Garry Mauro knows Texas perhaps as well as any politician who calls Texas “home.”
So, when the former state land commissioner says that Texas isn’t a “battleground state” in the upcoming presidential election, it’s time to throw in the towel and ceded the state to Republican nominee Donald J. Trump.
Or is it?
Mauro has signed on to help Hillary Clinton win the presidency. He’s as loyal a Democrat as you’ll find.
I used to know Mauro pretty well. He’d call on us at the Beaumont Enterprise back when he served as land commissioner. He had placed coastal erosion and protection as a top priority of his office, an initiative we appreciated way down yonder on the Gulf Coast.
The last time I saw him was in 1998 as he ran for Texas governor against incumbent George W. Bush. Mauro lost big.
Then he left elected public service.
Even though Mauro believes Texas is still a red state, he is offering a glimmer of hope for Democrats in the form of the man who’s going to lead the GOP ticket this fall.
As he told the San Antonio Express-News: “The prospect of a Clinton race against billionaire Donald Trump — who has offended a variety of groups including Latinos and women with his intemperate comments — will make it easier to get out the Democratic vote, Mauro agreed.
“’With Donald Trump on the ticket, we now have a way to get our voters out,’ he said.”
Therein lies the chance upon which Clinton will depend if she hopes to turn Texas from Republican red to possibly Democratic blue.
The key might lie in the Latino vote. Let’s face it, Trump has managed to deliberately offend that demographic group. He’s called illegal immigrants criminals; he’s declared that an American judge cannot adjudicate a Trump University lawsuit solely because of his Mexican heritage. Trump is going to “build a wall” along our southern border.
Will that bloc of voters turn out? Mauro hopes so, as does Clinton … obviously.
The flicker of cynicism in me makes me wonder if Mauro isn’t low-balling expectations with the hope of pulling a major surprise on Nov. 8.
Hey, he’s a politician, right?