Do any Texans think that George W. Bush isn’t a “real” Texan, since he was born, raised and educated in New England? He bought the Crawford ranch in August 1999, when presumably he was already planning to run for president. I think prior to that he vacationed in Kennebunkport.
I’m posting this here because I’m hoping for a factual answer, although the question has a certain IMHO quality.
It certainly does.
So, I moved it to IMHO.
samclem GQ moderaator
His father maintained a residence in Texas for tax purposes, and to my knowledge, still does.
Texas has no state income tax, you see… which makes it popular as a “place to live” for the well-moneyed.
The Shrub is no Texan. He owns a ranch in Texas, but all you need for that is money. If he is considered a “favorite son,” it is because he was once governor of Texas.
I’ve never considered either George Bush to be a “real” Texan. I’m sure that the only reason they maintain residences in Texas is because of the no state income tax thingy, and if they found a state that was a better deal financially, they’d move in a New York minute.
I don’t like either one of them.
Were there any “carpetbagger” accusations against Bush when he ran for gov, like there were against Hillary Clinton when she ran for office in New York?
“Real Texans” (despite popular belief) are generally capable of delivering a complete sentence when called upon to speak before an audience.
Question answered, y’all! 
Woah, woah, woah – you’re talking about his dad, George H. W. Bush. I’m pretty sure that George W. Bush was born, rasied, and educated in Texas till he went to Yale. After all, that was where his Dad moved after he finished school to start his business. Wouldn’t it make sense that his son was born, raised and educated there.
Okay, I take a little bit of it back – he wasn’t born there – according to whitehouse.gov:
Most Texans consider GW a real Texan. Sure, he went to a fancy East coast school but he’s still considered a Texan. I don’t like the guy myself but it’s really only outta-staters (and Molly Ivins) who make this accusation and that just makes the Texans get even more defensive about him…
Thanks for all the responses. It just seems amusing that the Republicans emphasize John Kerry’s Eastern Establishment background, while George W. Bush’s background is much the same. He went to prep school at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass, Yale undergrad and Harvard Business School. Kind of like the Eastern Establishment hat trick.
(Interestingly, he wasn’t admitted to the law school at the University of Texas, so he went to Harvard instead. How many people use Harvard Business School as a backup?)
I’d at least say he’s the most Texan of the Bushes.
A Texan is a Southerner.
And being born in the South doesn’t make you a Southerner, unless your Daddy & Grand-Daddy were also born in the South.
If you went to college Up North, you are disqualified.
So no, George W ain’t no Texan.
I beg to differ, a Texan most certainly is not a Southerner. I’m a true Southerner and I got one heck o’a culture shock when I moved here, I tell you what. Texans are different.
Yep, my professor would agree. He’s a Texan born and raised and even though he’s lived in Tennessee for at least fifteen years, things we do still surprise him. They’re just different places. I’m not sure what it is because my only time in Texas was in Houston and since there’s so many people there, there’s less of Texas in it and more of ‘big city’.
-Lil
Well, Ann Richards is a “real” Texan, with a cornpone accent, to boot. And Texans overwhelmingly chose G.W. Bush over her.
So, it would appear that nopbody in Texas regarded him as a carpetbagger.
Incidentally, the notion that the Bushes only pretend to be Texans to avoid paying income tax is both idiotic and false, like most of what liberals “learn” from Garry Trudeau. George H.W. Bush moved to Texas in 1948 to seek his fortune in the oild business, and he lived there full time until 1966, when he was elected to Congress from a district in Houston. From that time until January 20, 1993 (when Bill Clinton took office), Bush the Elder almost always held some job in government, meaning that for all practical purposes, his home was in Washington D.C. (or, during his term as U.N. ambassador, in New York City).
As for George H.W. Bush, he spent his childhood in Midland, in West Texas. Later, he and his family moved to Houston.
Now, if you want to argue that the Bushes are rich preppies with roots in the Northeast, you’re absolutely right, just as I’m a Yankee who grew up in New York City. So, some of the good ol’ boy mannerisms and affectations that Texas politicians sorft of HAVE to embrace seem a little weird when a Bush tries them. But the Bush family’s ties to Texas are real enough.
Confidentially, I here his picante sauce comes from NYC! 
NEW YORK CITY!
get a rope
Unclviny (native Houstonian who still lives there)
Well, W Ketchup (the Republican alternative to Heinz) does come from Eagle Ridge, NY (near Albany).
“real Texan?” Is that sort of like a “true Scotsman”? But anyway, yeah, Bush seems Texan enough to me. That he lived up north for a good part of his life is mighty unfortunate, but I won’t hold it against him.
As Texans like to consider themselves the keepers of the American Cowboy iconic imagery, I’d like to believe that real Texans are man enough to admit when they’ve made a mistake, or at least man enough to listen to the truth even when it’s unpleasant to them.
By those standards, Dubya ain’t no real Texan.