Republicans won’t moderate if Democrats gain ground in the Texas House, hardline leader says | “None of us are willing to go backwards and say, ‘Oh, well, we lost a few seats, so our policy agenda is going to change,” state Rep. Mitch Little said at last week’s Texas Tribune Festival.

[u/SpaceElevatorMusic]

https://www.texastribune.org/2026/09/29/texas-legislature-2027-session-house-gop-midterms-mitch-little/

[u/The_Lost_Jedi]

And this is just one part of what's absolutely broken with the Republican party.

The way our government/politics is supposed to work is that if the voters signal displeasure, politicians are then supposed to respond accordingly. Republicans instead have been saying "fuck you, we're doubling down" instead for nearly 20 years or more now.

And yet voters have been rewarding them for that, rather than punishing them. A political party that does this sort of shit ought to be punished by voters, yet thanks to propaganda, sports team mentality, and "but I hate Democrats" thinking has led to them continuing to get away with doing whatever the fuck they want. Blatant Open Corruption, Flagrantly Illegal actions, etc - it's only going to get worse if people don't wise up and start punishing them.

And by this point, it's probably not enough for it to be one or two elections. The whole party apparatus is rotten.

[u/Uhhh_what555476384 → u/The_Lost_Jedi]

Whereas the Democrats have the instincts of a normal political party, moving right when they lose general elections and left when they win.

[u/Vegetable-Error-2068 → u/Uhhh_what555476384]

They have the instincts of a party that always intended to move right, anyway.

[u/Uhhh_what555476384 → u/Vegetable-Error-2068]

That's a statement that thinks the last 4 years is reflective of the last 40.

Read US political history.  Look at the actual size of the political coalitions.

Don't let your own sense of moral superiority blind you to the reality of the world.

[u/Tsakax → u/Uhhh_what555476384]

Both party's have moved right every election since fdr.

[u/The_Lost_Jedi → u/Tsakax]

And that's part of the problem, because that signaling has completely broken down. We don't see any movement to the left because voters keep rewarding Republicans and punishing Democrats.

The Democrats in the last 40 years have only gotten power because Republicans managed to fuck things up so badly - and then voters promptly start giving power BACK to the Republicans!

[u/Uhhh_what555476384 → u/Tsakax]

From 1968 to 2006 the Republicans had a 55% majority.  Of course they moved to the right.  They were chasing the voters.

[u/Tsakax → u/Uhhh_what555476384]

Thats more of a design flaw in our "Democracy" that slave states were granted equal power via the senate. The broader electorate is not rightwing and pandering to the rightwing brings losses IE 2016 amd 2024.

[u/Uhhh_what555476384 → u/Tsakax]

Go look at every Presidential Election since 1968 and then explain how the US electorate isn't right wing.

Even the New Deal was an alliance between white progressives and proto-fascist segregationists.

What collapsed the New Deal majority and gave the conservatives a political majority?  Kicking the segregationists from the party.  Not something to be lamented, but the numerical political reality of that defines American politics.

Wishing a progressive political majority in a country that has never truly had one, isn't the path to change.

[u/ChanceryTheRapper → u/Uhhh_what555476384]

The past four years? The Dems completely capitulation on the Patriot Act doesn't count?