Texas Does Matter

I don't want to blow too much smoke up our friends south of the Red River, but there is no other state that shares more geographically and politically with us than Texas. This isn't about a football rivalry. I know we like to make jokes about each other. But I think if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit there's a lot of fine people in Texas who we share much in common with. When the Murrah bombing happened in 1995, the corporate headquarters I worked at was four blocks away and one of the last to release its employees to leave the area. When I finally left, I headed towards Norman to visit my wife's office. Things were still chaotic. As I was heading down I35 south, I passed an impressive mile long procession of Texas patrol cars from different locations; all headed north at high speed to assist Oklahoma City in maintaining order and to protect our citizens. They as a state cared, and were there to help with little notice. That's always left a deep impression on me towards the Lone Star state. Their governor at the time by the way was George W. Bush. If Oklahoma were to secede from the Union, we would need Texas to join us. Why? Here's a few reasons:
The federal government would take much different approach if Texas were to leave.
We are land-locked, and it would greatly benefit us to have access to a friendly sea port.
Texas may have a better legal argument for secession (remember Republic of Texas).
Texas has a greater GDP than many existing developed countries.
The more internal trading partners, the better.
The more diversification in manufacturing, the better.
Other states would more strongly consider joining us if Texas were to leave too.
This last one is maybe the most important. Remember, the bigger the better.