Yesterday my wife and I had lunch with her co-worker (born in China, now naturalized citizen) and her husband, of German/Pennsylvania Dutch descent. They have lived in Kingwood for several years (an 80% Republican suburb for those unfamiliar). My wife was uncertain about their level of political interest, much less affiliation, so I just wore my River Oaks Area Democratic Women logo polo shirt, which always manages to be a good conversation starter.
We had dim sum at Kim Son in Stafford and then went to the Lunar (Chinese) New Year Festival on the far west side of Houston. Over lunch -- while the girls were in the powder room -- he started asking me questions like "Well, it's a foregone conclusion that the Republicans will carry Texas ... right?" I replied that while that has certainly been the case in the recent past, the tide was turning and this year that likelihood IMHO depended on whether the Democrats picked Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Obama.
He remarked that his candidate HAD been Ron Paul, but that after researching the white supremacist thing, as well as the claim by Dr. No the constitutional expert that there was no separation of church and state in the document, he was now --with a scowl -- "undecided".
Our conversation continued along this very casual vein until he finally said, "I think that's a good idea; I'll vote in the Democratic primary for Obama and see what happens."
Folks, anything is officially possible. My advice would be to strike up a political conversation with your Republican friends and family in advance of March 4.
And don't forget to invite them to attend the precinct convention.
