A reader writes:
You wrote:
"Everyone under 40 these days is voting for Obama."
Not in Texas, they're not and don’t kid yourself that they’re voting Republican either. There are a lot of quiet conservatives who aren't saying much (they have a lot of pride invested in the old Clinton animosity) but I hear more and more neutral to positive comments about Hillary than I ever have before. I repeat: this is Texas. This is Sugar Land, Texas. This was the district for 22 years of our dear old friend Tom Delay, one of the most conservative places in these United States, and they are softening to Hillary.
I talk to all sorts of Soccer Moms and Dads every week, carpool with middle-roadish conservatives, and work and mingle with a whole spectrum of generally middle-class folks, here and in Houston (a much more liberal area), and I tell you many will have a tough time pulling the lever for Barack. Call it what you will but they are very suspicious of him worried he is too liberal and won’t have their interests in mind, isn’t strong enough to defend against "terrorists", is inexperienced - and if he gets the nomination he will have an uphill battle to win these people over. I hear much the same from family and friends in southeast Pennsylvania (Philly suburbs), a very mixed conservative/liberal area. It goes against conventional wisdom but I would not bet on him winning in the general election, whereas my sense is that Hillary is respected for being more "mainstream", which in my experience is where most of America is.
On the other hand, check out this reporting from the Mountain West. No, I don't think any Democrat will win Texas in 2008.