Texas, Ohio and other states of being

A Republican stronghold concerned with immigration and a state with a rising Democratic electorate frighted by disappearing manufacturing jobs could decide the Democratic presidential primary on March 4.

My guess is that Texas, thick with colleges in the liberal stronghold of Travis County, will be more welcoming to Barack Obama than Ohio, even though Texas has a relatively large number of Latino voters.

Ohio, as this story indicates, appears to be suspicious of audacious hope. Obama's biography and skin color may not play well with struggling white blue-collar voters. Hillary Clinton has experience, race and family ties on her side.

Yes, race still matters in America.

In other news:

John Broder at the New York Times gives a historical overview of how the two parties chose to select their delegates. It's an interesting commentary on the philosophies that drive the two parties. The GOP favors winner-take-all, Democrats proportional allocations.

Writes Broder: In other words, the Republican who kills the buffalo gets all the meat; the Democrat has to crouch around the campfire and share it with his brethren and sistren.

Robert Reich, secretary of labor under Bill Clinton, blogs about the four circles of hell politicians must successfully navigate on their way to the White House. As Maureen Dowd did before him, Reich argues that Obama needs to find his dark side and learn to tell stories of fear to complement the stories of hope. I don't think he's wrong.