The New Editor links to a post on The American Prospect written by Greg Sargent where Sargent almost salivates over Hillary Clinton’s fundraising tour in Texas.

HILLARY RAISES BIG BUCKS IN TEXAS BUSH COUNTRY. Senator Clinton did a great deal of fundraising around the country in March, and her private fundraising schedule — which was passed along by a source — shows that she raked in big bucks in that most impenetrable of red-state strongholds: Texas.

The schedule lists a dozen events in four states, in the space of just two months, March and April. This is very significant, because all the activity shows just how determined Hillary’s advisers are to stockpile an enormous campaign warchest at a time when she is facing only token opposition for reelection in 2006 — something which of course will only fuel speculation that her fundraising right now is also about scaring off potential Dem challengers in 2008.

On March 21, the schedule shows, Hillary quietly slipped off to Texas for an unpublicized swing through that state, where the junior senator from the ultimate blue state raked in as much as $4,200-per-person in some of the most red-hued of venues. For instance, one event was a breakfast at, of all places, the Dallas Petroleum Club, a mahogany-festooned enclave whose president was once Ray Hunt, a top Bush fundraiser and oilman. She also had a fundraising event at a barbeque in San Antonio and an event crowded with high-tech entrepreneurs in Austin (the state capitol where Bush presided as Texas governor).

First off, good for Hillary to fundraise if that’s what she wants to do.  We all know she will run for president in 2008 so it is a strategically smart move for her to do.  Sargent’s knowledge of the state of Texas though is about as good as Google can provide.  His facts, I assume, are accurate, but he fails to take into fact the makeup of this vast state.  As a side note, President Bush has also held several fundraisers in Dallas and he has done quite well.  He has strong support in North Dallas, also where he has come for a few fundraisers.
Ace weighs in on this story mentioning election results in these districts.  Dallas, largely, is a Democratic city.  Austin is a Liberal mecca.  San Antonio, which is in Broward County, is considered a Republican city.  Dallas though has some very rich people that live within the area including a former DNC Chairman who used to be the CEO of a company called Goldman Sachs.  Sargent also takes into consideration this state used to be very blue, politically speaking.  This is also why I have a hard time believing the idea that an increase in Latino immigrants will bode well for the Democratic Party.  Latinos, as a general rule, are faithful.  The leadership of the Democratic Party isn’t exactly religious, and there’s nothing wrong with that either.
As James Joyner points out, Texas is a big place.  Indeed it is, but the Dallas area is huge.  The Dallas area also consists of another city, Fort Worth.  Taken with the several suburbs in the region, there are millions of people that vote on either side of the aisle.  I live in North Dallas which is a Conservative area.  There is a lot of money in North Dallas (I wish I had some of it).  Because of no state income tax, this state attracts very wealthy people.  It is hardly out of the question anyone could come to Texas and have good fundraisers.

That said, there is a huge difference between Texas Democrats and, say, Massachusetts Liberals, at least generally speaking.  I know several people that call theirselves Democrats, but I don’t know anyone in this state that agrees with most of the messages that have come out of the Democratic Party.  Was the support for Hillary a hope the Democratic Party can throw out the the Deans and Feingolds?  I don’t know, but if Feingold were to receive the Democratic nomination he might as well not travel to Texas outside of Austin.

Whoever used to be president of a company where one of Hillary’s fundraisers was held is stretching trying to imply Texas is turning blue, but Sargent does that.  Sargent also shows his Texas ignorance by implying since President Bush used to be known as Governor Bush, therefore reside in Austin, that this is a crowning achievement for Hillary to raise funds in Austin.  Would Dan Rather live in a red area of a red state?  Of course not.  He lives in Austin, as do several other notable Liberals (including others tied to the “fake but accurate” documents).

Most people outside of Texas paint all Texans with the same broad brush.  They are ignorant in doing so, but who can blame them for the reputation this great state has.  Sargent shows his ignorance of not only the state of Texas but politics in general though by trying to say it is amazing Hillary Clinton did well in a Texas fundraising event.  If President Bush traveled to the blue state of California, he would pull in a large sum of money too.  There is a diverse population in every state.

Ace also brings up that there are “blue enclaves in every red state,” noting that there are “wealthy, liberal-leaning suburbs” of those blue enclaves.  That indeed is true, but Ace points out the city of Plano as evidence of that.  He notes how the film Brokeback Mountain apparently did well in Plano and Wal-Mart chose Plano to open their first high-end store.  I live in Plano and there are reasons why Brokeback Mountain did well here and why Wal-Mart chose to open that type of a store here, and they have nothing to do with politics.

Not many people realize Dallas boasts one of the largest homosexual communities in the nation, second only to San Fran.  Plano is a short drive from Dallas and this city has plenty of theaters to go along with a very large population in the surrounding areas.  The brand new Wal-Mart store, which I have not yet been to even though it is almost a walk from my home, is located off of a major highway, also known as the Tollway, that gives residents in the affluent areas of Plano and North Dallas easy access to the store.

Each time I have been to the voting booths, Conservatives far outweigh Liberals.  Maybe it is just the voting venues I have gone to, I don’t know, but also a drive around Plano during this past presidential election showed there were far more Bush signs than Kerry signs.  Even on the local level Republicans do far better than Democrats.  Neither affluency nor a movie tell the true story of what is Dallas, but Sargent doesn’t do himself any favors to write on a successful fundraising tour of Texas for Hillary Clinton and imply that is somehow shocking.  Ignorance is bliss.