"Contentless" is such a good way to describe the MTG "clapback." It was such an odd combination of words that it worked, and it was responding to a puerile insult from MTG ("your fake eyelashes are messing up what you're reading"); so in the moment, it worked. But if it had a meaning, it was: MTG works out a lot, which makes her look manly.
The funniest aspect of the campaign is that Republicans successfully baited her into it. I remember talking to Texas Dems after the NRSC polled the state to prove that Crockett could win a primary. Their eyes rolled at maximum speed; it was obvious that the GOP was trolling them and her, just as Jon Ossoff tried to troll MTG into his Senate race. They (Republicans) still can't quite believe that she went for it and that her rationale for running so far is that she got "numbers" that shows she can win.
I was at the Blue Whale, the bar in the Fire Island Pines, less than 48 hours after Crockett made the BBBBBB comments, and there was some gay there in a “bleach blonde bad built butch body” tanktop. I went up to him and was like, did you print that yourself? The answer was yes. There are people who are drawn to her aesthetic (“but she fights!”) and who don’t care if there’s any content, but they’re all people who have voted Democratic in every election ever.
As a 5th-generation, center-left Texan, I share your assessment of Jasmine, and I view her decision to jump into the senate race as immature and narcissistic on her part. In Texas 2026, no one can win an election by attacking Trump as their primary focus. I have shared your concern regarding: Talarico's progressiveness. Yet, last night I attended a small in-person event with him and came away much impressed with his depth, his story, presence, and communication ability/. May enough Texans use their heads rather than partisan payback and vote for the person who actually has a shot at winning the general election and who will focus more on problem-solving than partisan performatives. Dorsey
Never apologize unless you really think you've done something wrong, and even then don't expect absolution.
I'll go out on a limb and speculate that Roger's and Yang's apologies earned them zero credit from Crockett fans. And they should have realized by now that apologizing earns you not forgiveness but more scorn. At the very most, your apology will be suspiciously tolerated, but your offense will be carefully noted and defiantly unearthed the next time you put a foot wrong.
Speaking of whom, I think pundits have been way too bullish on Newsom's 2028 odds. Polls taken three years out from an election are not evidence of anything except that there are too many polls.
Not to nitpick too much, but it’s way hyperbolic to say Democrats are trapped in that. As someone who lives in Texas I can tell you she’s widely disliked among Democrats here. I would be surprised if even one member of the congressional delegation likes her and I doubt she’ll get any big endorsements here. There’s a lot of anger at her for jumping in the race at the eleventh hour without giving anyone a heads up.
Texas Democrats had an opportunity to back a literal fucking astronaut in Terry Virts for US Senate (probably the only candidate who had a sliver of a chance of winning) and chose to basically ignore him. And then they also refused to rally around the next best option in Colin Allred.
I agree with you on Terry yet, like Andrew white...their campaigns never got off the ground. I strongly supported Colin against Cruz. I'd always appreciated his bipartisanship. Yet, I was very disappointed in his move to the left in the general (he'd have had the progressives anyway) and his poor performance in their debate. I felt his time had passed and I resent his decision to run against an incumbent Democrat for Congress.
Obviously, bad faith Republicans exploit this dynamic in bad faith ways, but until a prominent liberal declines to dance to this tune, it will continue to be heard as the Democrat's anthem.
The "Sister Soulja" trope is overdone, but Bowen Yang had the opportunity here, and he cowered in fear instead.
Crockett reminds me of Alan Grayson. They were good for generating headlines but in a way that makes it near impossible to win outside of a house district.
Change Research found that among Texans who had heard of Crockett, 49% said they were committed to not voting for her — a higher rejection rate than any other candidate tested. And some progressives really aren’t thinking through how this is going to play out in South Texas, because they keep lumping Black and Hispanic voters into a single “POC” voting bloc that reliably falls apart once it collides with regional culture, class, religion, and local economic realities.
OTOH I’m warming up to Talarico. He seems to be moving away from purely progressive priors toward a more broadly welcoming, Texas-coded vibe — one that could plausibly include the business interests that actually keep people working here (not the abstract versions imagined in D.C., California, or New York). The level-headed “middle school teacher” energy is a genuinely good contrast with Paxton, and his willingness to humanize opponents is also refreshing. While Paxton is busy suing Tylenol, Talarico ought to be channeling the vibe of a well-provisioned, well-run HEB: something for everyone at every income level, open when you need it, and still functioning even after FEMA has managed to disappear.
It drives me crazy that Crockett and Talarico are bringing in as much money as they are given how little they move the needle in Texas.
One of them will get the nomination due to money whipping their way into people’s attention over the next month-plus, but they’ll lose in November for sure.
I might just have to jump over to the Republican primary to help out Cornyn, because I really think one useless Senator (Cruz) is more than enough.
Unfortunately I think Cornyn is hosed. I was considering this too, because he's way better than Paxton, but I just don't think he can out-Trump the other two candidates. If Trump endorses him that could change, but this seems unlikely.
Josh I need you to identify gay slurs for me in the text. I did not know what a gaping rosebud was and when I (unwisely) googled it I got a lot more than I asked for.
I appreciate your use of footnotes, Josh, but a warning this high risk needs to be right there in parens, please! Fortunately, I was too tired to google before I made it all the way down to the footnotes.
I can't believe anyone thinks it's OK to just call people obscene names like that. 😬 I guess for once we're lucky Trump is too old-fashioned to know this category of slurs.
It instructive to contrast how reckless Jasmine Crockett has gotten with how careful AOC has been not to get out over her skis. She's clearly (and wisely) keeping her sights set on a longer game and trying not to harm the common good. She states her views clearly but also diplomatically and chooses her timing.
I wish Jasmine Crockett had not fallen for this trap out of classic hubris, I guess, because she has a lot of energy, charisma, and talent that may go entirely to waste at this rate.
What was their reason for not supporting her? That she doesn't have a chance of winning so there's no reason to fund her or do they have a disagreement on some issue? I hope it's the former and the broader Dem coalition can stop getting emails pleading for donations to beat Ted Cruz or Lindsey Graham, because the challenger is so close in the polls.
Well said. And btw, I am so tired of hearing well-intentioned centrist liberals say the country is not ready for a woman president or not ready for a gay person in the White House. I disagree. I think the right person at the right time, regardless of race or gender, could win national elections. This excuse has been applied particularly to Hillary Clinton’s defeat and to the prospect of Pete Buttigieg’s candidacy. In Hillary’s case, she had a huge amount of negative baggage that went unacknowledged when the Dems nominated her. Pete is very popular for a basic unknown with reasonable centrist voters as shown by his strong showing in the primaries. He needs to get elected to something major now, and I fear he is squandering time and opportunity. He’s brilliant, quick with repartee, and very likeable. His drawback is experience. I wish he had moved to NYC and run for mayor…now that would have been a good move, rather than the wiles of Michigan. Anyway, I think Americans are fairer than some people give them credit for, and writing off candidates because of their « identity » is as bad as using identity to select candidates (i.e. Kamala Harris).
It seems to me that the Democrats that won last fall were all focused on issues relevant to the everyday lives of the voters. They criticized Trump but spent most of their energy on issues.
In 2026 if the Dems nominate a bunch of radicals that only want to tell us how bad Trump is then they will be playing right into the Republicans hands. Many Republicans are currently (slowly) distancing themselves from Trump and thereby will negate the Dem who runs a campaign solely vs Trump. Dems should be thinking issues like health care where they have a large lead over Republicans. Plus cost of living. Or environment.
"Contentless" is such a good way to describe the MTG "clapback." It was such an odd combination of words that it worked, and it was responding to a puerile insult from MTG ("your fake eyelashes are messing up what you're reading"); so in the moment, it worked. But if it had a meaning, it was: MTG works out a lot, which makes her look manly.
The funniest aspect of the campaign is that Republicans successfully baited her into it. I remember talking to Texas Dems after the NRSC polled the state to prove that Crockett could win a primary. Their eyes rolled at maximum speed; it was obvious that the GOP was trolling them and her, just as Jon Ossoff tried to troll MTG into his Senate race. They (Republicans) still can't quite believe that she went for it and that her rationale for running so far is that she got "numbers" that shows she can win.
I was at the Blue Whale, the bar in the Fire Island Pines, less than 48 hours after Crockett made the BBBBBB comments, and there was some gay there in a “bleach blonde bad built butch body” tanktop. I went up to him and was like, did you print that yourself? The answer was yes. There are people who are drawn to her aesthetic (“but she fights!”) and who don’t care if there’s any content, but they’re all people who have voted Democratic in every election ever.
As a 5th-generation, center-left Texan, I share your assessment of Jasmine, and I view her decision to jump into the senate race as immature and narcissistic on her part. In Texas 2026, no one can win an election by attacking Trump as their primary focus. I have shared your concern regarding: Talarico's progressiveness. Yet, last night I attended a small in-person event with him and came away much impressed with his depth, his story, presence, and communication ability/. May enough Texans use their heads rather than partisan payback and vote for the person who actually has a shot at winning the general election and who will focus more on problem-solving than partisan performatives. Dorsey
Never apologize unless you really think you've done something wrong, and even then don't expect absolution.
I'll go out on a limb and speculate that Roger's and Yang's apologies earned them zero credit from Crockett fans. And they should have realized by now that apologizing earns you not forgiveness but more scorn. At the very most, your apology will be suspiciously tolerated, but your offense will be carefully noted and defiantly unearthed the next time you put a foot wrong.
Yup. They should have responded: “and we also said that voters shouldn’t support Gavin Newsom either.”
Speaking of whom, I think pundits have been way too bullish on Newsom's 2028 odds. Polls taken three years out from an election are not evidence of anything except that there are too many polls.
> and indicates that he was alive in 2020
Falsely claiming to be alive is exactly the kind of thing I would expect from Epstein the financier.
Not to nitpick too much, but it’s way hyperbolic to say Democrats are trapped in that. As someone who lives in Texas I can tell you she’s widely disliked among Democrats here. I would be surprised if even one member of the congressional delegation likes her and I doubt she’ll get any big endorsements here. There’s a lot of anger at her for jumping in the race at the eleventh hour without giving anyone a heads up.
Texas Democrats had an opportunity to back a literal fucking astronaut in Terry Virts for US Senate (probably the only candidate who had a sliver of a chance of winning) and chose to basically ignore him. And then they also refused to rally around the next best option in Colin Allred.
They deserve Jasmine Crockett as their nominee.
I agree with you on Terry yet, like Andrew white...their campaigns never got off the ground. I strongly supported Colin against Cruz. I'd always appreciated his bipartisanship. Yet, I was very disappointed in his move to the left in the general (he'd have had the progressives anyway) and his poor performance in their debate. I felt his time had passed and I resent his decision to run against an incumbent Democrat for Congress.
Lauren Egan had a good story about Virts. He just didn't have much natural media talent so nothing he did broke through. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/democrats-struggle-to-make-their-moderates-go-viral
Obviously, bad faith Republicans exploit this dynamic in bad faith ways, but until a prominent liberal declines to dance to this tune, it will continue to be heard as the Democrat's anthem.
The "Sister Soulja" trope is overdone, but Bowen Yang had the opportunity here, and he cowered in fear instead.
Crockett reminds me of Alan Grayson. They were good for generating headlines but in a way that makes it near impossible to win outside of a house district.
Change Research found that among Texans who had heard of Crockett, 49% said they were committed to not voting for her — a higher rejection rate than any other candidate tested. And some progressives really aren’t thinking through how this is going to play out in South Texas, because they keep lumping Black and Hispanic voters into a single “POC” voting bloc that reliably falls apart once it collides with regional culture, class, religion, and local economic realities.
OTOH I’m warming up to Talarico. He seems to be moving away from purely progressive priors toward a more broadly welcoming, Texas-coded vibe — one that could plausibly include the business interests that actually keep people working here (not the abstract versions imagined in D.C., California, or New York). The level-headed “middle school teacher” energy is a genuinely good contrast with Paxton, and his willingness to humanize opponents is also refreshing. While Paxton is busy suing Tylenol, Talarico ought to be channeling the vibe of a well-provisioned, well-run HEB: something for everyone at every income level, open when you need it, and still functioning even after FEMA has managed to disappear.
It drives me crazy that Crockett and Talarico are bringing in as much money as they are given how little they move the needle in Texas.
One of them will get the nomination due to money whipping their way into people’s attention over the next month-plus, but they’ll lose in November for sure.
I might just have to jump over to the Republican primary to help out Cornyn, because I really think one useless Senator (Cruz) is more than enough.
Unfortunately I think Cornyn is hosed. I was considering this too, because he's way better than Paxton, but I just don't think he can out-Trump the other two candidates. If Trump endorses him that could change, but this seems unlikely.
Josh I need you to identify gay slurs for me in the text. I did not know what a gaping rosebud was and when I (unwisely) googled it I got a lot more than I asked for.
Did you read the footnote? I specifically instructed you not to Google it!
I appreciate your use of footnotes, Josh, but a warning this high risk needs to be right there in parens, please! Fortunately, I was too tired to google before I made it all the way down to the footnotes.
I can't believe anyone thinks it's OK to just call people obscene names like that. 😬 I guess for once we're lucky Trump is too old-fashioned to know this category of slurs.
Oof, completely missed it!
I kind of like Jasmine Crockett but I wouldn;t change a word of this column.
It instructive to contrast how reckless Jasmine Crockett has gotten with how careful AOC has been not to get out over her skis. She's clearly (and wisely) keeping her sights set on a longer game and trying not to harm the common good. She states her views clearly but also diplomatically and chooses her timing.
I wish Jasmine Crockett had not fallen for this trap out of classic hubris, I guess, because she has a lot of energy, charisma, and talent that may go entirely to waste at this rate.
What was their reason for not supporting her? That she doesn't have a chance of winning so there's no reason to fund her or do they have a disagreement on some issue? I hope it's the former and the broader Dem coalition can stop getting emails pleading for donations to beat Ted Cruz or Lindsey Graham, because the challenger is so close in the polls.
Well said. And btw, I am so tired of hearing well-intentioned centrist liberals say the country is not ready for a woman president or not ready for a gay person in the White House. I disagree. I think the right person at the right time, regardless of race or gender, could win national elections. This excuse has been applied particularly to Hillary Clinton’s defeat and to the prospect of Pete Buttigieg’s candidacy. In Hillary’s case, she had a huge amount of negative baggage that went unacknowledged when the Dems nominated her. Pete is very popular for a basic unknown with reasonable centrist voters as shown by his strong showing in the primaries. He needs to get elected to something major now, and I fear he is squandering time and opportunity. He’s brilliant, quick with repartee, and very likeable. His drawback is experience. I wish he had moved to NYC and run for mayor…now that would have been a good move, rather than the wiles of Michigan. Anyway, I think Americans are fairer than some people give them credit for, and writing off candidates because of their « identity » is as bad as using identity to select candidates (i.e. Kamala Harris).
It seems to me that the Democrats that won last fall were all focused on issues relevant to the everyday lives of the voters. They criticized Trump but spent most of their energy on issues.
In 2026 if the Dems nominate a bunch of radicals that only want to tell us how bad Trump is then they will be playing right into the Republicans hands. Many Republicans are currently (slowly) distancing themselves from Trump and thereby will negate the Dem who runs a campaign solely vs Trump. Dems should be thinking issues like health care where they have a large lead over Republicans. Plus cost of living. Or environment.
Cathartic. Thank you.