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Texas has long had one of the most powerful and vocal identities of any American state. But how’s that unique Texas pride faring under the homogenizing power of polarization? In this TPP episode, Strongest Identity of Them Y’all, Texas Monthly Editor-in-Chief Dan Goodgame argues that the social and cultural identities of Texans writ large remain intact despite zero-sum maneuverings of Texas politicians writ small.
“I'm gonna read a short series of numbers and let you guess what they represent: 29, 22, 16, 4, 2, and 1,” says Goodgame, a Rhodes Scholar and former Pulitzer Prize finalist. “29 million is the population of Texas right now…4 million is the number who vote in primaries in Texas, 2 million is the number who vote in the Republican primary in Texas, 1 million is all it takes to win. So that's 3.3% of the population deciding who the statewide office holders are in Texas.”
Indeed Republicans do rule top to bottom in the Lone Star State, as they have for over two decades. “People who don't like Republican policies are very quick to place all the blame there,” explains Goodgame. “But Democrats here similarly play to their base rather than to centrists. You would think after 27 years of losing, you'd try something different.”
Meanwhile, the nation’s second largest state in size and population continues to be an outsized force economically and demographically. “Texas is experiencing a net in-migration of about 3,800 a week, which is pretty striking when you think about it,” observes Goodgame, citing newly minted Texans from California, New Jersey, India, Mexico and Nigeria as examples. “They are not turning the state blue, as we reported in our December cover story. So they’re as diverse politically as they are culturally.”
Tune in to learn more about social and cultural diversity amidst political conformity in the Lone Star State with Dan Goodgame, Editor-in-Chief of Texas Monthly – Part 2 of our Texas mini-series within The Purple Principle’s season-long exploration of polarization and state identity.
Original music by Ryan Adair Rooney
SHOW NOTES
Our Guest
Dan Goodgame, Editor-in-Chief of Texas Monthly since 2019. Co-author of Marching in Place: The Status Quo Presidency of George Bush
Texas Monthly on Twitter
Additional Resources
Join Us for Premium Content:
Apple: https://link.chtbl.com/PurpleApple
Patreon: patreon.com/purpleprinciplepodcast
Find us online!
Twitter: @purpleprincipl
Facebook: @thepurpleprinciplepodcast
Instagram: @thepurpleprinciplepodcast
Our website: https://bit.ly/2ZCpFaQ
Sign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/2UfFSja
By Fluent Knowledge LLC4.7
3636 ratings
Texas has long had one of the most powerful and vocal identities of any American state. But how’s that unique Texas pride faring under the homogenizing power of polarization? In this TPP episode, Strongest Identity of Them Y’all, Texas Monthly Editor-in-Chief Dan Goodgame argues that the social and cultural identities of Texans writ large remain intact despite zero-sum maneuverings of Texas politicians writ small.
“I'm gonna read a short series of numbers and let you guess what they represent: 29, 22, 16, 4, 2, and 1,” says Goodgame, a Rhodes Scholar and former Pulitzer Prize finalist. “29 million is the population of Texas right now…4 million is the number who vote in primaries in Texas, 2 million is the number who vote in the Republican primary in Texas, 1 million is all it takes to win. So that's 3.3% of the population deciding who the statewide office holders are in Texas.”
Indeed Republicans do rule top to bottom in the Lone Star State, as they have for over two decades. “People who don't like Republican policies are very quick to place all the blame there,” explains Goodgame. “But Democrats here similarly play to their base rather than to centrists. You would think after 27 years of losing, you'd try something different.”
Meanwhile, the nation’s second largest state in size and population continues to be an outsized force economically and demographically. “Texas is experiencing a net in-migration of about 3,800 a week, which is pretty striking when you think about it,” observes Goodgame, citing newly minted Texans from California, New Jersey, India, Mexico and Nigeria as examples. “They are not turning the state blue, as we reported in our December cover story. So they’re as diverse politically as they are culturally.”
Tune in to learn more about social and cultural diversity amidst political conformity in the Lone Star State with Dan Goodgame, Editor-in-Chief of Texas Monthly – Part 2 of our Texas mini-series within The Purple Principle’s season-long exploration of polarization and state identity.
Original music by Ryan Adair Rooney
SHOW NOTES
Our Guest
Dan Goodgame, Editor-in-Chief of Texas Monthly since 2019. Co-author of Marching in Place: The Status Quo Presidency of George Bush
Texas Monthly on Twitter
Additional Resources
Join Us for Premium Content:
Apple: https://link.chtbl.com/PurpleApple
Patreon: patreon.com/purpleprinciplepodcast
Find us online!
Twitter: @purpleprincipl
Facebook: @thepurpleprinciplepodcast
Instagram: @thepurpleprinciplepodcast
Our website: https://bit.ly/2ZCpFaQ
Sign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/2UfFSja

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