September 16, 2025 • 51 mins
Texas is breaking at the seams—divided, bitter, and locked in a political cage match that’s left ordinary Texans stuck in the middle. For decades, the state has been painted bright red, but now the cracks are showing, and a fresh wave of underdog organizers and voters is daring to repaint the map purple. From the San Antonio Spurs to street culture, from BBQ pits to the Capitol floor, Texas' fresh politics is colliding with an old guard terrified of losing power—on fights over voting rights, gerrymandering, abortion bans, gun violence, border and immigration, book bans, school vouchers, property taxes, and the ERCOT power grid. In this episode, James Talarico joins Rick Wilson for a hard look at a changing Purple Texas—how Gen Z, Latino voters, suburban women, and independents are shifting the map; why MAGA extremism and corrupt politicians (like Ken Paxton) keep stoking culture wars; and how fresh leadership can take power back for the people and revive democracy in the Lone Star State.
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You can find James Talarico @jamestalarico on social media, and keep up with his campaign at jamestalarico.com.
Follow Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X and @therickwilson.bsky.social on Bluesky, and subscribe to his Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.
Join the fight with the Lincoln Project at www.lincolnproject.us and follow LP on X at @ProjectLincoln. If you'd like to help us continue our critical work, visit https://action.lincolnproject.us/helplp to make a difference.
Visit expressvpn.com/lincolnproject to find out how you can get up to 4 months free of charge.
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You can find James Talarico @jamestalarico on social media, and keep up with his campaign at jamestalarico.com.
Follow Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X and @therickwilson.bsky.social on Bluesky, and subscribe to his Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.
Join the fight with the Lincoln Project at www.lincolnproject.us and follow LP on X at @ProjectLincoln. If you'd like to help us continue our critical work, visit https://action.lincolnproject.us/helplp to make a difference.
Visit expressvpn.com/lincolnproject to find out how you can get up to 4 months free of charge.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oftentimes people in our party like to complain that, you know,
voters have moved away from us. That's not the voter's fault.
That is our fault as a party. If we are
not speaking to their needs, if we are not providing
a vision that they can see themselves in and can
buy into, then that's on us.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Your attack will not be an easy one.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Your enemy is well as trained well, But then battle party.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Is not a Liberal America and a conservative America or
the United States of America.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Good luck, hey, folks, it's Rick Wilson. Welcome back once
again to the Lincoln Project Podcast. I am super excited
to be joined today. But James Tallerico, who is a
newly announced candidate for the United States Senate in the
great state of Texas. He is a communicator and a
legislator and a leader of a form that I think
a lot of people didn't believe the Democrats still had
(00:53):
in him. He goes replaces Democrats fear to tread, and
that is talking to working folks, talking to folks, people
of fate, talking to folks across the political spectrum.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
The biggest divide in our country is not left versus right.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
It's top versus bottom.
Speaker 5 (01:10):
Billionaires want us looking left and right at each other
so that we're not looking up at them. The people
at the top work so hard to keep us angry
and divided because our unity is a threat to their
wealth and their power. So their social media algorithms and
(01:31):
their cable news networks tear us apart. They divide us
by party, by race, by gender, by religion so that
we don't notice that they're defunding our schools, cutting our healthcare,
and cutting taxes for themselves and their rich friends. It
is the oldest strategy in the world, divide and conquered.
(01:55):
But we will not be conquered. We're underdogs in this fight.
We're going up against those billionaire mega donors and their
puppet politicians. We're going up against a rigged system, and
we're going up against a lot of money. But I'm
(02:16):
a former middle school teacher. I don't scare easily, and
Texans don't scare easily. My granddad was a Baptist preacher
in South Texas. He taught me that we follow a
(02:36):
barefoot rabbi who gave two commandments, love God and love neighbor,
because there is no love of God without love of neighbor.
Every single person bears the image of the sacred. Every
(02:57):
single person is holy, not just my neighbors who.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Look like me, or pray like me or vote like me.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Those billionaires are trying to keep us from seeing all
that we have in common. They're trying to keep us
from realizing that there is far more that unites us
than divides us. Because once we do, we will come together,
across party, across race, across gender, across religion, to take
(03:28):
power back for ourselves and our communities.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Two thousand years ago, when the powerful few rigged.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
The system, that barefoot rabbi walked into the seat of
power and flipped over the tables of injustice. To those
who love this state, to those who love this country,
to those who love our neighbors. It's time to start
flipping tables.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
James. First off, welcome to the Lincoln Project podcast. Thank
you so much for coming on. I want to just
ask you right off the bat, why are you the
guy to take on either Cornyn or Paxton depending on
how that shakes out, and the sort of Republican National
Committee a Senate Committee war machine in this election?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Well, thank you for having me. I'm a huge Stan
of the work that y'all do. And I've decided to
get in this race because I firmly believe that all
thirty million Texans deserve a US Senator who's going to
represent their interests and not the interests of billionaire mega donors.
And Ken Paxton and John Cornyn have both forfeited the
(04:43):
right to be the senator from this great state. They're
both more interested in serving their mega donors and serving
the people of Texas. And I think the country is
looking for a reset from the Democratic Party. So I
hope to provide a new kind of message, a new
(05:05):
kind of campaign that people can believe in again. We
desperately need that in this state and in this country
at this critical moment.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
When you came across my writer screen the first time,
I was very impressed because you were not ashamed of
your faith, you were not hiding it. You would go
to talk to working folks where they were not going
into these conversations defensively, but rather with a very open heart,
to talk to people who might not consider themselves Democrats,
(05:37):
might not consider themselves anything but conservatives. But you want
over people even in your state work who we were,
who I think understood right away that you were somebody
who would listen and meet them where they were to
talk things through. How do you scale that up in
a race in a state as big as Texas, with
the stakes as high as they will be, and with
(06:00):
with having to go out and address thirty million people
instead of the folks in a legislative district.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Right, It's not gonna be easy, and I'm gonna need
a lot of people's help. I cannot do this alone.
And I think just in the first twenty four hours
of this campaign, we have seen an overwhelming response from
people across Texas and frankly across the country.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
It has been a.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Few years since Texas Democrats have turned out like this.
One thousand or so people in round Rock Tuesday evening
to see James tallerco launch his campaign for US Senate,
a self described underdog in his race against Colin Allred
to be the Democratic nominee and then take on either
John Cornyn or Ken Paxton.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
It brings an injection of excitement, you know, and that's
good for the Democratic Party, that's good for the Democratic primary,
that's ultimately good for Texas.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
This morning, tall Rico says his campaign has already raised
more than a million dollars from small dollar donors, but
in the first twelve to twenty four hours of his campaign,
which shows moment mental.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Folks who signed up to volunteers. I've been so blown
away by the number of volunteer signups we've gotten. So
I think people are ready to do something. They're ready
to join a campaign that that's different from all the
other campaigns we've seen in recent years. And it feels
like people are starved of hope and of optimism. And
(07:20):
if we can provide that to people, I think we
can pull something together that will change the politics of
this state and of this country. And Rick, you know this,
but I did this when I first got elected. I
flipped at Trump district that no one thought was winnable.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
A fresh face to politics is already making waves in
Central Texas. He flipped a seat in the Texas House
from red to blue.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
On top of that, he.
Speaker 6 (07:42):
Is the youngest member of the Texas Legislature. Kave you
political reporter Ashley Gudo is here, and Ashley, we're talking
about James tall Rico.
Speaker 7 (07:50):
That's right, Mike, the young Democrat was sworn into office
this afternoon.
Speaker 8 (07:56):
I think we could do solemnly swear, do solemnly swear
that I will faithfully execute.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
The duties, and I will execute the key.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Of the office of Representative District fifty two.
Speaker 9 (08:07):
In the Office of Representative District fifty.
Speaker 7 (08:09):
Two, Talergo took that oath of office today instead of
in January when the rest of the freshman class will
because he's filling the seed vacated by Representative Larry Gonzalez.
You'll recall Gonzales resigned in June after serving for seven years. Now,
Tallrico is a former public school teacher. He wants to
use his experience to help fix the school finance system,
(08:31):
and he delivered a strong message at today's ceremony.
Speaker 9 (08:35):
The current political landscape is too small for Texas star
too small. Our politics are narrow minded and shortsighted. With
every border wall, with every bathroom bill, we degrade our
reputation and we dishonor our legacy.
Speaker 7 (08:55):
Now I sat down with the twenty nine year old
after his swearing in. He says amakers need to focus
on policies to help make Texas schools, the economy, and
families stronger.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
I was told it was impossible, just like I'm being
told this is impossible, but my life has shown me
that you should always bet on the underdogs, and this
is certainly going to be an underdog fight in this election.
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(11:54):
it is a red state in many many ways, but
it has a much larger working class vote out there,
or both in the metro areas and in rural areas
that have not really been served by the fact that
you know, either a Ken Paxton or John Cornyn has
a very small constituency. And those folks have actually been
(12:15):
on kind of on the especially I think in the
last year or two or the last year, especially in
the rural and the agricultural community. They're really getting stuck hard.
That's why policies that aren't meant for them, but are
meant for the folks who can write a million dollar
super pac check.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
That's exactly right. We've gotten this reputation as a state
for being deep red, and that's not really borne out
by the data. I mean, we we're much more of
a pink state, and we are a red state.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
You know.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
I remember growing up here, Democratic candidates would lose by
twenty five thirty points, and now consistently of these statewide
races are single digit races, and so the trend line
is unmistakable. Our elections are getting much more competitive in Texas,
and my party of likes to talk about turning Texas
blue and Republicans talk about keeping Texas red. I think
(13:05):
the best color for Texas is purple. I think she
would look great in purple, because, as you said, when
there's competitive elections, when politicians are on their toes, they
serve the people that they're supposed to be representing. They
compete for every vote, and they pass policies that are
designed to appeal to the largest number of Texans. And
(13:26):
that's good for the people of this state, both people
in urban and suburban areas, but also particularly for people
in small towns around Texas, where you've seen rural hospitals
close at an alarming rate. You've seen local public schools
closing because these billionaire mega donors have been pushing a
private school voucher scam in our state and shutting down
(13:46):
the neighborhood schools in these small towns, and therefore shutting
down Friday night lights, which is a way that we
bring people together in an age when so many of
us are being torn apart. So, yeah, there's so much
on the line and I think a competitive race and
more competitive elections will lead to better policies for the
people of Texas.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
You know, I think that that. You know, folks, Trump
won Texas by fifty three percent. It was not a wipeout,
you know, an absolute nuclear bomb, considering this is a
bastion state for the Republicans. So you know, you have
two Republicans. John Cornan, who I've known a long time,
who sort of transformed himself from a traditional Bush style
(14:30):
Republican into a guy who does what Trump wants. And
you've got Kim Paxton, who is who is, in any
just world, would not be in an elected office, but
would rather be picking up trash by the side of
the road wearing an orange vest. He has been, he's been,
you know, impeached, He's gotten his way bought his way
out of it a couple of times.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
To pinpoint the one thing that led to Texas Republicans
to impeach their own attorney general, you need only go
back a few months when Ken Paxton ases state lawmakers
to pay three point three million dollars so he could
settle a lawsuit brought by former employees of his who
blew the whistle on him.
Speaker 10 (15:09):
I'm just trying to get some clarity.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
Is the case against the State of Texas or is
it against General Paxton.
Speaker 10 (15:14):
Really, the whole thing comes down State of Texas having
Texas pick up the bill for, you know, firing the whistleblowers.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
So Paxton asks for taxpayer money to be spent on
his own legal settlement.
Speaker 11 (15:28):
If this legislative body does not vote to pay that,
then what would be the next steps?
Speaker 12 (15:34):
What will happen?
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Then House Republicans refuse and quietly open an investigation into
the Attorney general. The result of the legislature's investigation, that
is what led to the twenty articles of impeachment. But
let's back up here and put the pieces of this
puzzle together. It mainly centers around one of Paxton's many
(15:57):
political donors, a man named Nate Paul. Prosecutor say Paxton
went out of his way to help Paul, did things
for him as Attorney General that benefited Paul, not taxpayers,
things such as blocking public information requests to protect Nate
Paul's records in the Texas Department of Public Safety, writing
(16:19):
an official legal opinion as Attorney General to protect Nate
Paul's properties from foreclosure, and appointing a special prosecutor, among
other things, to investigate issues for Nate Paul. What in
the world do you think Ken Paxton saw in Nate Paul.
Speaker 13 (16:37):
Look, he clearly should have had better judgment about Nate Paul.
Obviously he's facing very serious problems right now. There was
chatter and I think doubt about his business empire, how
quickly he emerged as a major player, really kind of
out of nowhere, and the way he was operating his
flashy lifestyle. So I do think he probably showed some
poor judgment there and perhaps, you know, trusting Nate Paul's
(16:58):
word as much as he did.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
When Paxton's top staff, his own deputies that he handpicked,
finally blew the whistle on him, Paxton fired that group.
They sued, and Paxton agreed to settle the lawsuit. The
problem is he asked the state legislature to pay that
settlement three point three million dollars of taxpayer money.
Speaker 10 (17:23):
He want texteed the money. I'm sorry, but unless Ken
Paxton reimburses the State of Texas for what his actions
caused us, then he's dead.
Speaker 13 (17:34):
To me.
Speaker 10 (17:35):
I'm sorry, it's that simple.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
David Leath is a Republican precinct chair in Collin County,
one of the guests on this week's episode of Yolitics
and evidence of the sharp division among Texas Republicans. Paxton
denies he did anything wrong, and grassroots Republicans still support Paxton.
They disregard the impeachment trial. Traditional conservatives, though, say, this
(18:00):
rare process play out.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
You've got two candidates there, both of whom have some
really unsympathetic nature. How do you look at that race?
Which one do you think is going to emerge from that?
I'm gonna put on the spabble, but which one do
you think is going to win that primary? And who
do you want to run against?
Speaker 1 (18:19):
I honestly would relish the opportunity to prosecute the case
against either Ken Paxton or John Cornyn. You know, I
was a part of that that bipartisan majority in the
Texas legislature that impeached Ken Paxton. And you're right, his
billionaire mega donors paid our lieutenant governor three million dollars
literally a check for three million dollars to get him
off the hook.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
I'm very familiar was what it was.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
I'm very familiar with his crimes and his corruption and
would welcome the opportunity to make that case to the
people of my state. But we oftentimes think of corruption
as just involving money or involving something illegal. But that's
not the case. And John Cornyn a perfect example of that,
because John Cornyn was the deciding vote on that big
(19:05):
ugly bill that kick millions of Texans off their healthcare.
It'll literally take food out of the mouths of hungry
Texas kids, all to fund tax breaks for John Cornyn's donors.
Speaker 12 (19:17):
The Senate barely passed the spending and tax bill that
would add trillions to the national Jet Skins five. Reporter
Zack Briggs breaks down the potential impacts on low income Texans.
Speaker 11 (19:30):
San Antonio Food Bank CEO Eric Cooper has been keeping
extra busy in Washington, pushing lawmakers to reconsider historic spending
cuts to snap.
Speaker 14 (19:40):
Just begging right that they make a decision to help
families put food on the table.
Speaker 11 (19:47):
The so called Big Beautiful Bill includes more than four
trillion dollars in tax cuts to help fill the gap.
The federal Food Assistants program would be slashed by more
than one hundred and eighty billion dollars. States would be
required to foot the bill for a portion of SNAP benefits.
Policy changes would also expand eligibility requirements, in turn potentially
(20:10):
limiting access to SNAP.
Speaker 14 (20:12):
It is the biggest betrayal of services to those that
are vulnerable that I've ever seen in my thirty two
year career. We're literally taking money from the poor and
giving it to the rich. It is the opposite of Robinhood.
Speaker 11 (20:30):
The Senate's bill now being debated in the House proposes
reducing Medicaid spending by nearly a trillion dollars. This could
jeopardize healthcare access to more than a million Texans.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Between one point six to one point eight million people.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Medicaid cuts alone the potential for fifteen or more rural
hospitals clothes, which means you're now limiting health access.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Corruption is the betrayal of the public trust. It is
the use of a public office to enrich the people
who are funding your campaigns. And that's exactly what John
Cornyn did on the largest scale. I mean that is
corruption of the highest order. And so I look forward
to making the case against either one of those two
(21:11):
Republican candidates, and I hope I give the opportunity as
the Democratic nominee to do so.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
You know, I have always admired the way you approached
public life, in public service with sort of the centrality
of compassion and of connection and of faith.
Speaker 5 (21:25):
There is something broken in America. Our economy is broken,
our political system is broken. Even our relationships with each
other feel broken. That's because the most powerful people in.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
The world want it that way.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
My faith teaches me to love my neighbor as myself,
not just not just my neighbor who looks like me,
or praise like me or votes like me. I am
called to love all of my neighbors like I love myself,
because despite our differences, we all want the same things.
(22:10):
A safe neighborhood, a good job, a quality, well funded
public school, and the ability to see a doctor when
we need one. But the billionaires who own the social
(22:30):
media algorithms, who own the cable news networks, who own
the politicians fighting on our screens, they want us at
each other's throats. They want us focused on how we're
different instead of on how we're the same. I am
tired of being pitted against my neighbor. I am tired
(22:55):
of being told to hate my neighbor. It's been more
than ten years years of this kind of politics, politics
as blood sport, politics as professional wrestling.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
It tears families apart.
Speaker 5 (23:13):
It ends friendships, and it leaves us all feeling terrible
all of the time. There is a deep hunger in
this state and in this country for a different kind
of politics.
Speaker 15 (23:33):
Not a politics of hate, not a politics of tribes,
not a politics of division, but a politics of love,
a love that can heal what's broken in America?
Speaker 4 (23:50):
How do you keep in this campaign? Uh? How do you?
How do you keep those things in the foreground when
they're going to come at you with every bit of
the colure were noise and garbage and ugliness because they
don't have a lot more in the hopper anymore. In
terms of affirmative messaging, it's always down, It always resolves
(24:14):
down to the culture war at long last. How do
you stay out of that minefield?
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Well, I've always had two simple rules for political communications.
Sometimes we overthink this stuff. My two rules are be
yourself and tell the truth. And I've found a lot
of success with doing those two simple things. So my
faith is central to who I am. It's why I'm
in public service, not just an elected office. I started
(24:38):
my public service career as a middle school teacher on
the west side of San Antonio, and I signed up
to do that difficult job because I am called to
love my neighbors, especially the least of these, and so
I'm not going to shy away from that part of
my life. I have to be who I am, whether
that rubs people the wrong way and my own party
or causes people to be upset on the side, I've
(25:00):
got to be honest about why I'm in this and
why i'm running. That said, I'm very cognizant of how
organized religion has hurt a lot of people, and people
have a lot of religious trauma, religious baggage, and I
want to be sensitive to that, and I try to
be very inclusive in how I talk about this, to
include other faiths, to include my agnostic and atheist friends,
(25:22):
because at the end of the day, there are a
lot of agnostics and atheists who are more christ Wife
than Christian politicians in this country. But to your second question,
I'm going to tell the truth about why these culture
wars are at the front of our national conversation.
Speaker 16 (25:38):
I think it's interesting. I've been in this race for
five days and I've had a lot of interviews with
national media. No one's ever asked me about the cost
of housing. No one's asked me about the cost of
prescription drugs, no one's asked me about the cost of childcare.
The only thing the media wants to ask me about
are trans athletes. And so what I would say is
that the only minority destroying the country is the billionaires.
Speaker 9 (26:02):
Trans People are one percent.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Of the population.
Speaker 16 (26:04):
Undocumented people are one percent of the population. Muslims are
one percent of the population. We are all focused on
the wrong one percent. Trans people aren't taking away our healthcare.
Undocumented people aren't defunding our schools. Muslims aren't cutting taxes
for themselves and their rich friends. It's the billionaires and
their puppet politicians. And so we need not only the media,
(26:26):
but all of us to focus on the real problem
at hand. The very powerful people, the billionaires who control
our social media algorithms, who control the cable news networks,
who control the politicians who are fighting on our screens.
They want us to be at each other's throats. They
want us focused on how we're different instead of on
how we're the same, which I believe we're all much
(26:48):
more the same than we are different at the end
of the day, and so I'm going to call that out.
I believe in treating voters like their adults. I believe
in shooting straight with them, and I think they are
a sophisticated enough to understand how they're being played, and
so I'm gonna be very honest about that. I started
in our launch video talking about how we're being divided
by the people at the top, and I'm going to
(27:09):
continue to call that out. When they try to push
cultural war fights on all.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
Of us, I think that. I think that's as an
ex political guy or an ex political strategies guy, I
think that is exactly the right path is. You've got
to reframe this and not let it become the sort
of tawdry trick that they look. They used it very
effectively against many Democratic candidates and against Vice President Harris
(27:33):
in twenty twenty four. They use that very effectively. So
I think you're taking the right approach there. There have
been a lot of shifts in the Hispanic population in Texas,
and you know, the Rio Grande Valley was something that
for a long time the Republicans looked at with some jealousy.
They managed to move a lot more votes down there
(27:54):
than they did in previous elections. How does that factor
into your calculus state wide? About talking to folks in
your grand valley who tend to be for those of us,
for those of y'all who aren't familiar with it, it tends
to be a much more Hispanic area, first and second
generation immigrants, high religiosity, many many Catholics, many Pentecostals. How
(28:17):
do you work with those folks down there to stop
this erosion, the slide that's been going on with because
the culture War has been affected with a lot of
those voters.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Well, my family is from South Texas, and so I
know the area like the back of my hand, and
I'm going to spend a lot of time in South
Texas in this campaign. We're going to be heading down
there next week actually, just to show that we are
putting a priority on this smartest region of the state.
Because you know, when I was a middle school teacher,
I learned very early how to take responsibility. You know,
(28:49):
if my kids in my classroom were misbehaving or if
they weren't learning, it wasn't their fault their kids, it
was the It was my fault as their teacher, and
I'd taken that into politics because oftentimes people in our
party like to complain that, you know, voters have moved
away from us. That's not the voter's fault. That is
our fault as a party. If we are not speaking
(29:10):
to their needs, if we are not providing a vision
that they can see themselves in and can buy into,
then that's on us. And so again, I'm not the
I don't think South Texas has changed. I think the
Democratic Party has changed, and we are no longer speaking
to their needs and their aspirations. And I hope that
this campaign can start to change that.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
You know, I think one of the things you have
a real opportunity space on, and I've written about this
a lot over the years, is that one of the
things Republicans did to take power in various states Florida,
Texas is they let people in districts be right for
the district or be right for the state. They didn't
say you have to come down and meet this set
(29:52):
of four or five criteria from the national Party or
from this group or that group. I think you're getting
to the point where it's really really smart, is that
you're not a cookie cutter Democrat. You're not a standard
issue Democrat. You're a Texas guy who's going to go out,
you know, run on the Democratic Party line, but represent
people first as a Texan. That's right.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
I am proud to be a Texas Democrat. I'm proud
to be a part of a political party that still
has principles, that still has a vision for how we
can fix this democracy to make it work for regular people.
But I already have a religion, and I already have
a sports team.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
I am.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
The only reason I'm a part of this party is
because I want to win political power to make people's
lives better. And if the Democratic Party is not doing that,
I'm going to call it out and I'm going to
share hard truths so that we can get back on
track and achieve the purpose of a political party. And
I think for too long people have treated the party
as something other than that, and they force people into
(30:52):
these boxes. If you want a small, insular, pure group,
then you should start a social club. But a political
party has to be a big tent. It's got to
be a coalition of people who don't agree on everything,
or don't come from the same backgrounds, don't come from
the same perspectives. Politics is about addition and not subtraction
if we hope to win elections again.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
I think I think that's right, and I think I
think that this is something that national Democrats running in
any place in this country should be thinking about that, Like,
how am I a Florida Democrat or a Oklahoma Democrat
or a Nevada Democrat. How am I like state before
party country before? You know? Yes, it just like scaling
(31:34):
up the pyramid of connection to this is not the
way to do it. It's scaling down to the local area.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
And what a beautiful thing if our party is a
mosaic of all kinds of Democrats from all different walks
of life. I mean, that's that's what the Democratic Party
used to be when we had a super majority in
this country in the New Deal era or in the
Great Society era, when the last time a Texas Democrat
led our party. You know that those were sixty percent majorities.
We should not be in a position where we're within
(32:03):
a couple percent of points of Donald Trump. We shouldn't
be etten close to that. I'm not interested in winning
fifty one percent. I'm interested in building a big enough
majority in this country that can transform this democracy so
it can actually work for people.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Again.
Speaker 4 (32:17):
You know, we talked a little bit in the beginning
about the negative power of corruption and the and I've
always said that corruption is kind of a killer app
in a year where people need and feel the urgency
of reform. And I think it's finally starting to connect
with a lot of voters that the corruption in the
(32:39):
state houses around this country and in Washington, d C.
Is the source of their pain. When you started to
think about this campaign, have you taught have you been
hearing that out there in this stuff. I heard from
some folks recently in another in a Midwestern state who
said they had come out of the field and that
(33:00):
people were finally starting to connect. Oh, these lobbyists get
their way, right, but it has to, but it's coming
out of us exactly Again.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
This is this is back to treating voters like adults
and not condescending to them. Because people are smart people.
People can understand a lot if you give if you
give them a chance, and so oftentimes political consultants will
be like, don't don't talk about process, you know, focus
on kitchen table issues, whatever that means. And I've found,
(33:32):
you know, in my community that people are are very
open to understanding how this system is selling them out
on a whole host of issues, and so I've tried
to shoot straight with them that the reason we can't
make progress on housing, or on healthcare, or on education,
or on the economy is because we have a broken
political system that doesn't serve the interests of the people.
(33:53):
And so getting to the core of the problem, getting
to the heart of the matter, I think is essential,
one because it's true, and two because we have to
build a coalition big enough to change and transform that broken,
corrupt political system if we hope to make people's lives
easier and better.
Speaker 4 (34:12):
Well, James Talerico, tell everybody where they can find out
more information about you and your campaign, give them all
the social media stuff that we have to do to
make to get the word out.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Well, you can find me on all the platforms at
James Talerico and then you can go to James Talerico
dot com. You can sign up to donate. You can
also sign up to volunteer. Even if you don't live
in Texas, we will put you to work. And so
if you want to be about a part of a
campaign that you can feel good about and feel proud of,
and a campaign that may be the difference between having
(34:44):
a majority in the United States Senate and not. Then
please join us as soon as you can.
Speaker 8 (34:49):
Ye.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
I think that is so important to remember, folks. This
is a race the NRSC did not see coming. They
were sitting fat, dumb and happy, and they sort of
shrugged off and said, oh well, yeah, it'll be cornered
in our packs and whatever. And I can tell you this,
this news has hit them like a lightning bolt. And so,
James Talerrico, I wish you all the very best. Let's
(35:10):
have you back on the program as this campaign goes on.
Would thank you so much for taking the time to
come on the Lincoln Project podcast today.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Thanks Rick, appreciate it, folks.
Speaker 4 (35:23):
James Tallerco, who we just finished with a few seconds ago,
was on a very tight schedule and there's a reason
for that. He had about twenty minutes to give us today.
We're very grateful for his time. He has become something
that has shocked the political system. God knows. Beto or
Work is a great guy. Okay, love the death. James
(35:47):
has something I think that is of this moment, is
going to put this race into play. The Republican Senatorial
Committee the NRSC absolutely did not have this race on
their radar screen a few days ago.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
But I'm a former middle school teacher. I don't scare easily.
Speaker 17 (36:06):
For the last seven years, James Tallerrico has served in
the Texas House of Representatives, but now he's making the
leap to run for you as Senate, with an official
announcement Tuesday.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
I know how to win in tough areas. That is
something that I bring to this race that I hope
my party will hear.
Speaker 17 (36:21):
In his campaign video, the former middle school teacher emphasized
unity in running on a platform of representing the working
class regardless of political affiliation.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
All of us want the same things.
Speaker 17 (36:32):
But tall Rico has a pass of clashing with Texas
Republican Governor Greg Abbot and President Donald Trump. The Senate
hopeful says he doesn't see that as an issue for
his campaign, touting support from Democrats, Republicans, and independents.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
We say, you know, I may not agree with you
on every single issue, but I'm with you in this fight.
Speaker 17 (36:49):
Some Republicans, though, don't buy tall Rico's campaign message.
Speaker 10 (36:53):
He's not talking about greater prosperity for everyone.
Speaker 18 (36:56):
He's talking about wealth envy, he's talking about billionaires.
Speaker 11 (36:59):
He's talking about us versus them.
Speaker 17 (37:00):
Current Texas State Senator John Cornyn responded to Tallerrico's announcement,
saying tall Rico is another radical left wing Democrat whose
values do not align with Texans, and later called him
an opportunist carpetbagger. Like Colin Allread.
Speaker 3 (37:12):
We always said I welcome anybody into the race.
Speaker 19 (37:15):
Texans deserve a conversation, and I'm a competitor. I look
forward to competition.
Speaker 17 (37:19):
All Red is now not only campaigning against former astronaut
Terry Vertz, but now tall Rico as well.
Speaker 18 (37:24):
We go from a situation where Colin Alred was the
de facto nominee to one where we're going to have
a very competitive statewide Democratic primary in March or twenty
twenty six.
Speaker 4 (37:35):
They didn't care whether it was Cornin or Paxton. They
would have preferred corn In overall, just because Packson's a
criminal and a weirdo and a freak. But they would
have been fine with that. And they thought they had
this in the bag, was done so over. They were
going to pour all their hate into other races. They
were going to try to go in and burn down
(37:56):
Mallagement Moro and try to go in and burn down
Cooper in North Carolina. Okay, now they have to do
a fight in Texas. Twenty twenty six is rapidly approaching.
(38:17):
It's September, folks. We're going to watch as this economy
continues to go into the ditch. And no matter how
many times Donald Trump is there's no inflution jobs, he's lying.
The economy isn't a perilous state.
Speaker 20 (38:33):
The economy took another hit this week. The Bureau of
Labor Statistics released a report showing that consumer prices were
up two point nine percent in August from a year earlier.
On top of that, revised numbers showed that the US
added almost a million fewer jobs than previously reported over
the twelve month period ending in March.
Speaker 19 (38:53):
Wes economy is getting worse. This trend line is no bueno.
And November of twenty twenty four, when Donald Trump was
reelected as forty two percent, look get where we are
now up to fifty six percent. The clear majority of
Americans believe that the economy is getting worse. Less than
a third think that the economy is getting better. This
(39:14):
is a very very troubling trend line. Hello, what's number
one on your list? It's inflation. It's thirty four percent,
the economy sixteen percent. You add the two of those together,
that is a majority fifty percent of the American public
who say either inflation or the economy is the top
issue for them right now.
Speaker 6 (39:32):
Trump's approval on the economy, though it keeps falling now
at thirty six percent, with just thirty percent approving on
his handling on the cost of living.
Speaker 8 (39:40):
You've got seven million Americans who are unemployed. You've got
layoff surgeon forty percent last month alone. Donald Trump's policies
are choking the American middle class, and Democrats have to
take that and they have to incorporate that into their message.
This economy is a complete disaster. You've got one point
two tillion dollars in card debt, largely because Americans are
(40:03):
now relying on that and buy now, pay later, just
to buy groceries. And Donald Trump's economy and so it matters.
The economy always matters.
Speaker 4 (40:10):
That's seen in the matrix where Neo says is beginning
to understand he's the one. There are a lot of
people out there who are thinking about running for office
right now in the Democratic side, who are starting to
understand you don't have to go out there and fight
the culture war bullshit they tell they'll throw at you.
(40:32):
You have the idea and the ability to invert those things.
You have the idea and the ability to take the
strong side of the argument. You have the opportunity to
become the pro jobs party, the pro growth party, the
pro worker party. You have the opportunity to go out
there and become the pro hospitals and healthcare party. Give
(40:54):
the opportunity to go out there and become the party
that doesn't want to see our kids get measles and
mumps and rubella and die. You have the opportunity to
go up there and become a party that says that
the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and his companions and friends
need to be held accountable. You have the opportunity to
say to the Republicans, yeah, okay, thanks for your culture
(41:14):
war bullshit. Here's the real thing that's happening in this country.
The millions, hundreds of millions of Americans are being screwed
by a corrupt system in Washington and a corrupt system
in many, many states, in the state houses, where your
lives suck, and your bills ain't getting paid, and your
kids aren't getting educated, and your mom and dad had
(41:35):
to move out of the nursing home, and where you
can't afford health insurance, and where the hospital there was
twenty miles from you is now eighty miles from you
because they because they're clothing hospitals. You have the opportunity
to show Americans that if you're a Democratic candidate in
twenty six, you have the chance to show them the
(41:55):
way forward. Don't be trapped by what you think you
need to be from some national pack or party organization.
None of it's real. You have the chance to be
real for the people in your district. And whether that's
a state house seat where you're gonna win or lose
based on a thousand or two thousand or five thousand
(42:17):
votes out of twenty five thousand, or a state Senate
seat where maybe four hundred thousand people, three hundred thousand people,
or whether it's a congressional seat where it's less than
a million people seven hundred and ninety five thousand people
or so, you have the opportunity to be a new
kind of leader. You should not be bound by the past.
(42:39):
You should be what you should be in your state
or your district. Don't worry about Bernie or AOC or
any other factor in this party except what's in your
heart with the people of your state, or your locality
or your district.
Speaker 9 (42:56):
Need.
Speaker 4 (43:02):
Yes, those big national things affect what's happening in their lives,
but you better know where every goddamn pothole is in
your district. You better be able to make the case
for how paying for a tax cut for Elon Musk
or Jeff Bezos has hurt Bob Smith or Larry Hernandez
in your district. You better be able to know every
(43:23):
one of those rural hospitals that's closing in your area.
Because you've have a chance. You have a moment here.
This is a year that, as tough as it may seem,
sometimes where you can bring heat and heart to a
campaign that goes up maga like nothing else before, that
(43:47):
takes these people out, because look, what are they selling.
What are they selling. They're not selling the culture, that's
just a tactic. They're selling obedience to one man. You
know what, that never fed a kid in your district,
(44:07):
that never paved a road in your district, that never
put a roof on a school in your district. It
never helped a single person who wasn't selling T shirts
with that guy's face on it. Okay, Democrats watched Talleriki.
Will he win. It's a red state, pink state. It's tough.
He's gonna have a hard campaign no matter what. But
(44:29):
he can. He has that spirit. There are other people
running Cooper North Carolina. He has the spirit, he has
the fight in him.
Speaker 21 (44:39):
We cannot let our progress slip away. We the people,
are the guardians of our beloved country at this treasured state.
And despite all the turmoil and cruelty, because of people
like you here tonight, I still believe that our best
days are ahead of us.
Speaker 4 (45:01):
And when people see you will fight for them. When
people see you, give a damn about them. You live
in a different political world. Throw out the policy book. Okay,
when they send you the three hundred page book about
here's my climate change plan or my health care plan
and my gut, throw it out. Throw it out. No
(45:22):
one cares talk to real people like they're real people.
That's one thing. Tala Rico said that in the very
beginning of that conversation that I really enjoyed real people
that he's willing to go and sit with and be
where they're at. They get it. They're not children, and
no Democrat in this country you should think you're going
(45:43):
to sell people with a policy book that they don't
feel that your heart is with them, if they don't
feel that you get what they're getting in their lives
in your gut. That's one of the great secret sauce
things we as Republicans back in the day. Did we
told working class voters, Oh, of those Democratic elite eggheads
hate you because they look down on you. And I'm
(46:06):
going to say you something a lot of Democrats did.
Don't deny it, folks, A lot of Democrats did. They
thought we're the party of the college educated and that
will always be sufficient. You sure about that. You can't
keep sawing off pieces of your coalition and saying, oh, well,
we're going to lose those people because we don't like them.
(46:28):
I'm going to give you some tough love right now. Democrats,
there was an era in this country where you would
not purge a member of your party over differences on
an issue that you felt strongly about in New York,
but that were political poison in the rural Midwest. You
were smart for a few times back in the day.
(46:51):
In twenty seventeen, Nancy Pelosi very wisely told every Democrat
running you do you for your district. Don't worry about Washington.
You do you for your district. They were not all
flaming progressives. Now, if you want to be a flaming
(47:14):
progressive and you're in New York or Boston or San
Francisco or whatever, awesome, go kill it. That's right for
your district, it's right for your area, right for your state.
But you can't get a majority in the House of Representatives,
which is coastal cities. So you got to let people
(47:35):
be what they are, and you got to meet people.
If you're a candidate, you got to meet them where
they are. You got to get there in their hearts
and their minds in a way that doesn't let the
Republicans frame you out as another elitist snob who hates
the working class. This is all that always been. The
irony for me is by any possible measure, the last
(47:58):
ten years during Maga dominance of our politics have been
objectively terrible for working class voters objectively terrible, and it's
going to get much much worse. It's not that, by
the way, Republican voters hate the big government. Everybody hates
(48:20):
big government. The hate government that they feel like the
deck is stacked against them. Hate government that is that
it feels like corrupt people are getting things that they're not.
If you're a candidate, it's not promising a bigger government.
It's not promising programs or policies from a bigger government.
(48:42):
It's about making it smaller and smarter and better, and
about making it work for those people who feel like
they've been left behind who the Republican Party has told
that the only solution to their grievances is to burn
everything down. Keep an eye on Tall Rico, folks. He's
a very talented young man. He's a very talented candidate.
(49:03):
And I don't mean that in that Fastyle way of
always pretty good at the work. He's very good at
the work. But he's also a good person. There's a
goodness about this guy that I think you should watch
and you should encourage other people to follow. He's exactly right.
He's not there as a member of one social club
that meets in Washington, d C. He's a Texas Democrat first,
(49:25):
So go out Democrats and be a Florida Democrat. Go
out and be a Nevada Democrat, or a Nebraska Democrat
or a Missouri Democrat. There's no shame in that game.
But run the way you got to run in your
state or your district. All right, folks, thank you so
much as always for listening to the Lincoln Project podcast.
(49:47):
We have been growing by leaps and bounds, and it
is on you guys who have done that. I am
so grateful I can't even see straight. It's just an
absolute honor every day to see how people respond to
the this podcast, the very kind notes, and both I
and my production team who make this entire thing happen.
(50:08):
I'm just a monkey who talks in front of a microphone. Whitney,
Riley Kate absolutely crush it every week, and I know
that they share My great and profound thanks to everybody
who listens to this podcast. We'll be back again next time.
I am super excited about some of the guests we
have coming up. You are going to be blown away
(50:28):
and we are going to have keep up this fight
every single day to save this country and to get
us on the right path, and it's folks like you
who are going to make it happen. Thanks so much, everybody.
We'll talk to you again soon. The Lincoln Project Podcast
is a Lincoln Project production.
Speaker 22 (50:46):
Executive produced by Whitney Hayes, then How and Joey Wartner Cheney,
edited by Riley Mayne. Hey, folks, If you want to
support The Lincoln Project's work against Donald Trump, Elon Musk,
and this maga craziness, go to action dot Lincoln Project
dot us slash help LP. If you'd like to get
in touch, or have suggestions for a guest or a
show topic, or just want to say hi, our email
(51:06):
is podcast at Lincolnproject dot us for our maga friends.
Speaker 4 (51:09):
Please no more news. Thanks so much, and we'll talk
to you again next time.
Speaker 17 (51:14):
And good luck.
Oftentimes people in our party like to complain that, you know,
voters have moved away from us. That's not the voter's fault.
That is our fault as a party. If we are
not speaking to their needs, if we are not providing
a vision that they can see themselves in and can
buy into, then that's on us.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Your attack will not be an easy one.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Your enemy is well as trained well, But then battle party.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Is not a Liberal America and a conservative America or
the United States of America.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Good luck, hey, folks, it's Rick Wilson. Welcome back once
again to the Lincoln Project Podcast. I am super excited
to be joined today. But James Tallerico, who is a
newly announced candidate for the United States Senate in the
great state of Texas. He is a communicator and a
legislator and a leader of a form that I think
a lot of people didn't believe the Democrats still had
(00:53):
in him. He goes replaces Democrats fear to tread, and
that is talking to working folks, talking to folks, people
of fate, talking to folks across the political spectrum.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
The biggest divide in our country is not left versus right.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
It's top versus bottom.
Speaker 5 (01:10):
Billionaires want us looking left and right at each other
so that we're not looking up at them. The people
at the top work so hard to keep us angry
and divided because our unity is a threat to their
wealth and their power. So their social media algorithms and
(01:31):
their cable news networks tear us apart. They divide us
by party, by race, by gender, by religion so that
we don't notice that they're defunding our schools, cutting our healthcare,
and cutting taxes for themselves and their rich friends. It
is the oldest strategy in the world, divide and conquered.
(01:55):
But we will not be conquered. We're underdogs in this fight.
We're going up against those billionaire mega donors and their
puppet politicians. We're going up against a rigged system, and
we're going up against a lot of money. But I'm
(02:16):
a former middle school teacher. I don't scare easily, and
Texans don't scare easily. My granddad was a Baptist preacher
in South Texas. He taught me that we follow a
(02:36):
barefoot rabbi who gave two commandments, love God and love neighbor,
because there is no love of God without love of neighbor.
Every single person bears the image of the sacred. Every
(02:57):
single person is holy, not just my neighbors who.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Look like me, or pray like me or vote like me.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Those billionaires are trying to keep us from seeing all
that we have in common. They're trying to keep us
from realizing that there is far more that unites us
than divides us. Because once we do, we will come together,
across party, across race, across gender, across religion, to take
(03:28):
power back for ourselves and our communities.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Two thousand years ago, when the powerful few rigged.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
The system, that barefoot rabbi walked into the seat of
power and flipped over the tables of injustice. To those
who love this state, to those who love this country,
to those who love our neighbors. It's time to start
flipping tables.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
James. First off, welcome to the Lincoln Project podcast. Thank
you so much for coming on. I want to just
ask you right off the bat, why are you the
guy to take on either Cornyn or Paxton depending on
how that shakes out, and the sort of Republican National
Committee a Senate Committee war machine in this election?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Well, thank you for having me. I'm a huge Stan
of the work that y'all do. And I've decided to
get in this race because I firmly believe that all
thirty million Texans deserve a US Senator who's going to
represent their interests and not the interests of billionaire mega donors.
And Ken Paxton and John Cornyn have both forfeited the
(04:43):
right to be the senator from this great state. They're
both more interested in serving their mega donors and serving
the people of Texas. And I think the country is
looking for a reset from the Democratic Party. So I
hope to provide a new kind of message, a new
(05:05):
kind of campaign that people can believe in again. We
desperately need that in this state and in this country
at this critical moment.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
When you came across my writer screen the first time,
I was very impressed because you were not ashamed of
your faith, you were not hiding it. You would go
to talk to working folks where they were not going
into these conversations defensively, but rather with a very open heart,
to talk to people who might not consider themselves Democrats,
(05:37):
might not consider themselves anything but conservatives. But you want
over people even in your state work who we were,
who I think understood right away that you were somebody
who would listen and meet them where they were to
talk things through. How do you scale that up in
a race in a state as big as Texas, with
the stakes as high as they will be, and with
(06:00):
with having to go out and address thirty million people
instead of the folks in a legislative district.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Right, It's not gonna be easy, and I'm gonna need
a lot of people's help. I cannot do this alone.
And I think just in the first twenty four hours
of this campaign, we have seen an overwhelming response from
people across Texas and frankly across the country.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
It has been a.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Few years since Texas Democrats have turned out like this.
One thousand or so people in round Rock Tuesday evening
to see James tallerco launch his campaign for US Senate,
a self described underdog in his race against Colin Allred
to be the Democratic nominee and then take on either
John Cornyn or Ken Paxton.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
It brings an injection of excitement, you know, and that's
good for the Democratic Party, that's good for the Democratic primary,
that's ultimately good for Texas.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
This morning, tall Rico says his campaign has already raised
more than a million dollars from small dollar donors, but
in the first twelve to twenty four hours of his campaign,
which shows moment mental.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Folks who signed up to volunteers. I've been so blown
away by the number of volunteer signups we've gotten. So
I think people are ready to do something. They're ready
to join a campaign that that's different from all the
other campaigns we've seen in recent years. And it feels
like people are starved of hope and of optimism. And
(07:20):
if we can provide that to people, I think we
can pull something together that will change the politics of
this state and of this country. And Rick, you know this,
but I did this when I first got elected. I
flipped at Trump district that no one thought was winnable.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
A fresh face to politics is already making waves in
Central Texas. He flipped a seat in the Texas House
from red to blue.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
On top of that, he.
Speaker 6 (07:42):
Is the youngest member of the Texas Legislature. Kave you
political reporter Ashley Gudo is here, and Ashley, we're talking
about James tall Rico.
Speaker 7 (07:50):
That's right, Mike, the young Democrat was sworn into office
this afternoon.
Speaker 8 (07:56):
I think we could do solemnly swear, do solemnly swear
that I will faithfully execute.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
The duties, and I will execute the key.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Of the office of Representative District fifty two.
Speaker 9 (08:07):
In the Office of Representative District fifty.
Speaker 7 (08:09):
Two, Talergo took that oath of office today instead of
in January when the rest of the freshman class will
because he's filling the seed vacated by Representative Larry Gonzalez.
You'll recall Gonzales resigned in June after serving for seven years. Now,
Tallrico is a former public school teacher. He wants to
use his experience to help fix the school finance system,
(08:31):
and he delivered a strong message at today's ceremony.
Speaker 9 (08:35):
The current political landscape is too small for Texas star
too small. Our politics are narrow minded and shortsighted. With
every border wall, with every bathroom bill, we degrade our
reputation and we dishonor our legacy.
Speaker 7 (08:55):
Now I sat down with the twenty nine year old
after his swearing in. He says amakers need to focus
on policies to help make Texas schools, the economy, and
families stronger.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
I was told it was impossible, just like I'm being
told this is impossible, but my life has shown me
that you should always bet on the underdogs, and this
is certainly going to be an underdog fight in this election.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
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should too. I think people don't really understand that Texas. Yes,
(11:54):
it is a red state in many many ways, but
it has a much larger working class vote out there,
or both in the metro areas and in rural areas
that have not really been served by the fact that
you know, either a Ken Paxton or John Cornyn has
a very small constituency. And those folks have actually been
(12:15):
on kind of on the especially I think in the
last year or two or the last year, especially in
the rural and the agricultural community. They're really getting stuck hard.
That's why policies that aren't meant for them, but are
meant for the folks who can write a million dollar
super pac check.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
That's exactly right. We've gotten this reputation as a state
for being deep red, and that's not really borne out
by the data. I mean, we we're much more of
a pink state, and we are a red state.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
You know.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
I remember growing up here, Democratic candidates would lose by
twenty five thirty points, and now consistently of these statewide
races are single digit races, and so the trend line
is unmistakable. Our elections are getting much more competitive in Texas,
and my party of likes to talk about turning Texas
blue and Republicans talk about keeping Texas red. I think
(13:05):
the best color for Texas is purple. I think she
would look great in purple, because, as you said, when
there's competitive elections, when politicians are on their toes, they
serve the people that they're supposed to be representing. They
compete for every vote, and they pass policies that are
designed to appeal to the largest number of Texans. And
(13:26):
that's good for the people of this state, both people
in urban and suburban areas, but also particularly for people
in small towns around Texas, where you've seen rural hospitals
close at an alarming rate. You've seen local public schools
closing because these billionaire mega donors have been pushing a
private school voucher scam in our state and shutting down
(13:46):
the neighborhood schools in these small towns, and therefore shutting
down Friday night lights, which is a way that we
bring people together in an age when so many of
us are being torn apart. So, yeah, there's so much
on the line and I think a competitive race and
more competitive elections will lead to better policies for the
people of Texas.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
You know, I think that that. You know, folks, Trump
won Texas by fifty three percent. It was not a wipeout,
you know, an absolute nuclear bomb, considering this is a
bastion state for the Republicans. So you know, you have
two Republicans. John Cornan, who I've known a long time,
who sort of transformed himself from a traditional Bush style
(14:30):
Republican into a guy who does what Trump wants. And
you've got Kim Paxton, who is who is, in any
just world, would not be in an elected office, but
would rather be picking up trash by the side of
the road wearing an orange vest. He has been, he's been,
you know, impeached, He's gotten his way bought his way
out of it a couple of times.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
To pinpoint the one thing that led to Texas Republicans
to impeach their own attorney general, you need only go
back a few months when Ken Paxton ases state lawmakers
to pay three point three million dollars so he could
settle a lawsuit brought by former employees of his who
blew the whistle on him.
Speaker 10 (15:09):
I'm just trying to get some clarity.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
Is the case against the State of Texas or is
it against General Paxton.
Speaker 10 (15:14):
Really, the whole thing comes down State of Texas having
Texas pick up the bill for, you know, firing the whistleblowers.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
So Paxton asks for taxpayer money to be spent on
his own legal settlement.
Speaker 11 (15:28):
If this legislative body does not vote to pay that,
then what would be the next steps?
Speaker 12 (15:34):
What will happen?
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Then House Republicans refuse and quietly open an investigation into
the Attorney general. The result of the legislature's investigation, that
is what led to the twenty articles of impeachment. But
let's back up here and put the pieces of this
puzzle together. It mainly centers around one of Paxton's many
(15:57):
political donors, a man named Nate Paul. Prosecutor say Paxton
went out of his way to help Paul, did things
for him as Attorney General that benefited Paul, not taxpayers,
things such as blocking public information requests to protect Nate
Paul's records in the Texas Department of Public Safety, writing
(16:19):
an official legal opinion as Attorney General to protect Nate
Paul's properties from foreclosure, and appointing a special prosecutor, among
other things, to investigate issues for Nate Paul. What in
the world do you think Ken Paxton saw in Nate Paul.
Speaker 13 (16:37):
Look, he clearly should have had better judgment about Nate Paul.
Obviously he's facing very serious problems right now. There was
chatter and I think doubt about his business empire, how
quickly he emerged as a major player, really kind of
out of nowhere, and the way he was operating his
flashy lifestyle. So I do think he probably showed some
poor judgment there and perhaps, you know, trusting Nate Paul's
(16:58):
word as much as he did.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
When Paxton's top staff, his own deputies that he handpicked,
finally blew the whistle on him, Paxton fired that group.
They sued, and Paxton agreed to settle the lawsuit. The
problem is he asked the state legislature to pay that
settlement three point three million dollars of taxpayer money.
Speaker 10 (17:23):
He want texteed the money. I'm sorry, but unless Ken
Paxton reimburses the State of Texas for what his actions
caused us, then he's dead.
Speaker 13 (17:34):
To me.
Speaker 10 (17:35):
I'm sorry, it's that simple.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
David Leath is a Republican precinct chair in Collin County,
one of the guests on this week's episode of Yolitics
and evidence of the sharp division among Texas Republicans. Paxton
denies he did anything wrong, and grassroots Republicans still support Paxton.
They disregard the impeachment trial. Traditional conservatives, though, say, this
(18:00):
rare process play out.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
You've got two candidates there, both of whom have some
really unsympathetic nature. How do you look at that race?
Which one do you think is going to emerge from that?
I'm gonna put on the spabble, but which one do
you think is going to win that primary? And who
do you want to run against?
Speaker 1 (18:19):
I honestly would relish the opportunity to prosecute the case
against either Ken Paxton or John Cornyn. You know, I
was a part of that that bipartisan majority in the
Texas legislature that impeached Ken Paxton. And you're right, his
billionaire mega donors paid our lieutenant governor three million dollars
literally a check for three million dollars to get him
off the hook.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
I'm very familiar was what it was.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
I'm very familiar with his crimes and his corruption and
would welcome the opportunity to make that case to the
people of my state. But we oftentimes think of corruption
as just involving money or involving something illegal. But that's
not the case. And John Cornyn a perfect example of that,
because John Cornyn was the deciding vote on that big
(19:05):
ugly bill that kick millions of Texans off their healthcare.
It'll literally take food out of the mouths of hungry
Texas kids, all to fund tax breaks for John Cornyn's donors.
Speaker 12 (19:17):
The Senate barely passed the spending and tax bill that
would add trillions to the national Jet Skins five. Reporter
Zack Briggs breaks down the potential impacts on low income Texans.
Speaker 11 (19:30):
San Antonio Food Bank CEO Eric Cooper has been keeping
extra busy in Washington, pushing lawmakers to reconsider historic spending
cuts to snap.
Speaker 14 (19:40):
Just begging right that they make a decision to help
families put food on the table.
Speaker 11 (19:47):
The so called Big Beautiful Bill includes more than four
trillion dollars in tax cuts to help fill the gap.
The federal Food Assistants program would be slashed by more
than one hundred and eighty billion dollars. States would be
required to foot the bill for a portion of SNAP benefits.
Policy changes would also expand eligibility requirements, in turn potentially
(20:10):
limiting access to SNAP.
Speaker 14 (20:12):
It is the biggest betrayal of services to those that
are vulnerable that I've ever seen in my thirty two
year career. We're literally taking money from the poor and
giving it to the rich. It is the opposite of Robinhood.
Speaker 11 (20:30):
The Senate's bill now being debated in the House proposes
reducing Medicaid spending by nearly a trillion dollars. This could
jeopardize healthcare access to more than a million Texans.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Between one point six to one point eight million people.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Medicaid cuts alone the potential for fifteen or more rural
hospitals clothes, which means you're now limiting health access.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Corruption is the betrayal of the public trust. It is
the use of a public office to enrich the people
who are funding your campaigns. And that's exactly what John
Cornyn did on the largest scale. I mean that is
corruption of the highest order. And so I look forward
to making the case against either one of those two
(21:11):
Republican candidates, and I hope I give the opportunity as
the Democratic nominee to do so.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
You know, I have always admired the way you approached
public life, in public service with sort of the centrality
of compassion and of connection and of faith.
Speaker 5 (21:25):
There is something broken in America. Our economy is broken,
our political system is broken. Even our relationships with each
other feel broken. That's because the most powerful people in.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
The world want it that way.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
My faith teaches me to love my neighbor as myself,
not just not just my neighbor who looks like me,
or praise like me or votes like me. I am
called to love all of my neighbors like I love myself,
because despite our differences, we all want the same things.
(22:10):
A safe neighborhood, a good job, a quality, well funded
public school, and the ability to see a doctor when
we need one. But the billionaires who own the social
(22:30):
media algorithms, who own the cable news networks, who own
the politicians fighting on our screens, they want us at
each other's throats. They want us focused on how we're
different instead of on how we're the same. I am
tired of being pitted against my neighbor. I am tired
(22:55):
of being told to hate my neighbor. It's been more
than ten years years of this kind of politics, politics
as blood sport, politics as professional wrestling.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
It tears families apart.
Speaker 5 (23:13):
It ends friendships, and it leaves us all feeling terrible
all of the time. There is a deep hunger in
this state and in this country for a different kind
of politics.
Speaker 15 (23:33):
Not a politics of hate, not a politics of tribes,
not a politics of division, but a politics of love,
a love that can heal what's broken in America?
Speaker 4 (23:50):
How do you keep in this campaign? Uh? How do you?
How do you keep those things in the foreground when
they're going to come at you with every bit of
the colure were noise and garbage and ugliness because they
don't have a lot more in the hopper anymore. In
terms of affirmative messaging, it's always down, It always resolves
(24:14):
down to the culture war at long last. How do
you stay out of that minefield?
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Well, I've always had two simple rules for political communications.
Sometimes we overthink this stuff. My two rules are be
yourself and tell the truth. And I've found a lot
of success with doing those two simple things. So my
faith is central to who I am. It's why I'm
in public service, not just an elected office. I started
(24:38):
my public service career as a middle school teacher on
the west side of San Antonio, and I signed up
to do that difficult job because I am called to
love my neighbors, especially the least of these, and so
I'm not going to shy away from that part of
my life. I have to be who I am, whether
that rubs people the wrong way and my own party
or causes people to be upset on the side, I've
(25:00):
got to be honest about why I'm in this and
why i'm running. That said, I'm very cognizant of how
organized religion has hurt a lot of people, and people
have a lot of religious trauma, religious baggage, and I
want to be sensitive to that, and I try to
be very inclusive in how I talk about this, to
include other faiths, to include my agnostic and atheist friends,
(25:22):
because at the end of the day, there are a
lot of agnostics and atheists who are more christ Wife
than Christian politicians in this country. But to your second question,
I'm going to tell the truth about why these culture
wars are at the front of our national conversation.
Speaker 16 (25:38):
I think it's interesting. I've been in this race for
five days and I've had a lot of interviews with
national media. No one's ever asked me about the cost
of housing. No one's asked me about the cost of
prescription drugs, no one's asked me about the cost of childcare.
The only thing the media wants to ask me about
are trans athletes. And so what I would say is
that the only minority destroying the country is the billionaires.
Speaker 9 (26:02):
Trans People are one percent.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Of the population.
Speaker 16 (26:04):
Undocumented people are one percent of the population. Muslims are
one percent of the population. We are all focused on
the wrong one percent. Trans people aren't taking away our healthcare.
Undocumented people aren't defunding our schools. Muslims aren't cutting taxes
for themselves and their rich friends. It's the billionaires and
their puppet politicians. And so we need not only the media,
(26:26):
but all of us to focus on the real problem
at hand. The very powerful people, the billionaires who control
our social media algorithms, who control the cable news networks,
who control the politicians who are fighting on our screens.
They want us to be at each other's throats. They
want us focused on how we're different instead of on
how we're the same, which I believe we're all much
(26:48):
more the same than we are different at the end
of the day, and so I'm going to call that out.
I believe in treating voters like their adults. I believe
in shooting straight with them, and I think they are
a sophisticated enough to understand how they're being played, and
so I'm gonna be very honest about that. I started
in our launch video talking about how we're being divided
by the people at the top, and I'm going to
(27:09):
continue to call that out. When they try to push
cultural war fights on all.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
Of us, I think that. I think that's as an
ex political guy or an ex political strategies guy, I
think that is exactly the right path is. You've got
to reframe this and not let it become the sort
of tawdry trick that they look. They used it very
effectively against many Democratic candidates and against Vice President Harris
(27:33):
in twenty twenty four. They use that very effectively. So
I think you're taking the right approach there. There have
been a lot of shifts in the Hispanic population in Texas,
and you know, the Rio Grande Valley was something that
for a long time the Republicans looked at with some jealousy.
They managed to move a lot more votes down there
(27:54):
than they did in previous elections. How does that factor
into your calculus state wide? About talking to folks in
your grand valley who tend to be for those of us,
for those of y'all who aren't familiar with it, it tends
to be a much more Hispanic area, first and second
generation immigrants, high religiosity, many many Catholics, many Pentecostals. How
(28:17):
do you work with those folks down there to stop
this erosion, the slide that's been going on with because
the culture War has been affected with a lot of
those voters.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Well, my family is from South Texas, and so I
know the area like the back of my hand, and
I'm going to spend a lot of time in South
Texas in this campaign. We're going to be heading down
there next week actually, just to show that we are
putting a priority on this smartest region of the state.
Because you know, when I was a middle school teacher,
I learned very early how to take responsibility. You know,
(28:49):
if my kids in my classroom were misbehaving or if
they weren't learning, it wasn't their fault their kids, it
was the It was my fault as their teacher, and
I'd taken that into politics because oftentimes people in our
party like to complain that, you know, voters have moved
away from us. That's not the voter's fault. That is
our fault as a party. If we are not speaking
(29:10):
to their needs, if we are not providing a vision
that they can see themselves in and can buy into,
then that's on us. And so again, I'm not the
I don't think South Texas has changed. I think the
Democratic Party has changed, and we are no longer speaking
to their needs and their aspirations. And I hope that
this campaign can start to change that.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
You know, I think one of the things you have
a real opportunity space on, and I've written about this
a lot over the years, is that one of the
things Republicans did to take power in various states Florida,
Texas is they let people in districts be right for
the district or be right for the state. They didn't
say you have to come down and meet this set
(29:52):
of four or five criteria from the national Party or
from this group or that group. I think you're getting
to the point where it's really really smart, is that
you're not a cookie cutter Democrat. You're not a standard
issue Democrat. You're a Texas guy who's going to go out,
you know, run on the Democratic Party line, but represent
people first as a Texan. That's right.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
I am proud to be a Texas Democrat. I'm proud
to be a part of a political party that still
has principles, that still has a vision for how we
can fix this democracy to make it work for regular people.
But I already have a religion, and I already have
a sports team.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
I am.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
The only reason I'm a part of this party is
because I want to win political power to make people's
lives better. And if the Democratic Party is not doing that,
I'm going to call it out and I'm going to
share hard truths so that we can get back on
track and achieve the purpose of a political party. And
I think for too long people have treated the party
as something other than that, and they force people into
(30:52):
these boxes. If you want a small, insular, pure group,
then you should start a social club. But a political
party has to be a big tent. It's got to
be a coalition of people who don't agree on everything,
or don't come from the same backgrounds, don't come from
the same perspectives. Politics is about addition and not subtraction
if we hope to win elections again.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
I think I think that's right, and I think I
think that this is something that national Democrats running in
any place in this country should be thinking about that, Like,
how am I a Florida Democrat or a Oklahoma Democrat
or a Nevada Democrat. How am I like state before
party country before? You know? Yes, it just like scaling
(31:34):
up the pyramid of connection to this is not the
way to do it. It's scaling down to the local area.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
And what a beautiful thing if our party is a
mosaic of all kinds of Democrats from all different walks
of life. I mean, that's that's what the Democratic Party
used to be when we had a super majority in
this country in the New Deal era or in the
Great Society era, when the last time a Texas Democrat
led our party. You know that those were sixty percent majorities.
We should not be in a position where we're within
(32:03):
a couple percent of points of Donald Trump. We shouldn't
be etten close to that. I'm not interested in winning
fifty one percent. I'm interested in building a big enough
majority in this country that can transform this democracy so
it can actually work for people.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Again.
Speaker 4 (32:17):
You know, we talked a little bit in the beginning
about the negative power of corruption and the and I've
always said that corruption is kind of a killer app
in a year where people need and feel the urgency
of reform. And I think it's finally starting to connect
with a lot of voters that the corruption in the
(32:39):
state houses around this country and in Washington, d C.
Is the source of their pain. When you started to
think about this campaign, have you taught have you been
hearing that out there in this stuff. I heard from
some folks recently in another in a Midwestern state who
said they had come out of the field and that
(33:00):
people were finally starting to connect. Oh, these lobbyists get
their way, right, but it has to, but it's coming
out of us exactly Again.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
This is this is back to treating voters like adults
and not condescending to them. Because people are smart people.
People can understand a lot if you give if you
give them a chance, and so oftentimes political consultants will
be like, don't don't talk about process, you know, focus
on kitchen table issues, whatever that means. And I've found,
(33:32):
you know, in my community that people are are very
open to understanding how this system is selling them out
on a whole host of issues, and so I've tried
to shoot straight with them that the reason we can't
make progress on housing, or on healthcare, or on education,
or on the economy is because we have a broken
political system that doesn't serve the interests of the people.
(33:53):
And so getting to the core of the problem, getting
to the heart of the matter, I think is essential,
one because it's true, and two because we have to
build a coalition big enough to change and transform that broken,
corrupt political system if we hope to make people's lives
easier and better.
Speaker 4 (34:12):
Well, James Talerico, tell everybody where they can find out
more information about you and your campaign, give them all
the social media stuff that we have to do to
make to get the word out.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Well, you can find me on all the platforms at
James Talerico and then you can go to James Talerico
dot com. You can sign up to donate. You can
also sign up to volunteer. Even if you don't live
in Texas, we will put you to work. And so
if you want to be about a part of a
campaign that you can feel good about and feel proud of,
and a campaign that may be the difference between having
(34:44):
a majority in the United States Senate and not. Then
please join us as soon as you can.
Speaker 8 (34:49):
Ye.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
I think that is so important to remember, folks. This
is a race the NRSC did not see coming. They
were sitting fat, dumb and happy, and they sort of
shrugged off and said, oh well, yeah, it'll be cornered
in our packs and whatever. And I can tell you this,
this news has hit them like a lightning bolt. And so,
James Talerrico, I wish you all the very best. Let's
(35:10):
have you back on the program as this campaign goes on.
Would thank you so much for taking the time to
come on the Lincoln Project podcast today.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Thanks Rick, appreciate it, folks.
Speaker 4 (35:23):
James Tallerco, who we just finished with a few seconds ago,
was on a very tight schedule and there's a reason
for that. He had about twenty minutes to give us today.
We're very grateful for his time. He has become something
that has shocked the political system. God knows. Beto or
Work is a great guy. Okay, love the death. James
(35:47):
has something I think that is of this moment, is
going to put this race into play. The Republican Senatorial
Committee the NRSC absolutely did not have this race on
their radar screen a few days ago.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
But I'm a former middle school teacher. I don't scare easily.
Speaker 17 (36:06):
For the last seven years, James Tallerrico has served in
the Texas House of Representatives, but now he's making the
leap to run for you as Senate, with an official
announcement Tuesday.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
I know how to win in tough areas. That is
something that I bring to this race that I hope
my party will hear.
Speaker 17 (36:21):
In his campaign video, the former middle school teacher emphasized
unity in running on a platform of representing the working
class regardless of political affiliation.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
All of us want the same things.
Speaker 17 (36:32):
But tall Rico has a pass of clashing with Texas
Republican Governor Greg Abbot and President Donald Trump. The Senate
hopeful says he doesn't see that as an issue for
his campaign, touting support from Democrats, Republicans, and independents.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
We say, you know, I may not agree with you
on every single issue, but I'm with you in this fight.
Speaker 17 (36:49):
Some Republicans, though, don't buy tall Rico's campaign message.
Speaker 10 (36:53):
He's not talking about greater prosperity for everyone.
Speaker 18 (36:56):
He's talking about wealth envy, he's talking about billionaires.
Speaker 11 (36:59):
He's talking about us versus them.
Speaker 17 (37:00):
Current Texas State Senator John Cornyn responded to Tallerrico's announcement,
saying tall Rico is another radical left wing Democrat whose
values do not align with Texans, and later called him
an opportunist carpetbagger. Like Colin Allread.
Speaker 3 (37:12):
We always said I welcome anybody into the race.
Speaker 19 (37:15):
Texans deserve a conversation, and I'm a competitor. I look
forward to competition.
Speaker 17 (37:19):
All Red is now not only campaigning against former astronaut
Terry Vertz, but now tall Rico as well.
Speaker 18 (37:24):
We go from a situation where Colin Alred was the
de facto nominee to one where we're going to have
a very competitive statewide Democratic primary in March or twenty
twenty six.
Speaker 4 (37:35):
They didn't care whether it was Cornin or Paxton. They
would have preferred corn In overall, just because Packson's a
criminal and a weirdo and a freak. But they would
have been fine with that. And they thought they had
this in the bag, was done so over. They were
going to pour all their hate into other races. They
were going to try to go in and burn down
(37:56):
Mallagement Moro and try to go in and burn down
Cooper in North Carolina. Okay, now they have to do
a fight in Texas. Twenty twenty six is rapidly approaching.
(38:17):
It's September, folks. We're going to watch as this economy
continues to go into the ditch. And no matter how
many times Donald Trump is there's no inflution jobs, he's lying.
The economy isn't a perilous state.
Speaker 20 (38:33):
The economy took another hit this week. The Bureau of
Labor Statistics released a report showing that consumer prices were
up two point nine percent in August from a year earlier.
On top of that, revised numbers showed that the US
added almost a million fewer jobs than previously reported over
the twelve month period ending in March.
Speaker 19 (38:53):
Wes economy is getting worse. This trend line is no bueno.
And November of twenty twenty four, when Donald Trump was
reelected as forty two percent, look get where we are
now up to fifty six percent. The clear majority of
Americans believe that the economy is getting worse. Less than
a third think that the economy is getting better. This
(39:14):
is a very very troubling trend line. Hello, what's number
one on your list? It's inflation. It's thirty four percent,
the economy sixteen percent. You add the two of those together,
that is a majority fifty percent of the American public
who say either inflation or the economy is the top
issue for them right now.
Speaker 6 (39:32):
Trump's approval on the economy, though it keeps falling now
at thirty six percent, with just thirty percent approving on
his handling on the cost of living.
Speaker 8 (39:40):
You've got seven million Americans who are unemployed. You've got
layoff surgeon forty percent last month alone. Donald Trump's policies
are choking the American middle class, and Democrats have to
take that and they have to incorporate that into their message.
This economy is a complete disaster. You've got one point
two tillion dollars in card debt, largely because Americans are
(40:03):
now relying on that and buy now, pay later, just
to buy groceries. And Donald Trump's economy and so it matters.
The economy always matters.
Speaker 4 (40:10):
That's seen in the matrix where Neo says is beginning
to understand he's the one. There are a lot of
people out there who are thinking about running for office
right now in the Democratic side, who are starting to
understand you don't have to go out there and fight
the culture war bullshit they tell they'll throw at you.
(40:32):
You have the idea and the ability to invert those things.
You have the idea and the ability to take the
strong side of the argument. You have the opportunity to
become the pro jobs party, the pro growth party, the
pro worker party. You have the opportunity to go out
there and become the pro hospitals and healthcare party. Give
(40:54):
the opportunity to go out there and become the party
that doesn't want to see our kids get measles and
mumps and rubella and die. You have the opportunity to
go up there and become a party that says that
the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and his companions and friends
need to be held accountable. You have the opportunity to
say to the Republicans, yeah, okay, thanks for your culture
(41:14):
war bullshit. Here's the real thing that's happening in this country.
The millions, hundreds of millions of Americans are being screwed
by a corrupt system in Washington and a corrupt system
in many, many states, in the state houses, where your
lives suck, and your bills ain't getting paid, and your
kids aren't getting educated, and your mom and dad had
(41:35):
to move out of the nursing home, and where you
can't afford health insurance, and where the hospital there was
twenty miles from you is now eighty miles from you
because they because they're clothing hospitals. You have the opportunity
to show Americans that if you're a Democratic candidate in
twenty six, you have the chance to show them the
(41:55):
way forward. Don't be trapped by what you think you
need to be from some national pack or party organization.
None of it's real. You have the chance to be
real for the people in your district. And whether that's
a state house seat where you're gonna win or lose
based on a thousand or two thousand or five thousand
(42:17):
votes out of twenty five thousand, or a state Senate
seat where maybe four hundred thousand people, three hundred thousand people,
or whether it's a congressional seat where it's less than
a million people seven hundred and ninety five thousand people
or so, you have the opportunity to be a new
kind of leader. You should not be bound by the past.
(42:39):
You should be what you should be in your state
or your district. Don't worry about Bernie or AOC or
any other factor in this party except what's in your
heart with the people of your state, or your locality
or your district.
Speaker 9 (42:56):
Need.
Speaker 4 (43:02):
Yes, those big national things affect what's happening in their lives,
but you better know where every goddamn pothole is in
your district. You better be able to make the case
for how paying for a tax cut for Elon Musk
or Jeff Bezos has hurt Bob Smith or Larry Hernandez
in your district. You better be able to know every
(43:23):
one of those rural hospitals that's closing in your area.
Because you've have a chance. You have a moment here.
This is a year that, as tough as it may seem,
sometimes where you can bring heat and heart to a
campaign that goes up maga like nothing else before, that
(43:47):
takes these people out, because look, what are they selling.
What are they selling. They're not selling the culture, that's
just a tactic. They're selling obedience to one man. You
know what, that never fed a kid in your district,
(44:07):
that never paved a road in your district, that never
put a roof on a school in your district. It
never helped a single person who wasn't selling T shirts
with that guy's face on it. Okay, Democrats watched Talleriki.
Will he win. It's a red state, pink state. It's tough.
He's gonna have a hard campaign no matter what. But
(44:29):
he can. He has that spirit. There are other people
running Cooper North Carolina. He has the spirit, he has
the fight in him.
Speaker 21 (44:39):
We cannot let our progress slip away. We the people,
are the guardians of our beloved country at this treasured state.
And despite all the turmoil and cruelty, because of people
like you here tonight, I still believe that our best
days are ahead of us.
Speaker 4 (45:01):
And when people see you will fight for them. When
people see you, give a damn about them. You live
in a different political world. Throw out the policy book. Okay,
when they send you the three hundred page book about
here's my climate change plan or my health care plan
and my gut, throw it out. Throw it out. No
(45:22):
one cares talk to real people like they're real people.
That's one thing. Tala Rico said that in the very
beginning of that conversation that I really enjoyed real people
that he's willing to go and sit with and be
where they're at. They get it. They're not children, and
no Democrat in this country you should think you're going
(45:43):
to sell people with a policy book that they don't
feel that your heart is with them, if they don't
feel that you get what they're getting in their lives
in your gut. That's one of the great secret sauce
things we as Republicans back in the day. Did we
told working class voters, Oh, of those Democratic elite eggheads
hate you because they look down on you. And I'm
(46:06):
going to say you something a lot of Democrats did.
Don't deny it, folks, A lot of Democrats did. They
thought we're the party of the college educated and that
will always be sufficient. You sure about that. You can't
keep sawing off pieces of your coalition and saying, oh, well,
we're going to lose those people because we don't like them.
(46:28):
I'm going to give you some tough love right now. Democrats,
there was an era in this country where you would
not purge a member of your party over differences on
an issue that you felt strongly about in New York,
but that were political poison in the rural Midwest. You
were smart for a few times back in the day.
(46:51):
In twenty seventeen, Nancy Pelosi very wisely told every Democrat
running you do you for your district. Don't worry about Washington.
You do you for your district. They were not all
flaming progressives. Now, if you want to be a flaming
(47:14):
progressive and you're in New York or Boston or San
Francisco or whatever, awesome, go kill it. That's right for
your district, it's right for your area, right for your state.
But you can't get a majority in the House of Representatives,
which is coastal cities. So you got to let people
(47:35):
be what they are, and you got to meet people.
If you're a candidate, you got to meet them where
they are. You got to get there in their hearts
and their minds in a way that doesn't let the
Republicans frame you out as another elitist snob who hates
the working class. This is all that always been. The
irony for me is by any possible measure, the last
(47:58):
ten years during Maga dominance of our politics have been
objectively terrible for working class voters objectively terrible, and it's
going to get much much worse. It's not that, by
the way, Republican voters hate the big government. Everybody hates
(48:20):
big government. The hate government that they feel like the
deck is stacked against them. Hate government that is that
it feels like corrupt people are getting things that they're not.
If you're a candidate, it's not promising a bigger government.
It's not promising programs or policies from a bigger government.
(48:42):
It's about making it smaller and smarter and better, and
about making it work for those people who feel like
they've been left behind who the Republican Party has told
that the only solution to their grievances is to burn
everything down. Keep an eye on Tall Rico, folks. He's
a very talented young man. He's a very talented candidate.
(49:03):
And I don't mean that in that Fastyle way of
always pretty good at the work. He's very good at
the work. But he's also a good person. There's a
goodness about this guy that I think you should watch
and you should encourage other people to follow. He's exactly right.
He's not there as a member of one social club
that meets in Washington, d C. He's a Texas Democrat first,
(49:25):
So go out Democrats and be a Florida Democrat. Go
out and be a Nevada Democrat, or a Nebraska Democrat
or a Missouri Democrat. There's no shame in that game.
But run the way you got to run in your
state or your district. All right, folks, thank you so
much as always for listening to the Lincoln Project podcast.
(49:47):
We have been growing by leaps and bounds, and it
is on you guys who have done that. I am
so grateful I can't even see straight. It's just an
absolute honor every day to see how people respond to
the this podcast, the very kind notes, and both I
and my production team who make this entire thing happen.
(50:08):
I'm just a monkey who talks in front of a microphone. Whitney,
Riley Kate absolutely crush it every week, and I know
that they share My great and profound thanks to everybody
who listens to this podcast. We'll be back again next time.
I am super excited about some of the guests we
have coming up. You are going to be blown away
(50:28):
and we are going to have keep up this fight
every single day to save this country and to get
us on the right path, and it's folks like you
who are going to make it happen. Thanks so much, everybody.
We'll talk to you again soon. The Lincoln Project Podcast
is a Lincoln Project production.
Speaker 22 (50:46):
Executive produced by Whitney Hayes, then How and Joey Wartner Cheney,
edited by Riley Mayne. Hey, folks, If you want to
support The Lincoln Project's work against Donald Trump, Elon Musk,
and this maga craziness, go to action dot Lincoln Project
dot us slash help LP. If you'd like to get
in touch, or have suggestions for a guest or a
show topic, or just want to say hi, our email
(51:06):
is podcast at Lincolnproject dot us for our maga friends.
Speaker 4 (51:09):
Please no more news. Thanks so much, and we'll talk
to you again next time.
Speaker 17 (51:14):
And good luck.
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