As GOP splinters, "purple" Texas on the horizon, Castro predicts

(CBS News) As factions of the GOP continue to move further to the right, the historically and reliably red state of Texas may soon be purple, then blue, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and his twin brother, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, predicted today on "Face the Nation."

"In a couple of presidential cycles, on election night, you'll be announcing we're calling the 38 electoral votes of Texas for the Democratic nominee for president," said Julian Castro, who in September delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. "It's changing.

"It's going to become a purple state and then a blue state, because of the demographics, because of the population growth of folks from outside of Texas - and because, unfortunately, the Republican Party has gone so far to the right that they're losing the business community," he continued. "They're losing the middle."

His brother agreed, but qualified that "it's not going to happen on its own. The demographics are changing, but it's going to take a lot of work from Democrats to lay the infrastructure for change. So we're very busy working on that now."

Julian Castro named economic stability and education as his most pressing priorities as mayor. But both agreed that immigration and gun safety - critical issues in the Lone Star State - are big-picture agenda items which in order to address require a breakdown of partisan walls in Washington.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, should eliminate the "Hastert Rule," Joaquin Castro suggested, which would allow for votes to come up on the floor without support from the majority of the majority party.

[zenia5]

We'll wait and see. In order to have major, effective change in the Republican party, voters are going to have to vote out the irrational, extremists (TEApublicans) who drove them over the cliff with their divisiveness and obstructionism.

[elmgreen11]

Just let the Teapublicans talk. Texas will go blue in no time.

[zeke707]

It would be interesting of *all* states were blue, the congress was blue and the president blue at the same time. Checks and balances...who would need them? A "free for all"? Hmmm. ;)

[retiredgustav]

In 2000-2006 it was the other way around and everything was red. Or did you for get that .

[BoldChapeau]

The GOP can't go any farther to the right. They've already gone over the edge...

[canislupus16]

"...unfortunately, the Republican Party has gone so far to the right that they're losing the business community," he continued. "They're losing the middle."

Exactly right on losing the business community, especially Wall Street. One thing big business and the marketss do not like is uncertainty. Cantor, Boehner, and the rest of the radical right of the party seem to think there is nothing wrong with crashing the U.S. economy - in turn the world economy - over the debt ceiling, making a mockery of Congress, or shutting down the U.S. government. A simple example, the same U.S. government that operates the airports and air traffic control? Go ahead Republicans, end business travel. Go ahead, send stocks values on a slide just based on the mere HINT that you're not going to raise the debt ceiling to pay our already incurred bills. Go ahead, default on our debt. The Republican party of today is totally lost, lost in a myriad of spite, pique, hubris, and ignorance. That's right, ignorance - most of these tea party children know nothing about how to actually run a government, and worse yet, don't understand WHY it has to function, whether that comports with their "principles" or not.

My Republican friends who truly are "in the middle," moderate Republicans are disgusted.

I've been saying for some time what "JoseofTexas" posted - the extreme radicals hijacked what was once a valid party. He's right - "Either the GOP dump Boehner and the rest of the radicals or they will become non relevant."

[JoseofTexas]

GOP went against their moral principles when they refused to address Justice Scalia's "drug war exception" to the Constitution. Once they abandoned their moral prinicples, the extreme element of the GOP was given carte blanche to splinter the party into extreme radicals that hijacked the GOP. Either the GOP dump Boehner and the rest of the radicals or they will become non relevant.

[chwick]

i now vote to allow Texas to stay in the Union of United States.....been worried for so long....fianlly i see intelligence coming from there now.