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Future Dem superstar? From Texas?

cosmickid

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Oct 23, 2009
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Not talking about Beto, but instead 32 yr old Texas House member James Talarico. I had never heard of the guy before a few minutes ago, but just watched this interview and came away extremely impressed with his knowledge, charisma, insight, and overall ability to articulate his position.

He's a former teacher who as a political novice in 2018 flipped a TX House District that hadn't voted for a Dem since he "was in kindergarten". He also made me feel my age when he referenced the previous TX Dem walkout (where Dem Legislators fled out of state) as occurring when he was in high school because I remember that event well and I didn't think it was that long ago...

IMO, he does a great job articulating why he and his fellow Dem Legislators walked out in Texas and what they realistically hope to achieve in the long run. He's being interviewed by (self-proclaimed progressive) BTC, and Bryan describes Talarico as one of the more progressive Dems in the Texas Legislature. So the fact that he was able to flip a traditionally GOP district in Texas is pretty remarkable in itself.

I mean hailing from Round Rock Texas (Williamson Co) and being the youngest member of the Texas house just strikes me as not your typical "progressive". Would be interested in hearing folk's thoughts after watching the video. I don't usually get particularly excited about politicians, but I just found this guy pretty damn impressive...

 
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Not talking about Beto, but instead 32 yr old Texas House member James Talarico. I had never heard of the guy before a few minutes ago, but just watched this interview and came away extremely impressed with his knowledge, charisma, insight, and overall ability to articulate his position.

He's a former teacher who as a political novice in 2018 flipped a TX House District that hadn't voted for a Dem since he "was in kindergarten". He also made me feel my age when he referenced the previous TX Dem walkout (where Dem Legislators fled out of state) as occurring when he was in high school because I remember that event well and I didn't think it was that long ago...

IMO, he does a great job articulating why he and his fellow Dem Legislators walked out in Texas and what they realistically hope to achieve in the long run. He's being interviewed by (self-proclaimed progressive) BTC, and Bryan describes Talarico as one of the more progressive Dems in the Texas Legislature. So the fact that he was able to flip a traditionally GOP district in Texas is pretty remarkable in itself.

I mean hailing from Round Rock Texas (Williamson Co) and being the youngest member of the Texas house just strikes me as not your typical "progressive". Would be interested in hearing folk's thoughts after watching the video. I don't usually get particularly excited about politicians, but I just found this guy pretty damn impressive...

You do know Round Rock is a suburb of Austin right?

Him flipping it blue it doesn’t really rate.

Bad thread premise. Try again.
 
Not talking about Beto, but instead 32 yr old Texas House member James Talarico. I had never heard of the guy before a few minutes ago, but just watched this interview and came away extremely impressed with his knowledge, charisma, insight, and overall ability to articulate his position.

He's a former teacher who as a political novice in 2018 flipped a TX House District that hadn't voted for a Dem since he "was in kindergarten". He also made me feel my age when he referenced the previous TX Dem walkout (where Dem Legislators fled out of state) as occurring when he was in high school because I remember that event well and I didn't think it was that long ago...

IMO, he does a great job articulating why he and his fellow Dem Legislators walked out in Texas and what they realistically hope to achieve in the long run. He's being interviewed by (self-proclaimed progressive) BTC, and Bryan describes Talarico as one of the more progressive Dems in the Texas Legislature. So the fact that he was able to flip a traditionally GOP district in Texas is pretty remarkable in itself.

I mean hailing from Round Rock Texas (Williamson Co) and being the youngest member of the Texas house just strikes me as not your typical "progressive". Would be interested in hearing folk's thoughts after watching the video. I don't usually get particularly excited about politicians, but I just found this guy pretty damn impressive...

McAllen TX...who won the mayor's race?
 
Not talking about Beto, but instead 32 yr old Texas House member James Talarico. I had never heard of the guy before a few minutes ago, but just watched this interview and came away extremely impressed with his knowledge, charisma, insight, and overall ability to articulate his position.

He's a former teacher who as a political novice in 2018 flipped a TX House District that hadn't voted for a Dem since he "was in kindergarten". He also made me feel my age when he referenced the previous TX Dem walkout (where Dem Legislators fled out of state) as occurring when he was in high school because I remember that event well and I didn't think it was that long ago...

IMO, he does a great job articulating why he and his fellow Dem Legislators walked out in Texas and what they realistically hope to achieve in the long run. He's being interviewed by (self-proclaimed progressive) BTC, and Bryan describes Talarico as one of the more progressive Dems in the Texas Legislature. So the fact that he was able to flip a traditionally GOP district in Texas is pretty remarkable in itself.

I mean hailing from Round Rock Texas (Williamson Co) and being the youngest member of the Texas house just strikes me as not your typical "progressive". Would be interested in hearing folk's thoughts after watching the video. I don't usually get particularly excited about politicians, but I just found this guy pretty damn impressive...

From an independent with heterodox political views, I didn't hear any new or interesting ideas and I didn't see much charisma. My take away is that he did a 15-minute interview saying Texas Republican politicians are bad people.
 
You do know Round Rock is a suburb of Austin right?

Him flipping it blue it doesn’t really rate.

Bad thread premise. Try again.
Why doesn't it really rate? His district doesn't include Austin and he won the district in 2018, 2 yrs after Trump carried the same district by 9% in 2016.

In the 2016 race in his district (52) there was no Dem candidate and the GOP incumbent got 75% of the vote compared to the 25% the Libertarian received... Now if he's correct and the Dems hadn't elected a candidate in that district in nearly 25 yrs, I'd say that to go from no actual Dem candidate in 2016 to winning in both 2018 and 2020 is pretty impressive...

I mean the demographics didn't shift THAT much in just two years, although I'll admit that was likely a factor. But we know the GOP-controlled statehouse didn't gerrymander/ redistrict the district to give up one of their strongholds. He obviously initially won in 2018 on some anti-Trump buyers remorse, but he won in a district that was red (not purple) for 20+ yrs and he held his seat in a red state after a single term. I'd say that qualifies as a possible "rising star" in Texas politics...

Actually, my thread "premise" is how well he articulated opposition to the Texas voter suppression bill, which we hadn't really discussed in depth on here. I watched the video and was impressed, so I checked further into his situation and became more impressed.

He seems to have assumed an unofficial role as a party leader, despite being viewed as both "progressive" and a virtual rookie in terms of age/experience. He just might be a more viable choice to unite Texas Dems with less baggage and the possible heir apparent to Beto...
 
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McAllen TX...who won the mayor's race?
What has that got to do with explaining the reason Dems walked out in Texas to protest the GOP's bill to suppress votes? That was the reason I watched the video in the first place- I wanted to see how well he would articulate the party's objectives and rationale.

I didn't know anything about him other than the title- he was a Dem Legislator in the Texas House speaking for his fellow Dems in the Texas Legislature. But as I watched the video I became impressed with his abilities and decided to see if fellow Dem leaning posters got the same vibe.

Based on his ability to win a district race where his GOP predecessor won 75% of the vote, there must be some qualities he possesses to bridge partisan divides in Texas. Even when he's viewed as a "progressive"...
 
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From an independent with heterodox political views, I didn't hear any new or interesting ideas and I didn't see much charisma. My take away is that he did a 15-minute interview saying Texas Republican politicians are bad people.
Appreciate your input, and rather than rehash my points I'll just refer you to what I posted in response to Spartan above...

Maybe charisma was a wrong word choice. I have no idea of any particular campaign issues he ran on and was more struck by his demeanor and relatability.

Despite what HTG said about his flip win in his district not being impressive, he won only 2 yrs removed from that district giving 100% of its 2016 votes to either the GOP/ Libertarian candidate. We're talking a red, not purple district which hadn't elected a Dem in 20+ yrs. So obviously he has some degree of bipartisan appeal...
 
What has that got to do with explaining the reason Dems walked out in Texas to protest the GOP's bill to suppress votes? That was the reason I watched the video in the first place- I wanted to see how well he would articulate the party's objectives and rationale.

I didn't know anything about him other than the title- he was a Dem Legislator in the Texas House speaking for his fellow Dems in the Texas Legislature. But as I watched the video I became impressed with his abilities and decided to see if fellow Dem leaning posters got the same vibe.

Based on his ability to win a district race where his GOP predecessor won 75% of the vote, there must be some qualities he possesses to bridge partisan divides in Texas. Even when he's viewed as a "progressive"...
I was just noting further evidence of a realignment underway in the Rio Grande Valley where middle class Hispanics are starting to vote Republican
 
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Appreciate your input, and rather than rehash my points I'll just refer you to what I posted in response to Spartan above...

Maybe charisma was a wrong word choice. I have no idea of any particular campaign issues he ran on and was more struck by his demeanor and relatability.

Despite what HTG said about his flip win in his district not being impressive, he won only 2 yrs removed from that district giving 100% of its 2016 votes to either the GOP/ Libertarian candidate. We're talking a red, not purple district which hadn't elected a Dem in 20+ yrs. So obviously he has some degree of bipartisan appeal...
Maybe he plays better with the Texas/Round Rock voter than he does with me. Perfectly possible. Admittedly, I don't understand how many of these politicians become as popular as they are.

Regarding Texas Democrats with potential crossover appeal, though, I just listened to this interview of the Austin Mayor and I really liked the guy.
I don't agree with everything he says--and in some points he's clearly just humoring Rogan--but I like how, at least in this interview, he doesn't spend time vilifying people. He talks about problems (homelessness, mainly) and solutions.

 
Not talking about Beto, but instead 32 yr old Texas House member James Talarico. I had never heard of the guy before a few minutes ago, but just watched this interview and came away extremely impressed with his knowledge, charisma, insight, and overall ability to articulate his position.

He's a former teacher who as a political novice in 2018 flipped a TX House District that hadn't voted for a Dem since he "was in kindergarten". He also made me feel my age when he referenced the previous TX Dem walkout (where Dem Legislators fled out of state) as occurring when he was in high school because I remember that event well and I didn't think it was that long ago...

IMO, he does a great job articulating why he and his fellow Dem Legislators walked out in Texas and what they realistically hope to achieve in the long run. He's being interviewed by (self-proclaimed progressive) BTC, and Bryan describes Talarico as one of the more progressive Dems in the Texas Legislature. So the fact that he was able to flip a traditionally GOP district in Texas is pretty remarkable in itself.

I mean hailing from Round Rock Texas (Williamson Co) and being the youngest member of the Texas house just strikes me as not your typical "progressive". Would be interested in hearing folk's thoughts after watching the video. I don't usually get particularly excited about politicians, but I just found this guy pretty damn impressive...

Looks like the Dem's latest heartthrob, since Beto was exposed as a fraud.

Pete Buttigieg better watch his back. (pun intended)
 
I was just noting further evidence of a realignment underway in the Rio Grande Valley where middle class Hispanics are starting to vote Republican
I read an article tonight which said that many Texas Dems feel the State party is taking that area for granted and they view the loss as troubling. But it wasn't exactly a rousing victory, in terms of either turnout OR winning margin.

It almost seems like the big winner was apathy. McAllen is a city of 143,000 and the candidate who claims to be Republican (it's officially a non-partisan position) won by 206 votes when only 9282 people bothered to vote...I'm not sure that in itself signals a whole realignment in the Rio Grande, although Biden's margins were lower than Clinton's 2016 margins...

But on the other hand, Dems got very good news in the New Mexico special election to pick a winner to replace Deb Haaland. The GOP had hoped to make it close to show strength heading into the midterms. Biden carried the District (1) by 23 % in 2020, and the Pubs were hoping they could get the margin down to single digits, and show a possible Dem weakening...

But Melanie Stansbury ended up outperforming both Biden and the margin Haaland had originally won by with 60% of the vote and a 24% win. The race pointed out a huge problem for the GOP trying to take Congress in the midterms, as the GOP blamed the loss on their voters not showing up due to concerns over "vote integrity". But the only voice complaining about "lack of vote integrity" is Trump and his sympathizers within the Party...

So the GOP has to somehow diminish Trump's fear-mongering, without pissing off him or his base. He's not going to shut up about it and he's going to push the Big Lie as he did in NC on Sat night. But Trump is going to be both a positive and a negative, a positive in GOP Primaries but a big negative who will likely inspire more Dems than normal to turn out in races he gets involved in...

We already saw that in NC on Sat night, where out of nowhere Trump "endorsed" Rep Ted Budd, the candidate the Raleigh News Observer characterizes as "least electable" among the 3 GOP candidates vying to replace Burr in the Senate. McCory is leading in the polls, but Trump attacked him indirectly, calling him a loser.

The 2nd most viable candidate ex-Rep Walker actually won the straw vote among the delegates at the Convention. But as only Trump can do he threw the race into chaos by out of nowhere endorsing Budd and signalling to the cult that Budd is their choice. If Budd wins the GOP Nomination the Dems have an excellent opportunity to steal the NC seat, and with Trump's endorsement, that very well could happen...

 
I read an article tonight which said that many Texas Dems feel the State party is taking that area for granted and they view the loss as troubling. But it wasn't exactly a rousing victory, in terms of either turnout OR winning margin.

It almost seems like the big winner was apathy. McAllen is a city of 143,000 and the candidate who claims to be Republican (it's officially a non-partisan position) won by 206 votes when only 9282 people bothered to vote...I'm not sure that in itself signals a whole realignment in the Rio Grande, although Biden's margins were lower than Clinton's 2016 margins...

But on the other hand, Dems got very good news in the New Mexico special election to pick a winner to replace Deb Haaland. The GOP had hoped to make it close to show strength heading into the midterms. Biden carried the District (1) by 23 % in 2020, and the Pubs were hoping they could get the margin down to single digits, and show a possible Dem weakening...

But Melanie Stansbury ended up outperforming both Biden and the margin Haaland had originally won by with 60% of the vote and a 24% win. The race pointed out a huge problem for the GOP trying to take Congress in the midterms, as the GOP blamed the loss on their voters not showing up due to concerns over "vote integrity". But the only voice complaining about "lack of vote integrity" is Trump and his sympathizers within the Party...

So the GOP has to somehow diminish Trump's fear-mongering, without pissing off him or his base. He's not going to shut up about it and he's going to push the Big Lie as he did in NC on Sat night. But Trump is going to be both a positive and a negative, a positive in GOP Primaries but a big negative who will likely inspire more Dems than normal to turn out in races he gets involved in...

We already saw that in NC on Sat night, where out of nowhere Trump "endorsed" Rep Ted Budd, the candidate the Raleigh News Observer characterizes as "least electable" among the 3 GOP candidates vying to replace Burr in the Senate. McCory is leading in the polls, but Trump attacked him indirectly, calling him a loser.

The 2nd most viable candidate ex-Rep Walker actually won the straw vote among the delegates at the Convention. But as only Trump can do he threw the race into chaos by out of nowhere endorsing Budd and signalling to the cult that Budd is their choice. If Budd wins the GOP Nomination the Dems have an excellent opportunity to steal the NC seat, and with Trump's endorsement, that very well could happen...

Do you get some kind of extra credit by the word?
 
You do know Round Rock is a suburb of Austin right?

Him flipping it blue it doesn’t really rate.

Bad thread premise. Try again.


No comment about the interview. But do you understand the high income suburb vote is more or less the entire power struggle in American politics right now?

Where elections will be won and lost over the next decade will be with upper middle class districts in the burbs of cities just like this.
 
I read an article tonight which said that many Texas Dems feel the State party is taking that area for granted and they view the loss as troubling. But it wasn't exactly a rousing victory, in terms of either turnout OR winning margin.

It almost seems like the big winner was apathy. McAllen is a city of 143,000 and the candidate who claims to be Republican (it's officially a non-partisan position) won by 206 votes when only 9282 people bothered to vote...I'm not sure that in itself signals a whole realignment in the Rio Grande, although Biden's margins were lower than Clinton's 2016 margins...

But on the other hand, Dems got very good news in the New Mexico special election to pick a winner to replace Deb Haaland. The GOP had hoped to make it close to show strength heading into the midterms. Biden carried the District (1) by 23 % in 2020, and the Pubs were hoping they could get the margin down to single digits, and show a possible Dem weakening...

But Melanie Stansbury ended up outperforming both Biden and the margin Haaland had originally won by with 60% of the vote and a 24% win. The race pointed out a huge problem for the GOP trying to take Congress in the midterms, as the GOP blamed the loss on their voters not showing up due to concerns over "vote integrity". But the only voice complaining about "lack of vote integrity" is Trump and his sympathizers within the Party...

So the GOP has to somehow diminish Trump's fear-mongering, without pissing off him or his base. He's not going to shut up about it and he's going to push the Big Lie as he did in NC on Sat night. But Trump is going to be both a positive and a negative, a positive in GOP Primaries but a big negative who will likely inspire more Dems than normal to turn out in races he gets involved in...

We already saw that in NC on Sat night, where out of nowhere Trump "endorsed" Rep Ted Budd, the candidate the Raleigh News Observer characterizes as "least electable" among the 3 GOP candidates vying to replace Burr in the Senate. McCory is leading in the polls, but Trump attacked him indirectly, calling him a loser.

The 2nd most viable candidate ex-Rep Walker actually won the straw vote among the delegates at the Convention. But as only Trump can do he threw the race into chaos by out of nowhere endorsing Budd and signalling to the cult that Budd is their choice. If Budd wins the GOP Nomination the Dems have an excellent opportunity to steal the NC seat, and with Trump's endorsement, that very well could happen...

Stansbury was an excellent candidate and therefore had an inherent advantage in NM-1. This was not an upset. Maybe the margin was a little larger than some expected.
Walker should run for a seat in the House.
 
Stansbury was an excellent candidate and therefore had an inherent advantage in NM-1. This was not an upset. Maybe the margin was a little larger than some expected.
Walker should run for a seat in the House.
No disagreement with any of that. But I get 2 or 3 daily texts involving GOP fund rasing efforts, and I guarantee you they really wanted to make this race a lot closer than it ended up. They started sending me texts referencing the NM "special election" a week prior to election day, and like I said I got 2 or 3 every day telling me how important it was to capture the seat.

Conventional wisdom (and heavy gerrymandering/redistricting) favors the Pubs capturing the House in 2022. But being unable to motivate GOP voters to show up because they are taking Trump's claim of "voter fraud" to heart is a problem when odds are Trump is going to continue to air his personal grievances thru the primaries and up until the midterms. It motivates his base, but it may motivate Dems/anti-Trumpers even more.

That's pretty much what happened in 2018. For any GOP candidate in a competitive race in a blue/purple state, Trump's endorsement was the kiss of death. It's really mindboggling why some in the GOP engage in such fealty to him. He's won exactly one political race in his life, and even then the opposing candidate got more actual votes. He was the main reason the Pubs lost the house (and key Governorships) in 2018, and more than likely the reason they lost the Senate in 2020...

And purple state special elections were a disaster for the GOP during Trump's presidency...
 
No disagreement with any of that. But I get 2 or 3 daily texts involving GOP fund rasing efforts, and I guarantee you they really wanted to make this race a lot closer than it ended up. They started sending me texts referencing the NM "special election" a week prior to election day, and like I said I got 2 or 3 every day telling me how important it was to capture the seat.

Conventional wisdom (and heavy gerrymandering/redistricting) favors the Pubs capturing the House in 2022. But being unable to motivate GOP voters to show up because they are taking Trump's claim of "voter fraud" to heart is a problem when odds are Trump is going to continue to air his personal grievances thru the primaries and up until the midterms. It motivates his base, but it may motivate Dems/anti-Trumpers even more.

That's pretty much what happened in 2018. For any GOP candidate in a competitive race in a blue/purple state, Trump's endorsement was the kiss of death. It's really mindboggling why some in the GOP engage in such fealty to him. He's won exactly one political race in his life, and even then the opposing candidate got more actual votes. He was the main reason the Pubs lost the house (and key Governorships) in 2018, and more than likely the reason they lost the Senate in 2020...

And purple state special elections were a disaster for the GOP during Trump's presidency...
He's definitely not afraid to tangle with political hacks at Fox. Hegseth can't even admit that Biden won because his stupid audience would be saying "Hang Pete Hegseth"...

 
He's definitely not afraid to tangle with political hacks at Fox. Hegseth can't even admit that Biden won because his stupid audience would be saying "Hang Pete Hegseth"...

Lmao. I saw that interview, Hegseth asked about the Texas legislation and the Democrats hightailing it otta town. All superstar Talarico could say is “Biden won,” “Biden won,” “Biden won,” “Biden won”. The guy has no chops.

And Miller Lite? Pretty much says it all right there.
 
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He's definitely not afraid to tangle with political hacks at Fox. Hegseth can't even admit that Biden won because his stupid audience would be saying "Hang Pete Hegseth"...

Pete got him to admit he didn't think ID's should be required to vote, pretty much tanking any future political career this hack might have had.

Hegseth nailed him to the wall with that one.
 
Lmao. I saw that interview, Hegseth asked about the Texas legislation and the Democrats hightailing it otta town. All superstar Talarico could say is “Biden won,” “Biden won,” “Biden won,” “Biden won”. The guy has no chops.

And Miller Lite? Pretty much says it all right there.
And no masks on the plane. The double standards these morons display is stunning.
 
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