even if he were on the conservative side. But a moderate is probably more likely.
 
Mark White was a moderate Democrat, not a liberal. If you want a *really* liberal governor of Texas, have Ralph Yarborough defeat Price Daniel in 1956. Some say he *did* and was counted out... https://books.google.com/books?id=Abt7AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA135

This sounds like it would definitely work, as long as Yarborough is very successful. Maybe he can also mobilize the non-White vote in Texas, and perhaps he could get rid of segregation. That would definitely secure those votes.
 
And arguably, there has been a conservative-liberal flipping on the economy.

Previously, conservatives were more interested in overall economic growth, and liberals were more interested in distribution and whether poor persons were getting a fair shake.

But currently, liberals are more in favor of the Keynesian approach during economic down times, that is, with overall economic growth. Whereas conservatives tend more to favor austerity and the question of what percent of the economy is government spending, that is, with questions of distribution.
 
hye u gais wat aboot that non-interventionist economy tho

thats prettty gladstonist if you ask me

i can almost hear john simon wanking himself to death
 
An economy of a sort does seem to spring up any time you have a buyer and a seller.

But to get anything sophisticated going, you need a legal system and thus a modern economy is very much interventionist. And usually seems to side with the current ins against the current outs.

In spite of brave words in the Code of Hammurabi that the first task of government is to protect the powerless from the powerful!
 
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