Texas secedes: What happens?

[Mr. Illini]

I know it probably won't be happening any time soon, but what do you think would happen to the American political climate if Texas successfully and peacefully seceded? How would the Republican Party change, or perhaps it would stay the same? If it stayed the same, would it die as a major party? How would the electoral map look after your predicted changes/non-changes?

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

I'd imagine that after my huge party, the American political climate would shift slightly to the left, and the GOP would all of the sudden have to make tremendous inroads on the national scene to brings moderates back into the fold.  It's a deathblow to the GOP on a Presidential level, and perhaps even destroys their ability to hold a big majority in the House.  The Dems would pick up 12 seats right off the bat. 

[publicunofficial]

Republicans would have to change simply because their largest source of reliable EV's left, as would a large portion of their congressional seats. So they'd have to move to the left in order to capture more marginal seats like Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and maybe even states like Oregon and Connecticut.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

And how would Texas' secession affect the U.S. economic structure? Surely it wouldn't be as bad as California seceding (since its the 6th largest world economy on its own), but Texas is not small and not poor.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Mexico invades and kicks out the gringos who stole their land eighteen decades ago.

[King]

Texas economy immediately collapses.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Anti-Texan bigotry ahead.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Texas would be much better off.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

What if we saw these states all leave?

[Person Man]

If Texas was able to leave, it would be because of something similar to what was happening in 1991 in the Soviet Union was happening here and maybe similar to what was happening shortly thereafter in Yugoslavia.

[IceSpear]

Texas would be much better off.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Texas would be much better off.

That was only half of a joke (not that Texas would really be better off but its not like the Union is any better) but this gif is great . The memories it brings back....

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I'm guessing the "South Secedes Today" thread kicked off an unstoppable oncoming deluge of liberal fantasy threads, sure to include "What if the olds died off" and "South is nuked: what now?".

[The Dowager Mod]

Without the federal military bases and weapons contractors Texas becomes a third world sh**thole pretty quickly, already well on it's way.

[MaxQue]

Texas would be much better off.

Well, most likely, relationship between Texas and USA would be quite bad, which would cause major corporations (and jobs) leakage towards USA.

[angus]

Texas secedes: What happens?

The average IQ of Americans increases by about ten points.

[DemPGH]

I'd actually be concerned about the reasonable people who would find the state very unlivable after a few years. I think their best bet would really be to get out. And if they did, that would create another problem. Then various fanatics would have a decided majority and supremely cheap labor is always across the border, so it might look quasi-feudal after a time.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Nothing but good times until the oil runs out.

[badgate]

Would Congress offer amnesty to Texans who cross the border illegally?

[pbrower2a]

Parts of Texas would secede -- especially the southern part of the state -- from Reactionary Texas. El Paso would likely join New Mexico (where it really belongs). The seceded part of Texas that could not join New Mexico (including the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and perhaps Houston and/or Austin) would probably recognize both Spanish and English as co-official languages.