Download or read book Turning Texas Blue written by Mary Beth Rogers and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2016-01-19 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 2014 midterm election, Democrats in Texas did not receive even 40 percent of the statewide vote; Republicans swept the tables both in Texas and nationally. But even after two decades of democratic losses, there is a path to turn Texas blue, argues Mary Beth Rogers - if Democrats are smart enough to see and follow it. Rogers is the last person to successfully campaign-manage a Democrat, Governor Ann Richards, to the statehouse in Austin. In a lively narrative, Rogers tells the story of how Texas moved so far to the right in such a short time and how Democrats might be able to move it back to the center. And, argues Rogers, that will mean a lot more of an effort than simply waiting for the state's demographics to shift even further towards Hispanics - a risky proposition at best. Rogers identifies a ten-point path for Texas Democrats to win at the statewide level and to build a base vote that would allow Texas to become a swing-vote player in national politics once again. One part of that shift starts with local Democratic candidates in local Republican communities making the connection between controversial local issues or problems and the statewide Republican policies that ignore or create them. For example, in a 2014 election in Denton-a Republican suburb-voters approved Texas's first ban on hydraulic fracking. The next day, though, a Republican Texas agency official announced that Texas would not honor the town's vote to ban. No democratic candidate picked up the issue. Change won't come easily, argues Rogers. But if Texas shifts to even a pale shade of purple, it changes everything in American politics today.

Download or read book Turning Texas Blue written by Mary Beth Rogers and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2016-01-19 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Successful Democratic Texas campaign manager Mary Beth Rogers explains how Democrats can punch holes in the big red political bubble that has covered the state for 25 years

Download or read book The Big Sort written by Bill Bishop and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2009-05-11 with total page 478 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The award-winning journalist reveals the untold story of why America is so culturally and politically divided in this groundbreaking book. Armed with startling demographic data, Bill Bishop demonstrates how Americans have spent decades sorting themselves into alarmingly homogeneous communities—not by region or by state, but by city and neighborhood. With ever-increasing specificity, we choose the communities and media that are compatible with our lifestyles and beliefs. The result is a country that has become so ideologically inbred that people don't know and can't understand those who live just a few miles away. In The Big Sort, Bishop explores how this phenomenon came to be, and its dire implications for our country. He begins with stories about how we live today and then draws on history, economics, and our changing political landscape to create one of the most compelling big-picture accounts of America in recent memory.

Download or read book The Emerging Democratic Majority written by John B. Judis and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2004-02-10 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ONE OF THE ECONOMIST'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR AND A WINNER OF THE WASHINGTON MONTHLY'S ANNUAL POLITICAL BOOK AWARD Political experts John B. Judis and Ruy Teixeira convincingly use hard data -- demographic, geographic, economic, and political -- to forecast the dawn of a new progressive era. In the 1960s, Kevin Phillips, battling conventional wisdom, correctly foretold the dawn of a new conservative era. His book, The Emerging Republican Majority, became an indispensable guide for all those attempting to understand political change through the 1970s and 1980s. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, with the country in Republican hands, The Emerging Democratic Majority is the indispensable guide to this era. In five well-researched chapters and a new afterword covering the 2002 elections, Judis and Teixeira show how the most dynamic and fastest-growing areas of the country are cultivating a new wave of Democratic voters who embrace what the authors call "progressive centrism" and take umbrage at Republican demands to privatize social security, ban abortion, and cut back environmental regulations. As the GOP continues to be dominated by neoconservatives, the religious right, and corporate influence, this is an essential volume for all those discontented with their narrow agenda -- and a clarion call for a new political order.

Download or read book God Save Texas written by Lawrence Wright and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2018-04-17 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower—and a Texas native—takes us on a journey through the most controversial state in America. • “Beautifully written…. Essential reading [for] anyone who wants to understand how one state changed the trajectory of the country.” —NPR Texas is a red state, but the cities are blue and among the most diverse in the nation. Oil is still king, but Texas now leads California in technology exports. Low taxes and minimal regulation have produced extraordinary growth, but also striking income disparities. Texas looks a lot like the America that Donald Trump wants to create. Bringing together the historical and the contemporary, the political and the personal, Texas native Lawrence Wright gives us a colorful, wide-ranging portrait of a state that not only reflects our country as it is, but as it may become—and shows how the battle for Texas’s soul encompasses us all.

Download or read book What s the Matter with Kansas written by Thomas Frank and published by Picador. This book was released on 2007-04-01 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of "our most insightful social observers"* cracks the great political mystery of our time: how conservatism, once a marker of class privilege, became the creed of millions of ordinary Americans With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank turns his eye on what he calls the "thirty-year backlash"—the populist revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment. The high point of that backlash is the Republican Party's success in building the most unnatural of alliances: between blue-collar Midwesterners and Wall Street business interests, workers and bosses, populists and right-wingers. In asking "what 's the matter with Kansas?"—how a place famous for its radicalism became one of the most conservative states in the union—Frank, a native Kansan and onetime Republican, seeks to answer some broader American riddles: Why do so many of us vote against our economic interests? Where's the outrage at corporate manipulators? And whatever happened to middle-American progressivism? The questions are urgent as well as provocative. Frank answers them by examining pop conservatism—the bestsellers, the radio talk shows, the vicious political combat—and showing how our long culture wars have left us with an electorate far more concerned with their leaders' "values" and down-home qualities than with their stands on hard questions of policy. A brilliant analysis—and funny to boot—What's the Matter with Kansas? presents a critical assessment of who we are, while telling a remarkable story of how a group of frat boys, lawyers, and CEOs came to convince a nation that they spoke on behalf of the People. *Los Angeles Times

Download or read book Barbara Jordan written by Mary Beth Rogers and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2000-01-04 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Barbara Jordan was the first African American to serve in the Texas Senate since Reconstruction, the first black woman elected to Congress from the South, and the first to deliver the keynote address at a national party convention. Yet Jordan herself remained a mystery, a woman so private that even her close friends did not know the name of the illness that debilitated her for two decades until it struck her down at the age of fifty-nine. In Barbara Jordan, Mary Beth Rogers deftly explores the forces that shaped the moral character and quiet dignity of this extraordinary woman. She reveals the seeds of Jordan's trademark stoicism while recapturing the essence of a black woman entering politics just as the civil rights movement exploded across the nation. Celebrating Jordan's elegance, passion, and patriotism, this illuminating portrayal gives new depth to our understanding of one of the most influential women of our time-a woman whose powerful convictions and flair for oratorical drama changed the political landscape of America's twentieth century.

Download or read book The Liberal Invasion of Red State America written by Kristin B. Tate and published by Regnery. This book was released on 2020-01-21 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Refugees from high-tax Massachusetts turned New Hampshire blue. Democratic voters from Yankee states are swamping Tennessee and Georgia. Government employees and refugees from Maryland have turned Virginia from a conservative Southern state into left-leaning Democrat territory. Escapees from California have transformed Colorado, and they’re aiming for Texas next. One state after another is turning from red to purple to blue. America is being radically changes by people leaving blue states for better living conditions and opportunities in red states—only to import to their new homes the very policies that created the misery they fled from in the first place. The direction of the change is undeniable: • A 2019 poll found that 53 percent of residents are considering leaving California on account of the exorbitant cost of living • From 2008-2018, Houston's population surged more than 15 percent, and the top metro areas of origin for those new Texas residents were Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago • Migration from blue states is changing the Texas electorate: between 2010 and 2018, votes for Democrats went up 50 percent, while Republican votes increased by just 10 percent • Boom is turning to bust in cities like Denver, as hip blue state refugees to red states raise the cost of living by voting in liberal policies The liberal invasion of the conservative states is having major impacts on our elections, our economy, and our standard of living. And yet few Americans are even aware of the trend, and fewer still have any idea of the significant implications for the future of the United States. Now, in The Liberal Invasion of Red State America, indefatigable reporter Kristin Tate delves into the data, lays out the astonishing statistics, and explores the likely consequences of this under-the-radar trend. If you want to understand the movement that is reshaping our country, read this groundbreaking book.

Download or read book The Republican Party of Texas written by Wayne Thorburn and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 493 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On July 4, 1867, a group of men assembled in Houston to establish the Republican Party of Texas. Combatting entrenched statewide support for the Democratic Party and their own internal divisions, Republicans struggled to gain a foothold in the Lone Star State, which had sided with the Confederacy and aligned with the Democratic platform. In The Republican Party of Texas, Wayne Thorburn, former executive director of the Texas GOP, chronicles over one hundred and fifty years of the defeats and victories of the party that became the dominant political force in Texas in the modern era. Thorburn documents the organizational structure of the Texas GOP, drawing attention to prominent names, such as Harry Wurzbach and George W. Bush, alongside lesser-known community leaders who bolstered local support. The 1960s and 1970s proved a watershed era for Texas Republicans as they shored up ideological divides and elected the first Republican governor and more state senators and congressional representatives than ever before. From decisions about candidates and shifting allegiances and political stances, to race-based divisions and strategic cooperation with leaders in the Democratic Party, Thorburn unearths the development of the GOP in Texas to understand the unique Texan conservatism that prevails today.

Download or read book Hold Fast written by Blue Balliett and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2013-03-01 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From NYT bestselling author Blue Balliett, the story of a girl who falls into Chicago's shelter system, and from there must solve the mystery of her father's strange disappearance. Where is Early's father? He's not the kind of father who would disappear. But he's gone . . . and he's left a whole lot of trouble behind.As danger closes in, Early, her mom, and her brother have to flee their apartment. With nowhere else to go, they are forced to move into a city shelter. Once there, Early starts asking questions and looking for answers. Because her father hasn't disappeared without a trace. There are patterns and rhythms to what's happened, and Early might be the only one who can use them to track him down and make her way out of a very tough place.With her signature, singular love of language and sense of mystery, Blue Balliett weaves a story that takes readers from the cold, snowy Chicago streets to the darkest corner of the public library, on an unforgettable hunt for deep truths and a reunited family.

Download or read book It s Time to Fight Dirty written by David M. Faris and published by Melville House. This book was released on 2018 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American electoral system is clearly failing more horrifically in the 2016 presidential election than ever before. In It's Time to Fight Dirty, David Faris expands on his popular series for 'The Week' to offer party leaders and supporters concrete strategies for lasting political reform - and in doing so lays the groundwork for a more progressive future. With equal parts playful irreverence and persuasive reasoning, It's Time to Fight Dirty is essential reading as we head toward the 2018 midterms... and beyond.

Download or read book Last Chance in Texas written by John Hubner and published by Random House. This book was released on 2008-04-29 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A powerful, bracing and deeply spiritual look at intensely, troubled youth, Last Chance in Texas gives a stirring account of the way one remarkable prison rehabilitates its inmates. While reporting on the juvenile court system, journalist John Hubner kept hearing about a facility in Texas that ran the most aggressive–and one of the most successful–treatment programs for violent young offenders in America. How was it possible, he wondered, that a state like Texas, famed for its hardcore attitude toward crime and punishment, could be leading the way in the rehabilitation of violent and troubled youth? Now Hubner shares the surprising answers he found over months of unprecedented access to the Giddings State School, home to “the worst of the worst”: four hundred teenage lawbreakers convicted of crimes ranging from aggravated assault to murder. Hubner follows two of these youths–a boy and a girl–through harrowing group therapy sessions in which they, along with their fellow inmates, recount their crimes and the abuse they suffered as children. The key moment comes when the young offenders reenact these soul-shattering moments with other group members in cathartic outpourings of suffering and anger that lead, incredibly, to genuine remorse and the beginnings of true empathy . . . the first steps on the long road to redemption. Cutting through the political platitudes surrounding the controversial issue of juvenile justice, Hubner lays bare the complex ties between abuse and violence. By turns wrenching and uplifting, Last Chance in Texas tells a profoundly moving story about the children who grow up to inflict on others the violence that they themselves have suffered. It is a story of horror and heartbreak, yet ultimately full of hope.

Download or read book Turning the Page written by Jeffrey R. Di Leo and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2014-12-17 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American Book Review is not just a book review—it is also the heart and soul of writerly writing and small press publishing. In 2006, the publication was relocated to Victoria, Texas, where cultural critic and philosopher Jeffrey R. Di Leo became editor and publisher. Turning the Page collects Di Leo’s contributions to American Book Review from his more recent “Page 2” entries on “social reading” and book bannings in Arizona to his early engagements with the work of Raymond Federman and Harold Jaffe. The common themes are book and publishing culture, and how they intersect with current problems in the humanities, including the rise of neoliberalism. “There is no dimension of contemporary book culture that Jeffrey Di Leo doesn’t examine beautifully in Turning the Page. These essays are essential reading for everyone who cares about the state of literature today.”—Charles Johnson, author, Middle Passage “For the past decade, Jeffrey Di Leo, the editor of American Book Review, has been a witty, genial, super-well-informed, and incisive guide to what’s been happening on the literary scene as well as the public world beyond it.”—Marjorie Perloff, Sadie Dernham Patek Professor of Humanities Emerita, Stanford University “Literary culture is going through convulsions not seen since the emergence of the printing press, which is exactly why Jeffrey Di Leo’s Turning the Page is such necessary reading.”—Steve Tomasula, author, TOC: A New-Media Novel

Download or read book The Last King of Texas written by Rick Riordan and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2013-12-18 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series Multiple-award-winning author Rick Riordan brings back smart-mouthed Texas P.I. Tres Navarre for his most dangerous case yet. If you think the academic world is deadly dull, you're half right.... When a controversial English professor is found shot to death, Tres Navarre — P.I. and Ph.D. — is the only local academic crazy enough to accept the emergency opening at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Police assure him they already have a suspect, so while they wrap up the open-and-shut case, all Tres has to do is teach three classes, grade on a curve ... and walk in a dead man's shoes. It should be an easy assignment — but one thing Tres doesn't do is easy. When the evidence in the case starts looking a little too perfect, when the killing doesn't stop, Tres takes on some extracurricular research into the heart of an assassin — and lands in a high-stakes game of gangster honor on the darkest streets of San Antonio's West Side.... Don’t miss any of these hotter-than-Texas-chili Tres Navarre novels: BIG RED TEQUILA • THE WIDOWER’S TWO-STEP • THE LAST KING OF TEXAS • THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO AUSTIN • SOUTHTOWN • MISSION ROAD • REBEL ISLAND

Download or read book Cold Anger written by Mary Beth Rogers and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 1990 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Considering the importance which Latinos will have on American culture and politics in the 21st century, very little of a nonscholarly nature has been written about them. Rogers fills the gap somewhat with this journalistic biography of Ernesto Cortes,a grass-roots leader who teaches Latinos how to use the political system. A man who combines religion and secular ideology, Cortes is doing for the Latino communities nationally what Jesse Jackson did in Chicago a decade earlier. The book effectively captures the flavor of the movement in small, rural locales and in major urban centers, conveying Cortes's ideology and energy, as well as the issues close to the Latino heart. A welcome look at minority politics in the 1990s.

Download or read book Texas Tough written by Robert Perkinson and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2010-03-11 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vivid history of America's biggest, baddest prison system and how it came to lead the nation's punitive revolution In the prison business, all roads lead to Texas. The most locked-down state in the nation has led the way in criminal justice severity, from assembly-line executions to isolation supermaxes, from prison privatization to sentencing juveniles as adults. Texas Tough, a sweeping history of American imprisonment from the days of slavery to the present, shows how a plantation-based penal system once dismissed as barbaric became the national template. Drawing on convict accounts, official records, and interviews with prisoners, guards, and lawmakers, historian Robert Perkinson reveals the Southern roots of our present-day prison colossus. While conventional histories emphasize the North's rehabilitative approach, he shows how the retributive and profit-driven regime of the South ultimately triumphed. Most provocatively, he argues that just as convict leasing and segregation emerged in response to Reconstruction, so today's mass incarceration, with its vast racial disparities, must be seen as a backlash against civil rights. Illuminating for the first time the origins of America's prison juggernaut, Texas Tough points toward a more just and humane future.

Download or read book The Girl Who Was Asked to Turn Blue written by Ev Miller and published by Dramatic Publishing. This book was released on 1986 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: