TAMPA, Fla. — The Texas delegation on the floor at the Republican National Convention is easy to spot. It's the only one in uniform — shirts designed after the state flag in blocs of red, white and blue, topped by white cowboy hats.

They are strutting a bit this year and for good reason. The national party is marching steadily their way as its center of gravity shifts to the South and West. And the effect is felt on almost every issue — from taxes and the environment to guns and abortion.

"Our job is to make Washington a lot more like Texas," says Gregg Abbott, the state’s attorney general, and a delegate here.

It is time, then, to start paying attention. Because Texas has triple the number of delegates New Jersey has and at least triple the influence in the national party. If Mitt Romney wins this thing, the Texans will ride to power with him.

So a reconnaissance mission to the luxury hotel north of Tampa where the party regulars are meeting every morning this week seemed in order.

Here are the findings:

Texas Republicans don’t believe much in the environment; they believe in freedom for business.

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"The Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, there is this rolling chain of environmental regulations coming from Washington that is hostile to business," state Comptroller Susan Combs told delegates gathered in a conference room. "They don’t know when the next jackboot of environmental regulation will be put on their necks."

The crowd loved it. Asked later if she believes climate change is a problem, she said: "That hasn’t really been talked about much here. We’re a very large state and have lots of air currents. We don’t worry much about climate change."

This crew doesn’t worry much about poverty, either, or the 25 percent of Texans who lack health insurance.

The party platform calls for eliminating the federal income tax, and replacing it with a sales tax collected by the states. That would be a kick in the gut to the army of low-income families in Texas and a boon to the bankers and oil barons.

"We don’t believe in the theory of income redistribution," said Abbott, the attorney general.

As for health care, the poor can get it at hospitals or poverty clinics, he said. He’s filed suits to block Obamacare.

"I have done that not because I’m pro-litigation but because I’m pro-liberty," he told the delegates. And Obamacare "erodes the freedom that was given to us by God, and not given to us by government."

Now the crowd was really rolling.

It went on like this. Rick Santorum dropped by to visit, saying the class warfare practiced by President Obama was disheartening.

"I don’t know about you, but I thought we fought a revolution to get rid of class," he said.

Boom. Huge applause again. Maybe he was thinking of the French Revolution, though. Because ours agreed to keep slavery in place and confine the vote to white men with property.

Why should we care about this in New Jersey? Because Lincoln kept this union together. We are locked into an eternal embrace with them.

On a personal level, these are fine people, much more friendly than New Jerseyans. Gregg, who is poised to run for governor or Senate next year, took time to hear everyone’s story after his talk.

His personal story is remarkable. At age 26, while jogging in a thunderstorm, his spine was crushed by a falling tree. His rise to power in a wheelchair is inspiring stuff.

But these are not the breed of Republicans you find in New Jersey. The party platform in Texas bans abortion nationally, in all circumstances. Its section on guns seems to have been written by lobbyists from Smith & Wesson.

It even opposes the teaching of "critical thinking" in school because that might undermine parental authority. And no, that isn’t a joke. You can look it up.

New Jersey Republicans used to push back on Texas. In 1992, the delegation tried to launch a floor fight over abortion, and came close.

Not a peep this year. And in Washington, the GOP delegation has flipped onto its back, as if hoping for a belly rub. When U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-5th Dist.), an ardent environmentalist in his Trenton days, joins the troglodytes on climate change you know you are in trouble.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry last year made noises about seceding from the union, and the nation was aghast. Maybe, though, we should all be more open-minded.

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