Will Texas have its own Zohran Mamdani or AOC in the Senate in less than a year? It’s possible — if early polls are any guide.
Whatever the case, the man in question, Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico, is the Mamdani west of the Pecos. He’s young, attractive, has an easy smile, and is oh-so smooth a speaker who can talk chicken off the bone.
He also has claimed that whites spread the “virus” of racism, there are “six sexes,” God is “nonbinary,” “our ‘trans’ community needs abortion care,” we should have a “world without prisons,” our southern border should be “like our front porch” with a “giant welcome mat,” and we should eat less meat to fight climate change.
Well, they do say “Everything is bigger in Texas” — even the woke extremism, apparently.
Talarico shares something else with NYC mayor Mamdani and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), too. That is, he rose from relative obscurity to prominence. Cortez was hand-picked by the far-left Justice Democrats from bartender-ville and later ousted a longtime incumbent Democrat. Mamdani was largely anonymous and at one percent in the polls, but ultimately beat all Big Apple establishment candidates.
Similarly, Talarico was behind loudmouthed once-front-runner Congressman Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) — but then ended up besting her by almost eight points. And he currently leads his possible general-election opponents, incumbent Senator John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, by one to two percent in early polling.
The Boy Next Door?
The 36-year-old Talarico certainly seems like the lad you’d want to take home to momma. Clean cut and well-mannered, he appears as American as apple pie, as reflected in his X bio. To wit:
Texas State Representative, former middle school teacher, and Presbyterian seminarian running for the U.S. Senate to take power back for working people.
Digging into his beliefs, however, can raise the question: Where’s the beef? (Not on his plate, perhaps, since he has beaten the vegan drum.) In fact, looking at Talarico’s past statements, one could wonder if he makes Crockett look moderate.
Let’s start with the politician’s racial rhetoric. In 2020, he combined Black Lives Matter propaganda and Covid culture to weave a narrative of deception. That is, playing on the myth of rampant white-on-black murder and of a “virus of racism,” he posted on X:
Talarico then went all in on the woke narrative, writing:
White skin gives me and every white American immunity from the virus. But we spread it wherever we go — through our words, our actions, and our systems. We don’t have to be showing symptoms — like a white hood or a Confederate flag — to be contagious.
Of course, there’s more black-on-white than white-on-black murder, but, whatever. This is about posturing, not truth-telling. Talarico then wrote:
The only cure is diagnosing the virus within ourselves and taking dramatic actions to contain the spread. The first small step is proclaiming loudly and unequivocally that #BlackLivesMatter.
The tweets follow.
Needless to say, the above aged like warm milk. As one X respondent asked rhetorically earlier this month:
Another tweeter (below) pointed out that while Talarico talks the talk, he doesn’t exactly “bear the white man’s [new] burden.”
A Walking, Talking, Left-wing Cliché
Talarico’s bizarre pronouncements aren’t confined to race, however. Just consider a montage Fox News’ Gutfeld! show presented earlier this month. Here are transcriptions of Talarico’s comments:
Modern science obviously recognizes that there are many more than two biological sexes — in fact, there are six. [Actually, no, “modern science” doesn’t recognize this at all.]
God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between; God is nonbinary.
Our trans community needs abortion care, too. Defending trans Texans is something we have to do every day at the state capitol.
It’s hard to imagine a world without prison. Just because it’s hard to imagine doesn’t mean we shouldn’t.
Our southern border should be like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat out front and a lock on the door.
The Gutfeld! segment is below.
Note, too, that Talarico was one of the few people wearing a mask in the first clip.
Believe it or not, however, there’s still more. In fact, the candidate has pushed the notion “that the Bible, and even Jesus himself, were actually pro-abortion,” related 740 KTRH last year. Making his comments on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, “seminarian” Talarico claimed, among other things, the news station wrote,
that the story of an angel visiting Mary to inform her that she would bear the Son of God is actually God asking Mary for consent. He says that implies that consent is essential to the creation of life and that somehow means abortion is biblically justified.
Apparently lost in this is that Mary was not yet pregnant with Jesus at that point. The angel Gabriel wasn’t saying, “You’re carrying this child. Are you willing to bring Him to term?” Consenting to life’s creation is far different from having the right to destroy it once it is created.
Despite this prenatal infanticide advocacy, however, Talarico changes his tune when at issue is non-human life. As he said at a 2022 fundraiser:
It is now existential that we try to reduce our meat consumption, and that we try to respect animals. I am proud to say that our campaign has officially become a non-meat campaign.
So, yes, abort your baby by all means — but don’t drown your sorrow with a hamburger or hot dog.
Can Talarico Win — or Will the Truth Abort His Fortunes?
Now we come to the question: Can Talarico triumph despite his radicalism? An early survey by Public Policy Polling shows him leading Cornyn by one point, 44 to 43 percent. He tops Paxton by two, 47 to 45 percent. Both results are, of course, within the margin of error.
As already mentioned, too, Talarico is young, attractive, and a smooth talker. He also has charisma on command and, as analyses have found, the most charismatic candidate usually wins.
And in possessing these qualities, he aligns with what appears the new Democratic formula. Ocasio-Cortez was chosen from 10,000-13,000 applicants in what was essentially an audition. The priority was style, not substance. Mamdani also is a demagogue with some Hollywood qualities. And “politics is show business for ugly people,” the saying goes. The Democrats have perhaps learned, too, that a pretty face among the D.C. goblins can take them far.
This said, polls can be deceptive, as they often skew left. More significantly, Texas isn’t New York, let alone NYC. So we could see Talarico’s numbers begin dropping when Texans start discovering what lies behind his facade.
My guess is that Talarico will end up being “Beto O’Rourked.” Beto O’Rourke is, of course, the Democratic ex-congressman who lost Senate and gubernatorial races to, respectively, Ted Cruz and Greg Abbott. He also possessed relative youth and some charisma, but was sunk by his wokeness.
And what if Talarico does win? Then we really will be able to say “Everything is bigger in Texas” — including the existential blunders.
