I live in a small N Texas town, usually votes R by 70%.

[AndyS]

I have a Tarrant Co. Dems t shirt and a Moms Demand Action shirt. I don't wear them in public 'cause I just don't need the aggravation. However today I was wearing my MDA shirt, not planning to go out, and had to make a quick trip the pharmacy.

As I expected I was confronted---by a woman who asked where she could get a shirt like it! Didn't see that coming.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. You just never know, do you? You met one of the 30% today. n/t

[Diamond_Dog]

2. I had a similar experience

This was last summer during the Black Lives Matter protests.

Waiting second in line at the Dollar Store cashier. I was behind a rather large older white man with white hair. His purchases took a while, and so I had time to ruminate a little.

Was I ever surprised when he turned around to leave! His black face mask proclaimed in big white letters, BLACK LIVES MATTER.

[Hoyt]

3. Women are the best proponents for control of gun violence. They are tired of seeing their family

killed needlessly.

Of course, the rube men would probably sit at home if they can't strap a gun on to allay their insecurities when walking out the door.

[Demovictory9]

4. K&r

[gratuitous]

5. Sometimes it helps others to see your example

You may not want to go out every day advertising your political beliefs, but on days when you're feeling strong, your example can encourage others, even if they don't approach you.

[Dakota Flint]

6. Each and every step

is a victory

[peppertree]

7. It's good to hear things are changing in beautiful Tarrant County

I lived there during part of the Bush years - and at the time one of the most common brain farts you'd hear around was "we should nuke Paris!"

And then the boys started coming back home maimed, with PTSD, etc.

I think that started changing hearts and minds, in what at the time were ultra-conservative suburbs (the area north of Ft. Worth).

[Mickju]

8. That's encouraging!

[momta]

9. My (very liberal) brother used to live in Tarrant Co.

He and his family lived in Arlington, and he was pretty politically active. He used to say, "We could hold our Democratic Party meetings in a phone booth."

His "big issue" is gun control, too. He used to write LTE's and then get harassing phone calls from gun nuts.

[yellowdogintexas]

31. he would be pleased with the number of grass roots clubs we have here now

The last time I checked we had 11 grass roots clubs here; they have grown in membership significantly over the past 5 years.

I have a friend who used to live in Keller; he used to joke that the Senate District Convention could be held in the back booth at Denny's. Even that area is getting less red!

[momta]

34. That is good to hear.

My brother has since moved away. (He lives in a different, very red, area of TX now.) I grew up near this region, and it is nice to hear that things are changing for the better.

[hurple]

10. Yeah... but... maybe...

She is a mom demanding the action of rounding up the Democrat pedophiles and restore trump to his rightful throne atop amerikkka.

Or is the shirt more focused than that?

[AndyS]

11. She said it's time for the simple stuff like

locking guns in a safe and 100% background checks.

Shirt says Moms Demand Action for gun sense in America.

[titanicdave]

12. .....WOW!!!....

.....Maybe there is hope for Texas after all......

[uponit7771]

13. K&R, Texas isn't red its voter suppressed

[summer_in_TX]

24. The percentage of voters hasn't been great until 2020.

But I am afraid that doesn't equate to having only the blue vote suppressed. The media outlets spread out all over the state make it very hard to campaign for statewide office. I think the commercial television stations lean conservative. Some are owned by FOX and Sinclair Broadcasting. Then a whole lot of conservative talk radio stations are spread throughout the state.

There are a whole lot of highly brainwashed and partisan Texans, whether they vote or not. I think they also spread attitudes of cynicism and apathy through the kind of coverage they provide. Most Texas voters have a very incomplete notion of the issues.

That said, there's a solid percentage of Dems as well. However, historically we have taken the Latino vote for granted, and Texas Rs are very dedicated to courting their vote. They rotate them in and out of the (appointed) Secretary of State's Office, building their influence and clout.

Dems assume that Latinos will vote their way and historically have done little in the way of systematic, long-term investment in that community and relationships. I took a class on it while working on a Master's degree in mass communication, Latinos and Politics.

[yellowdogintexas]

29. in addition, the Texas media market is one of the most expensive in the country

so it is really hard to get good ad time.

For many years, neither party spent much money here because of these expenses and the fact that one party was so dominant the other party felt defeated from the get go

[summer_in_TX]

33. Exactly.

It's a hard state to organize and campaign in.

[yellowdogintexas]

26. It is voter apathetic. We still do not turn out Democrats in proportion to

the number of us who are here.

Republicans will always vote; they have their little push cards with their list of who to vote for and what issues to support and they SHOW UP.

Democrats have gone so long with so few people to vote for that it most did not feel it was worth it especially when the Rs seemed to always win.

Now we have a Democrat in every slot on the ballot here in Tarrant.
There were Democrats in primaries in every county in Texas last March for the first time in decades.

[uponit7771]

39. Part of the suppression is to build apathy by making it hard to build opposition operations in the..

... state.

[niyad]

14. That brightened my day! Thank you!

[mountain grammy]

15. I wore my Black Lives Matter bracelet all summer

in my little redneck resort town. I got a few nasty looks, but several "like your bracelet's" too.

Your post made my day, thanks!

[lindysalsagal]

16. ...there's an atheist in every pew...

[WarGamer]

17. 30% is still 3 in 10!!

[SCantiGOP]

18. I went to a BLM rally in Columbia SC

Wore my red baseball cap, which looks just like a MAGA hat, but says IMPEACH.
Walking to the Statehouse, I had several people (who weren’t heading to the rally) give me a thumbs up or make other favorable comments.

Columbia has a black Democratic Mayor, so I imagine the reactions would have been different had I ventured out into the hinterlands, but it was very gratifying to have approval from some like-minded patriots.

[GulfCoast66]

19. I wore my Biden cap in a kind of red area of Lake County Florida.

Wore it from October till last month. 5 comments. All positive.

Yeah, got some hairy eyeballs, but no negative comments or confrontation.

Does it help I’m a decent sized white dude in decent shape? Wearing fishing themed clothes? And jeans and boots when cooler? Maybe.

I think it is useful for both sides to see white guys in their 50’s who are not conservative. Breaks the stereotype.

[LisaM]

38. Maybe? Try definitely!

Years ago, I did a meet up with some other liberals (remember those meetups?) I had been wearing a button during the recount that said Gore Got More, and was telling everyone some obnoxious comment someone made about it when I was in an elevator. A big guy at our table said (guilelessly) "If he'd said that to me, I would have...." and the women at the table all whirled around and told him "he wouldn't say it to you".

That said, I am always pleased to see burly guys wearing liberal gear. It makes me happy.

[demigoddess]

20. when we lived in San Antonio, all of Texas seemed to vote for dems.

Hardly any repubs held offices in Texas and it was a great place to live. Only bad thing was the heat, we could not take it anymore after 7 years there.

[yellowdogintexas]

27. S.A and Bexar county are still reliably Democratic

We have not had Democrats in statewide offices since Ann Richards, sadly

The good news is the large metropolitan areas are ALL voting Blue now even Tarrant!!!

We were the last red metro area and now we are tipping over. Biden, Beto and Hillary all carried Fort Worth.

[LeftInTX]

37. Well, SB 7 passed the Senate at 2 am...

Worse than Georgia.

This Jim Crow 2.0 is flying under the radar. Poll watchers can film us. Polling sites now have to close etc etc Can't bring extra machines to a busy site etc etc etc

[George McGovern]

22. What a pleasant, if unexpected, surprise AndyS!

[drmeow]

23. I'm currently wearing a

Planned Parenthood t-shirt with "Choice" written across the front. I don't wear it in public even though I'm in a blue state. I need to change that and start wearing it more.

[FoxNewsSucks]

25. I travel KS, OK & MO a lot.

I frequently wear anti-republicon t-shirts, and have had anti-republicon bumperstickers. Long ago, I lost track of how many people came up to me about the stickers or the shirt and said "...but I'm the only one in town" and then later on, another person in the same town would also mention " but I'm the only one in town."

Rightists rely on liberals being intimidated into not identifying themselves in any way. It keeps us feeling isolated, because "we're the only one" in town.

Visibility is important.

[WyattKansas]

42. I'm in Kansas and when out, I make it very clear to anyone sporting anything Republican...

That I have a seething disdain for them by giving them the evil eye and dirty looks... Usually they scamper away like rodents to avoid my laser focus on them.

[yellowdogintexas]

28. One of the things you find out when you wear your colors in public

is that everybody else thought they were the only one in the county!!! They are surprised and happy to find out they are not alone

When Wendy was running for Gov, I wore my shirts everywhere; folks would come up behind me and tap me on the shoulder then whisper in my ear "I LOVE Your Shirt"

I carry business cards for the Tarrant County Democratic Woman's Club in my car, just in case I need them.

[BobTheSubgenius]

30. People will sometimes surprise you.

And not always pleasantly. Must have made your day!

[yellowdogintexas]

32. AndyS there is more than a passing chance that we have met somewhere

along the way.

Democrats in Tarrant seem to run into each other

[friend of m and j]

35. DID ALL YOU GOOD TEXANS FORGET WHAT BETO ALMOST DID IN 2018

THOUGH HE DIDN'T WIN HE CAME WITHIN 3 % OF BEATING TED CRUZ AND TO DO THAT HE TURNED A GOOD PORTION OF THE STATE BLUE....... AND BROUGHT OUT THE VOTE......... I THINK HE WILL RUN AGAIN AGAINST OUR GOOD FOR NOTHING GOVERNOR ABBOTT. .................... AND WIN.

[diverdownjt]

36. It is nice when you realize your not completely alone....

[calimary]

40. That's terrific!

Thanks for the report! Dare we feel a wee bit encouraged?

[Woodwizard]

41. I live in a similar town in upstate NY

We have a circle of friends that are progressive. The interesting thing is almost all of them we have met doing town improvement projects. Disproportionate amount compared to 68% registered republicans.