Joseph Meyer on Nostr: Reminiscing about the lost pragmatic conservatism of Texas that I never supported but ...
Reminiscing about the lost pragmatic conservatism of Texas that I never supported but did respect for its philosophical honesty:
I remember when years ago, probably longer ago than I think, maybe 30 years ago, members of the Republican Party in Texas and elsewhere talked of what they could do to better appeal to members of minority groups who typically voted for Democrats. The late Steve Murdock, formerly the state demographer for Texas and later director of the U.S. Census Bureau, often gave persuasive presentations to Texas legislators about the changing population demographics of Texas. One key point he always made was how important it was for Texas to increase access to higher education and the educational attainment of traditional minority groups. He said it was not only the right thing to do, but was necessary for Texas to maintain a skilled workforce that would command good salaries and pay the taxes that Texas government would need to operate. He was a good presenter and made a solid case with appropriate charts and graphs.
Lieutenant Governor Ratliff of Texas, long considered to be a pragmatic conservative who valued education, had already developed a mathematical funding model for Texas public higher education by academic discipline and instructional level. A goal of his was to make sure higher education funding was allocated fairly and efficiently as he described it to former lieutenant governor Bill Hobby, Jr. and me as we sat together in his capitol building office one day. When Ratliff resigned at the age 67 in 2003, explaining that he refused to support the redistricting his more conservative colleagues demanded to back his reelection, he said his biggest regret was being unable to do more for Texas teachers.
Texas' conservative politicians of today have abandoned pragmatism in favor of a different direction with their anti-DEI initiatives and book censorships. They have rejected the strategy of appealing to a wider base in favor of voter suppression, court packing, and other dirty tricks to maintain power even as whites represent a shrinking fraction of the Texas population. Knowing this won't work forever, maybe Donald Trump's promise that Christian nationals won't have to vote anymore if he is reelected is their endgame for control in the longterm.
#Texas
#Politics
#Conservatism
#HigherEducation
#DEI
#Sociology
#Demography
#Minorities
I remember when years ago, probably longer ago than I think, maybe 30 years ago, members of the Republican Party in Texas and elsewhere talked of what they could do to better appeal to members of minority groups who typically voted for Democrats. The late Steve Murdock, formerly the state demographer for Texas and later director of the U.S. Census Bureau, often gave persuasive presentations to Texas legislators about the changing population demographics of Texas. One key point he always made was how important it was for Texas to increase access to higher education and the educational attainment of traditional minority groups. He said it was not only the right thing to do, but was necessary for Texas to maintain a skilled workforce that would command good salaries and pay the taxes that Texas government would need to operate. He was a good presenter and made a solid case with appropriate charts and graphs.
Lieutenant Governor Ratliff of Texas, long considered to be a pragmatic conservative who valued education, had already developed a mathematical funding model for Texas public higher education by academic discipline and instructional level. A goal of his was to make sure higher education funding was allocated fairly and efficiently as he described it to former lieutenant governor Bill Hobby, Jr. and me as we sat together in his capitol building office one day. When Ratliff resigned at the age 67 in 2003, explaining that he refused to support the redistricting his more conservative colleagues demanded to back his reelection, he said his biggest regret was being unable to do more for Texas teachers.
Texas' conservative politicians of today have abandoned pragmatism in favor of a different direction with their anti-DEI initiatives and book censorships. They have rejected the strategy of appealing to a wider base in favor of voter suppression, court packing, and other dirty tricks to maintain power even as whites represent a shrinking fraction of the Texas population. Knowing this won't work forever, maybe Donald Trump's promise that Christian nationals won't have to vote anymore if he is reelected is their endgame for control in the longterm.
#Texas
#Politics
#Conservatism
#HigherEducation
#DEI
#Sociology
#Demography
#Minorities