Texans sent to the back in Denver

Houston Chronicle:

A network television interview platform stands directly in front of some of the Texas delegates on the lower rows of the Pepsi Center.

The state banners for Guam and Alaska partially block others.

And while the view of the podium is better for the delegates seated above Row 13, there's no doubt that the Texas delegation is about as far from the center of action at the Democratic National Convention as it can be.

That makes some of the delegates from the Republican red state of Texas blue.

"I think we're being punished for being a red state," said delegate Reynaldo Trevino, of Lyttle. "The consensus is: The closer you are, the more important you are."

Keisha Smith, of Victoria, said that sitting on the bottom row of the delegation gives her the opportunity to watch famous people walk by, but not much of anything else.

"The only worse thing would be to sit outside and watch it on a big screen," she said.

Maybe smaller delegations were easier to fit onto the convention's floor than the 260-person Texas delegation, said state Rep. Joe Deshotel, of Beaumont.

"I would hope they aren't putting more emphasis on Guam and Alaska," Deshotel said.

State Rep. Aaron Peña, of Edinburg, said the delegates should be moved to the front because they work hard to promote the party despite three decades of losing presidential elections. "We're the true believers, the die-hards," he said.

...

Obama and the Democrats recognize they have no chance of winning the state of Texas this year. There are many reasons for this including cultural ones, but Texas is a state with a sane energy policy and philosophy and the Democrats are pretty estranged from that point of view. Now Texas Democrats even know how the party feels about them.