Is it, truly, Morning in America?
Everywhere I look in this issue, there are Democrats being absolutely giddy at the prospect of coming out from the shadow of the evil Bush that has been darkening our lives for lo, these many years.
As we go to press, something called the Crawford Peace House is taking Fahrenheit 9/11 right to the president’s doorstep with a screening at the Crawford High School football stadium.
There are lefty events all over town, brimming with an optimism that would’ve been unthinkable even six months ago. From Antone’s to Esther’s Follies to the Alamo Drafthouse, the GOP-mockers are out in force.
There are multiple convention-watching parties (presumably replacing the week’s paint-drying-watching parties on the social calendar), where the faithful are gathering to dream of a world where a black man named Barack Obama has a chance of being elected president of the United States.
On the national scene, Dems are actually saying they can retake not just the presidency, but also control of the Senate – even with four Southern incumbent Dems retiring, an event that a year ago was expected to mark the end of the Democratic Party in the South.
Closer to home, the Democratic congressional candidates on our cover this week are certainly dark horses, but to everyone’s surprise, they’re actually making races in what ought to be three of the safest GOP districts in the country.
And if that’s not amazing enough, consider this: Elsewhere in the News section, a respected politico, presumably not high on crack at the time, speaks seriously of “the Democrats’ hopes for gaining back the state House.” (I’m not making this up; it’s right there on p.22.) Truly, these are remarkable times.
About 10 years ago, I proclaimed, with all the grim satisfaction of a martyr, that I was fairly sure I would never see another Democrat elected to statewide office in Texas. Events since then have reinforced that feeling. And about 10 days ago, I went on vacation still secure in my pessimism. Certainly, between re-redistricting and other, far worse, legislative follies (not to mention the world blaming us for the loose cannons in the White House), it has not been a happy year for Texas Dems. But somehow, 10 days later, as I return to this particular issue of the Chronicle, the world has apparently changed. Hope is in the air. The Meanies are on the run. Obama for President! Kinky for Governor! How hard could it be? 
This article appears in July 30 • 2004.