Democrat James Talarico is projected to win a Senate seat in Texas, defeating Republican Ken Paxton and delivering his party their first big Lone Star state win in decades, according to a projection by Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ).
Democrat James Talarico is projected to win a Senate seat in Texas, defeating Republican Ken Paxton and delivering his party their first big Lone Star state win in decades, according to a projection by Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ).
It’s obviously an improvement and very important strategic win but let’s keep in mind:
In this context Talarico’s win is not that shocking. He simply perfectly positioned himself as the most palatable Democrat. He still focused on religion in a way that gives any European voter the creeps (same playbook as Adam Hamilton, who until 2020 was a registered Republican). For me all this means that Republicans will not have to work very hard to turn Texas red again. Just find a candidate that’s not comically corrupt.
Then again, as long as MAGA is the main movement inside the party it may be harder than it seems. So maybe Republicans will be forced to go back to the usual levels of corruptions from the era before Trump… If this is the begging of the end of MAGA it’s great news but I think we have to see what will happen during the primaries to see where all this is going.
With respect, I think you’re wildly underestimating the ignorance and obstinance of Republican voters in the US. Have you ever interacted directly with a MAGA, evangelical Christian? Their hatred, arrogance and ignorance are genuinely baffling to behold. They live all around me, I interact with them every day, and not even I understand why they are the way they are. Despite all the valid issues you raised, still millions of them voted down party lines yesterday. A couple of Democrat wins would have been shocking, but the full sweep we got is just… there’s no word to describe how incredible it is.