The Collective said:

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I guess I don't get the talking points on Cornyn. We feel this way, because he isn't lockstep 100% on policy with Trump. That more closely aligns with conservatism than does the true believer block-voting crap we mock the left for doing. The Senate is meant to be slow plodding and slightly ineffective at times. That doesn't mean I'm 100% happy with the last few sessions of the Senate, and I think change is warranted. I've been wanting Cornyn to bail out for a younger conservative for many years, so we can get someone with some seniority before they are old and senile. Instead, we end up with this circus, and he is to blame for it. So, I guess I am saying I don't get all of the hate for Cornyn while saying **** Cornyn in the same breath...

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No mention of Save America Act. Interesting....

amercer said:

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They believe that eggs (and probably gas) shouldn't be so expensive

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What if this Iran situation is over pretty soon and gas prices fall dramatically over the course of the summer and into the fall how's that going to resonate with the independent swing voters?

Greater question might be, why are there so many controversial statements that need nuance? Are the dems just arrogant to run this type of candidate in Texas? Probably should have just run Beto again.

People comparing this to Beto vs Cruz need to remember that Cruz did not run a campaign until like a month before the election. He basically gave Beto a 6 month head start and still won, it might have been a 1M margin otherwise.

I do not think that Paxton will make the same mistake, for starters he's not an incumbent resting on his laurels. He's done great as state AG but most of the citizens don't know that, I should hope that his campaign would be aware of that.

Gigem314 said:

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Quote:

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Paxton is more qualified for the position he is running for because he's worked and earned his way to this point, especially as AG.

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That's certainly a factor. He can speak more to the actual issues that impact Texans. Talarico can't. Partially because he lacks experience, partially because he knows he'll be a rubber stamp in the Senate for Chuck Schumer but that's a liability for him in Texas.

Talarico is going to hammer away at Paxton/Trump being mean and Republicans being mean...but I think Paxton will do a more effective job at pointing out Talarico's weaknesses than Cornyn would have.

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Agreed.

For the first time in memory, I'll actually pay (some) attention to this level race, mostly because the left has "a chance," which, for me, is too much. I may be nowhere near maga, or even conervative, but I do like the way our state has been run with guys like Paxton, and the last thing I want is a Talarico when I can have a Paxton.

hunter2012 said:

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People comparing this to Beto vs Cruz need to remember that Cruz did not run a campaign until like a month before the election. He basically gave Beto a 6 month head start and still won, it might have been a 1M margin otherwise.

I do not think that Paxton will make the same mistake, for starters he's not an incumbent resting on his laurels. He's done great as state AG but most of the citizens don't know that, I should hope that his campaign would be aware of that.

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Yep, Beto ran a good campaign. His slogan of visiting every Texas county resonated. Cruz needs to be nominated somewhere and upgraded.

Which, by the way, was never proven against Roy Moore. They hung him with the "seriousness of the charge." It's what democrats do.

Shady scumbag vs woke weirdo

what a state!

And that's correct whereas Paxton has just been getting some psy on the side. No one cares. It doesn't make Paxton look like a sexual predator.

amercer said:

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Most voters don't care about the stuff that animates F16, and so it only really resonates if there is something else to hold it up. Most of the "Talarico is a weirdo, vegan, fake Christian" stuff isn't going to move the needle with swing voters. If people are really pissed at Trump the democrats have a chance in the race. If not, then not

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I disagree on this one. I think one of the defining characteristics of the Trump era is that there are few "swing voters". Most everyone motivated enough to vote has picked a side and did so long ago. The anti-Trump/GOP voting block is largely locked in at this point/

What's left is 1. how motivated Dems are to turnout to vote for Talirico; 2. how motivated Republicans are to turnout to vote against Talirico; and 3. how motivated Republicans are to turnout to vote for Paxton.

The weirdo stuff might not suppress the Dem vote but it's also not going to get them to poll in droves like voting for an Obama did. On the other hand, it certainly motivates the GOP base to turnout to block Talirico. I also am of the opinion that while Paxton's unsavory reputation may leave him undervoted by some Cornyn supporters, that this will be more than offset by the Talirico weirdness factor.

Bottom line- had the Dems run a sane moderate, this would be a tight race. But they didn't, so it won't be.

Absolutely correct John Cornyn was able to last as long as he did because there never was really anybody who had the major name, recognition and popularity around the state of Texas in his prior primary elections. It would be like a power five program going up against a group of five every single game until this time around the power five program is playing another power five program and met their match

The Collective said:

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I guess I don't get the talking points on Cornyn. We feel this way, because he isn't lockstep 100% on policy with Trump. That more closely aligns with conservatism than does the true believer block-voting crap we mock the left for doing. The Senate is meant to be slow plodding and slightly ineffective at times. That doesn't mean I'm 100% happy with the last few sessions of the Senate, and I think change is warranted. I've been wanting Cornyn to bail out for a younger conservative for many years, so we can get someone with some seniority before they are old and senile. Instead, we end up with this circus, and he is to blame for it. So, I guess I am saying I don't get all of the hate for Cornyn while saying **** Cornyn in the same breath...

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Cornyn campaigns one way and governs another way…he has been in the Senate long enough, time for a change…this is why I fully support term limits…

SigAg6 said:

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This race is going to cost a lot of money

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Paxton will be OK. He will have the money from the looks of it last night at the party at the Marriott in Plano. There were some major deep pocket donors at the party last night who will fund this campaign from top to bottom

One of them in particular Hal Lambert from Fort Worth

Cornyn did support the SAVE America Act.

He said he supported it, and when it came for a vote on the Kennedy reconciliation bill, he supported it.

There is nothing more that he could've done (or Thune) to get it passed. It simply did not have the votes. Very bizarre people still don't understand that.


We're Corian completely blew it on this issue was not making it the central issue of the past four months.

Anytime he spoke, he should've been calling on the Republican holdouts by name to vote for it. He should've been seen having meetings with Tillis and McConnell in which the topic was getting them to change their vote.

While ultimately it would not have changed the vote outcome, it is something that Cornyn could have used to help his campaign.bb


Even if he secretly did not want it to pass, this is still something he should have done to help him in the election. But he chose not to, and blew it.


You have to get credit for Paxton for his move of saying he would consider dropping out if this or to pass. Politically genius.

Gigem314 said:

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Paxton is more qualified for the position he is running for because he's worked and earned his way to this point, especially as AG.

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That's certainly a factor. He can speak more to the actual issues that impact Texans. Talarico can't. Partially because he lacks experience, partially because he knows he'll be a rubber stamp in the Senate for Chuck Schumer but that's a liability for him in Texas.

Talarico is going to hammer away at Paxton/Trump being mean and Republicans being mean...but I think Paxton will do a more effective job at pointing out Talarico's weaknesses than Cornyn would have.

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That's been the tactic for as long as I can remember , certainly back to the 80s and Reagan

GoAgs92 said:

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Shady scumbag vs woke weirdo

what a state!

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I'm not voting for my pastor. This is not new at all. JFK and family were all scum. FDR was scum. It goes back to the beginning.

AgBQ-00 said:

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If Cornyn would have been actually conservative on 2A issues and the illegal immigration issues and supported the HUGELY popular SAVE Act he would have sailed through. But he crapped all over all 3 rails of massively important issues to his constituents. He was a republican progressive that believed as another poster believed that voters needed to be disciplined for their views.

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These statements sum up Cornyn's failure that ended his political career!



President Trump's support definitely helped, but his defeat is all on him.

Cornyn's tone-deafness to his Texas Republican voter's concerns is the primary reason Paxton kicked his butt.

He will never acknowledge that because of his narcissistic attitude towards his Texas constituents!

He could have won the runoff if he had simply done the things that AgBQ-00 listed in his post above.

He was the #2 Republican behind Thune in the Senate........Cornyn had the power to make things happen.

He purposely didn't use his power and paid the price!

You will hear the media, the beltway RINO Republicans and other TDSers blame his loss on Trump's endorsement of Paxton.....but it was his own Texas constituents that were feed up with his progressive politics and sent him packing!

Texans want their representatives to pass polices they voted for! Not be beholden to the Beltway Political club.

Many more need to be primaried....

flown-the-coop said:

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Trump is in on this…

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I can't unsee it now.

Im Gipper said:

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Cornyn did support the SAVE America Act.

He said he supported it, and when it came for a vote on the Kennedy reconciliation bill, he supported it.

There is nothing more that he could've done (or Thune) to get it passed. It simply did not have the votes. Very bizarre people still don't understand that.

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That just isn't true. They have not been pushing for it at all. Their actions belie their words.

Democrats never have that problem.

Martin Q. Blank said:

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Translation, we always need useful idiots, to go along with our regular idiots.

ts5641 said:

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The more Texans get to know 6-Gender talarico the more they're going to reject him.

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FWIW I think that's the best nickname Paxton could use for him. He said it and has stood by it and it is so much more effective than "Low T" because it is specific and hits right at the heart of why he is out of step with Texas. He can't back off it because he is so ingratiated with the whole Trans stuff.

OverSeas AG said:

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He is no different than Damdani and the Seattle Mayor.

A liar, manipulative and sly. And there are foolish people that will buy into it.


Waiting for anyone to defend these clowns.

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Mamdani is significantly more intelligent than the Seattle mayor. He's truly evil, she is just a pie in the sky moron.

What part it's not true?

Cornyn should've been pushing for it. He was not. He rarely (if ever) even talked about it from what I can tell.


They didn't have 50 votes. Which person was going to change their mind?

For those shocked by this, it's amazing a RINO like Cornyn has lasted as long as he did

And secondly, Talarico's own mouth will destroy him. We have thousands of hours of him making the most insane fat left nonsense sermons you can imagine

Heck just start with his vegan campaign and saying God loves abortions. He's already done.

amercer said:

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Tergdor said:

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Fortunately for Paxton, all of the false preacher stuff from Talarico outshines Paxton's "poor Christian" criticisms.

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Don't learn the wrong lesson from 2024. All the trans ads were effective not because people actually care much about that issue, but because it told them that the Dems spent their time on stuff they didn't care about.

Most voters don't care about the stuff that animates F16, and so it only really resonates if there is something else to hold it up. Most of the "Talarico is a weirdo, vegan, fake Christian" stuff isn't going to move the needle with swing voters. If people are really pissed at Trump the democrats have a chance in the race. If not, then not

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I agree to an extent but he's also a socialist and he is way out there on the social stuff as well, it's central to who he is. He is the one running as a "preacher".

The Collective said:

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Greater question might be, why are there so many controversial statements that need nuance? Are the dems just arrogant to run this type of candidate in Texas? Probably should have just run Beto again.

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They're arrogant but I think it is a matter of just being completely out of touch.

I really don't think there was an established plan to push Talarico. He came out of nowhere in the primary. Jazzy already had national recognition because of her mouth. Outside of Round Rock, no one knew who Talarico was.

Jazzy in the senate race would have been non stop national coverage right up through election day. As entertaining as it would have been it had the potential to hurt them not just in Texas, but nationally. I think the dems panicked, kneecapped Crockett, and installed Talarico.