All I can say is that if you are like me, and you remember those years when national Democratic Party leaders treated Texas like it had a near fatal case of cooties — from Michael Dukakis and Bill Clinton to Hillary Clinton’s attempts in 2008 and 2016 and all those off-year elections in between — tonight’s debate gave me a serious case of whiplash.

My once reviled home state is suddenly finding itself embraced in a bear hug as big as, well, Texas.

Why would this be happening? Because Texas could maybe shift from the Republican column to the Democratic one, that’s why. Suddenly everyone is crazy about us. Like they haven’t been since, oh, 1976, when Texas went for Jimmy Carter and most residents of the state probably regret it to this day.

Now I remember what it’s like to be loved. Houston! Praised as the most diverse city in the nation — ¡Tanto Español! — even from candidates who aren’t native speakers. (Mayor Pete Buttigieg, your accent puts Beto O’Rourke’s to shame.) Cory Booker scored points by translating the word “no” into Spanish for the folks at home.