Even in Texas, Democrats Can’t Leave Woke Behind
James Talarico is too woke for conservatives and too white for liberals.
Texas Democrats picked the boring white guy over the black firebrand last week. James Talarico is touted as the Democrats’ best chance to pick up a Senate seat in the Lone Star State. The state representative, according to his fans, is a devout Christian who can appeal to Republicans and independents with his inoffensiveness and centrist persona. Who could be offended by this 36-year-old Boy Scout?
But it turns out that Mr. Moderate wasn’t so moderate just a few years ago. He made many comically woke statements in the years leading up to his political breakthrough, giving Republicans a wealth of material for attack ads. No matter who the GOP nominee is, they will face someone whom they can easily portray as far-left to ordinary Texans.
While Republicans will hammer Talarico for being too woke, he faced backlash in the Democratic primary for being too white. His supporters’ claim that he’s more electable than primary opponent Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who is black, was deemed a racist dog whistle. The primary was filled with such silly claims, illustrating how hard it is for the Democrats to leave woke behind.
Identity politics still rules the Democrats’ primaries and many of their candidates can’t escape their ultra-woke pasts. Democratic elites know it’s important to put on a moderate facade for elections—but getting voters to believe that facade is another matter.
Talarico is beloved by the media. He was touted by big name celebrities and popular podcasts. His apparent inoffensiveness made him a star to journalists and liberal activists. “A perfect storm is lining up for Texas Democrats,” Mark McKinnon, a Texas political operative, told Politico. “They have a nominee who can appeal to moderates and soft Republicans. Talarico could be Moses who leads the Lone Star Democrats out of the desert they’ve been in for 35 years.”
“Talarico is one of the few openly Christian politicians in the United States who acts like a Christian, and by acting like a Christian he reveals a profound contrast with so many members of the MAGA Christian movement that’s dominated American political life for 10 years,” Never Trumper David French fawningly wrote in the New York Times.
Such statements—which depict Talarico as a normal, middle of the road “Moses”—contrast sharply with his beliefs from just a few years ago.
On race, Talarico sounded exactly like a white Ibram X. Kendi. “White skin gives me and every white American immunity from the virus,” he wrote in a 2020 tweet. “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.”
He said 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.”
In a 2018 Reddit AMA, Talarico declared that one of his priorities is to end “institutional racism.” “The first thing is to elect candidates who recognize institutional racism and are committed to dismantling it,” he wrote. “We need to confront our racist past, not glorify it.”
Talarico served as one of the lead opponents of a 2021 Texas bill that would’ve barred transgender athletes from girls’ sports. These bans are supported by two-thirds of the American population, but the Texas state rep felt it was a moral imperative to stand against them.
His stance led to all kinds of bizarre comments. In one statement, he claimed God could be considered trans. “God is both masculine and feminine and everything in-between,” Talarico said. ”God is non-binary.”
In a podcast interview, Talarico was asked what he loved besides friends and family. “I love… the trans children who showed up yesterday at the state capitol to advocate for their humanity,” he said, calling them an “inspiration.”
This will all make for great Republican attack ads in the general election. Talarico doesn’t look so moderate when he declares God “non-binary” and says it’s imperative to dismantle “institutional racism.”
Despite his progressive bona fides (which his biggest fans preferred to hide), he still struggled in the Democratic primary simply for being a white man running against a black woman. Crockett’s supporters claimed Talarico made racist comments about his former opponent Colin Allred. Talarico called him “mediocre” in a private conversation. It was alleged he called the former congressman a “mediocre black man,” which inspired charges of racism despite Talarico’s denials that he brought race into the conversation.
He was hammered by black critics over this issue, and for his supporters calling him more “electable.” Talarico didn’t go on the offensive against these nonsensical attacks. He instead agreed with claims that electability could be considered a racist dog whistle.
These attacks weren’t enough to defeat Talarico in the primary, but they do illustrate how identity politics continues to dominate the Democratic Party. Candidates are still forced to make ridiculous concessions to their base and play nice with unhinged elements. They can’t escape the same forces that turned the 2020 Democratic primary into the woke Olympics.
Just a few years ago, Talarico wouldn’t even have had to worry about these comments emerging. Leading Democrats were openly proclaiming these opinions to the public. Several 2020 candidates talked about “systemic racism” and how the party should work towards destroying this imagined evil. Support for open borders was the norm among the party establishment. Democrats made it a priority to defend trans athletes in girls’ sports during the early 2020s. These strange positions helped Trump win in 2024.
Democrats know they have to appear moderate to win general elections. They cannot sound like a Salon.com rant if they want to win over independents. They love Talarico because he seems to be the answer to their electoral concerns and the type of “normal person” who can move the Democrats beyond woke. But his past and his primary show this is much easier said than done. One softball Stephen Colbert interview doesn’t change how Talarico built up his political career or the crazy dynamics of Democratic primaries. Woke, whether Democrats like it or not, is here to stay with their party.
The post Even in Texas, Democrats Can’t Leave Woke Behind appeared first on The American Conservative.
