On the Democratic Protests in Texas and Nebraska

You've seen reports about the unpopularity of the Democratic Party these days -- stories with headlines like "Democrats Get Lowest Rating From Voters in 35 Years." It's true: Large numbers of voters disapprove of the party and, even though they don't love Republicans either, trust the GOP more to handle many basic issues.

On the other hand, some elements of the Democratic Party are filled with passionate intensity. We're seeing two examples of that now.

The first is in Texas. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called a special session of the legislature this summer to deal with the question of redistricting, which is, of course, always a contentious topic. In Texas' case, the legislature is dominated by Republicans, who have an 88-to-62 majority in the House and a 19-to-11 majority in the state Senate.