Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, Jim Messina, speaking to big-money Lone Star State Democrats at closed-door meetings in Austin and Dallas in March, predicted Obama could make a “serious play” in the cornerstone of GOP presidential politics, according to people in attendance.

And Obama’s senior adviser David Plouffe has told fellow Democrats the nation’s second most populous state might add to his national “map” of contested states, arguing that the huge increase in voting-eligible Hispanic Texans in recent years could bring the state into play sooner than expected…

California-based consultant Ace Smith, who managed Hillary Clinton’s March 2008 Texas primary victory over Obama, said the logistics of the state — with the Latino population scattered throughout almost every county — make it far more expensive to organize there than in other states with high Latino populations.

“It’s a long shot, but it’s by no means impossible,” he told POLITICO.