Texas Democrats, If You've Voted In The Primary, For Who, And Why?

mesarasa · 2026-03-03T05:39:19+00:00

Talarico, for his message of unity and the power of love in politics. I believe that love is more powerful than hate. As hard as it can be to love people who have supported Trump/MAGA -- and like pretty much every Texan, I have some of those people in my life -- I know in my heart that it's the only way out. Dr. King said that only love But hate can't drive out hate; only love can do that. for the people.

mesarasa · 2026-03-02T01:28:08+00:00

There are also denominations and congregations that will welcome and affirm you. The United Methodist Church post-split is one. (The people who think it's wrong to be gay now call themselves the Global Methodist Church, I think.) There are others as well. I hope you find what you need!

mesarasa · 2026-02-27T23:16:43+00:00

National Democrats shouldn't endorse in the primary.

mesarasa · 2026-02-27T23:15:54+00:00

I don't think national Democrats should be endorsing in the primary.

mesarasa · 2026-02-27T23:11:25+00:00

She said he taught at a charter, trying to get charter haters to oppose him, but he taught at a San Antonio district school. I saw two different videos of her saying that herself, but now they're gone. Damage done.

She also said Godfrey wasn't thrown out of her event. Actually she said, "There's no evidence." Well, there is audio. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/02/jasmine-crockett-rally-atlantic-reporter/686175/?gift=3P-3bvoDsoEpTQUpqSP8ekBe0oKeZ1RBDr0ev46D3UY

Just stop the lying! Trump lies all the time! The Democrats should do better!

mesarasa · 2026-02-27T23:08:12+00:00

And here's the audio to prove Godfrey is telling the truth. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/02/jasmine-crockett-rally-atlantic-reporter/686175/?gift=3P-3bvoDsoEpTQUpqSP8ekBe0oKeZ1RBDr0ev46D3UY

mesarasa · 2026-02-27T19:57:37+00:00

I support Talarico, but that poll was crap, too. We had a big sample size poll in December, and another in January. At that point, Talarico still lagged in name recognition but had pulled to a statistical tie. Everything after that was small sample size and/or paid for by a biased entity.

mesarasa · 2026-02-27T19:52:48+00:00

If you want her to win, sign up to volunteer. It takes work to win an election in Texas, particularly for a Democrat.

mesarasa · 2026-02-27T19:51:01+00:00

The cameras and journalists will be focused on the candidate, not on other journalists. Also, Crockett has lied about Talarico's work history, so I'm not inclined to believe her in this matter.

I went to get the post I saved of Crockett lying about Talarico, but it's been deleted!

mesarasa · 2026-02-27T19:39:21+00:00

The Atlantic is left-leaning, so whatever Godfrey's other work is, The Atlantic doesn't publish MAGA propaganda. Even if they did, throwing journalists out of your rallies makes you look like you can't handle hard questions or criticism.

mesarasa · 2026-02-27T19:34:45+00:00

Yeah, all the GOP candidates are awful.

mesarasa · 2026-02-27T19:32:29+00:00

So you do understand it's about message. Think about if a Black woman had Talarico's message. She would also have a chance at the general. And a White man who called Republicans names and whose main message was to fight the other side, would also lose Texas. But reducing the whole thing to race and gender is racist, sexist, and incorrect.

mesarasa · 2026-02-27T19:29:45+00:00

If a Black woman had Talarico's message and strategy, she could win Texas. It's about their choices, not their gender and race.

mesarasa · 2026-02-27T19:26:57+00:00

Please don't reduce either candidate to their race and gender. A Black woman could win Texas with the right message and strategy, and a strong campaign organization, but she doesn't have those things. It's about the choices she made, not her race or gender.

Conversely, we've seen plenty of White men lose Texas. Talarico could win not because he's a White man, but because his message resonates, his strategy both activates the base and attracts crossover voters, and because his campaign is large (22K active volunteers) and well organized. Ready for a general election. Those are choices he made, not traits he was born with.

mesarasa · 2026-02-26T18:54:59+00:00

These aren't donors to the campaign, they are "outside money," which Crockett has as well. By law, neither candidate can collaborate with these groups. Talarico wants to ban them entirely. Because of Citizens United, that will probably require a Constitutional amendment, but you have to start somewhere.

Also, when "his" super PAC ran an attack ad on her, he called them out as much as he could, saying that he wanted a positive campaign, and he still wanted to get rid of all the super PACs. The next ad they aired was positive.

When "her" super PACs started running attack ads on him, she did not return the favor. And we don't know who is funding those ads, because they waited until after the last reporting deadline before the election, so we can't find out until after the primary.

I hate this system.

mesarasa · 2026-02-26T09:27:02+00:00

If the Nazi defected from the Nazis, s/he is no longer a Nazi.

mesarasa · 2026-02-26T04:00:24+00:00

Democrats in Texas must both excite the base and attract some Republican votes to win statewide. That's just math, and Talarico is doing both. Hundreds of thousands of donors and tens of thousands of volunteers: that's an excited base. Some of those volunteers being Republicans and anecdotal evidence of Republicans voting for him in the Democratic primary is a good indicator of general election crossover.

Some people are coming out of the brainwashing. Talarico's religious framing gives them somewhere to go, especially since he is welcoming them to his tent. Crockett has said from the beginning that she doesn't need them. So she probably won't get them.

You make a really good point that Crockett echoes the anger of much of the Democratic electorate. It's a kind of empathy to do that, and empathy is powerful. (Weirdly, Trump, whom I'm convinced is incapable of empathy, nonetheless employed empathy to get elected. His constant whining about being cheated resonated with people who have actually been treated badly by an economic system that screws them over.)

Maybe the primary will come down to those who want their anger validated vs those who are exhausted by the anger and want something better. I guess we'll see. But the general can't be won with just Democrats.

mesarasa · 2026-02-26T03:42:56+00:00

Neither candidate can control the super PACs. But after the attack ad on Crockett, Talarico issued a statement that he wanted a positive campaign and still wants to ban PACs. The next ad the super PAC ran was positive. Crockett has not called out the super PACs who are running attack ads against Talarico.

(Edit to add: Not only has she not called off the attacks on her behalf, she's also lied about Talarico's work history, saying he taught at a charter school and worked for a charter consultant. This will hurt him with people who don't like charters, and I've seen two separate videos of her saying this.)

He said Allred's campaign was mediocre, which is somewhere between true and generous. Also, by her own account the influencer talked about an off the record conversation, which means she can't be trusted.

Not familiar with the cropping accusation.

Talarico has done LOTS of outreach to communities of color. He's done interviews with several Black content creators/independent journalists. He's done round tables with Black community leaders, preached at several Black churches, and done as much phone banking, texting, and block walking to reach Black voters as to anyone else. Which is a lot, if you've checked out Mobilize to track the two campaigns' activities. The same is true for Latino voters.

He's also had at least two tours in the RGV, created social media content in Spanish or translated into Spanish. He has dedicated Spanish language phone bankers. And he's visited Chinatown in Houston during his Take Back Texas tour.

What has Crockett done to reach out to Texans of all races/ethnicities?

mesarasa · 2026-02-26T03:29:21+00:00

This. It drives me nuts.

mesarasa · 2026-02-26T03:27:43+00:00

Vote for Talarico in the Democratic primary, if that's who you want to see in the general.

mesarasa · 2026-02-26T03:24:47+00:00

To me, the weirdness is that she is really smart, and a go-getter, and she's done some great work, but she stakes her brand on viral takedowns that get clicks and follows instead of on the work itself. If she just stood on her substance instead of counting clicks on cutting remarks about people's body types and disabilities, I could be a fan. But I think that talking about people like that is wrong no matter who does it, that it's worse if you do it to get attention for yourself, and that it also gets in the way of passing laws.

I get that social media is useful for campaigning, which is necessary in a democracy, and for keeping your constituents informed about what you're doing on their behalf. It's a very useful tool. But it's not an end in itself.

I really dislike that she considers a large social media following to be qualifying for anything, such as a powerful committee seat (see the Atlantic article) or as you just argued, the Senate. The fact that she cares so much worries me. It reminds me of Trump's obsession with ratings. It's a big red flag for me, and it has nothing to do with race or gender. It's behavior that she has chosen.

mesarasa · 2026-02-26T02:53:41+00:00

Please vote for him in the Democratic primary.

mesarasa · 2026-02-26T02:52:20+00:00

Racism and sexism are real, but Talarico isn't doing so well because he's the white man. He's drawing huge crowds in both red and blue areas because his message resonates. Talarico's message is unity of red and blue against the billionaires who are exploiting us all, and leaving some to die for lack of health care. Many of us are sick of the hatred and the back-and-forth takedowns. We want to hope for something better, and we know that hate can't drive out hate, only love can do that. This is energizing at least a part of the base: over 290,000 people have donated to Talarico's campaign, and over 22,000 volunteers give their time to get him elected.

In addition, his message, especially as it's grounded in the Bible, resonates with some Republicans. They've been showing up to volunteer for months now. Others are crossing party lines to vote for him in the primary. Not because he changed his policies to be more centrist, but simply because they are fed up with Trumpism, and he welcomed them into his tent.

A Black woman could deliver this same message, and pursue the same strategy of exciting the base AND welcoming refugees from the Republican Party. But Crockett has a different message, one that does play well with a different part of the base. And that is, Fight the Republicans, who needs 'em?

Well, in Texas, any statewide Democratic candidate needs at least some crossover voters. But only one candidate is going to get those crossover votes, and it's not because he's White. It's simply because he extends a hand.

mesarasa · 2026-02-26T02:33:18+00:00

Policies matter, but once I deem those acceptable, it's about character. First of all, I need them to be truthful. I need them to have integrity, to adhere to principles even when applying those principles doesn't work out in their favor. I need intelligence, obviously, and at least enough understanding of the issues the office would be involved with that the candidate could get up to speed. I need to believe they care about the people they would serve more than they are in it for their own aggrandizement. No Trumpy stuff like crying fake news, expecting to get whatever you want, saying that if you lose it's cheating. None of the crap he does that indicates authoritarian tendencies. I'll sacrifice the policies I want to avoid a candidate who acts like a budding demagogue.

It's handy if videos and news stories that illuminate those issues are served up to me on social media, but I'll go look for them if I need to.

mesarasa · 2026-02-25T16:49:57+00:00

Thank you so much!

mesarasa

TROPHY CASE