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Something just happened in Texas. The most corrupt politician in America just became the Republican nominee for the United States Senate. Three years ago, Ken Paxton was impeached by his own party for using his public office to enrich himself and his donors at the expense of the people. That kind of corruption is the rot at the core of this broken system. It's time to come together. The people versus Ken Paxton. This is exactly the fight we need to have. This is exactly the fight with exactly the candidates in exactly the place. Paxton Talarico in Texas for Senate is the laboratory for where this country is and what's gonna win. I'm gonna take you through the strengths and weaknesses on both sides and why the Democrats should not be shy about this fight. I know you are, but I'm gonna explain why I'm not, if I'm thinking about it from your perspective. And I'll tell you why Trump is back in Paxton, and I'll tell you why this guy is still in it. And I'll tell you what the stakes are all right here on the Chris Cuomo Project. My opponent is the most extreme radical the Democrats have ever nominated. He's even running a vegan campaign, whatever that is. He goes by a few names that you may all have heard of. Some people know him as Tofu Talarico. Some people call him Six Gender Jimmy. I've even heard some people call him James Talafrico, and others refer to him simply as Low T. Talarico. You have already heard the two propositions, okay? And I'll take you through them. And what matters, and what's really interesting actually to me is you saw in that clip of Paxton. How the media covers this is also going to be really important and really important to watch. So let's go through this, and let's take our time. Okay? Now, starting with Talarico, first, let's just talk about the specific pitches that we saw. The People vs. Ken Paxton is brilliant because the proposition is, where is the populist outrage right now? Populist outrage is where we are. Why? Everything in our politics is geared towards populist outrage, most notably the algorithm that probably, unless you're a subscriber, which I hope you are, especially with the different options I have and the different offerings we're making now on YouTube, specifically, the algorithm that brought me to you is fundamentally the cause of our discontent. Fundamentally, by design, it feeds you provocation, outrage. Okay? That's why I'm not in for feeds. The way people on the left, and certainly people on the right are you pick a side, you go extreme. That's what our politics is and is becoming more and more. That's why there's more violence. That's why there's more cursing. That's why there's more hot talk. That's why Ken Paxton's entire pitch is James Talarico is a bunch of insults. Think about it now. Talarico, the most corrupt politician in America. Is that true? No. Not compared to Trump. Right, but this is Trump's guy. I would have made that connection. I get why Talarico did not. Everything you just heard in James Talarico's clip, and the reason I picked it and the reason I picked the Ken Paxton clip is everything in them has been massaged for specific messaging. None of it is random. None of it's off the cuff. None of it is. You know, let's just take a flyer. These are tested, measured, desired messages. So that's why we have to go through them and go through them very carefully. People versus Paxton. Good. Most corrupt in America. Why? It's an extreme. It's an extreme thought. Why? Because it works just same way. Paxton calls him the most radical liberal. No, he isn't. Talarico's not even close to that. And by the way, Paxton knows it. And look, Talarico knows that Paxton isn't the most corrupt. He knows that. That's a weird thing to say when there's so much corruption with Trump and all that, but it works because messaging is exaggeration. Especially right now. However, the seminal propositions and the reason why I believe this is exactly the fight we need to have, is that you're gonna say, no, not in Texas. Talarico can't win. Okay. But to the idea of nothing changes if nothing changes, if things are changing, you're gonna see it in places that you don't expect to see it or where you haven't usually seen this kind of change. That's what meaningful change, bellwether change is about. That's why I believe this is a bellwether election. Why? What is a bellwether election? I'll tell you exactly what it is. It leads the way as a trailblazer. Where does it come from? It comes from medieval shepherding. A wether a castrated ram was chosen to lead the flock, and the shepherd would hang a bell around his neck so they could track where the sheep were going. Why a castrated ram? Because they weren't being led around by their dick. That's why. They were actually just following what made the most sense for Foraging and what the shepherd wanted. That's why. So that's where bellwether comes from. Okay. And forget the castrated part, but it's that I think the metaphor holds. Here's why. We want leadership in this country that is about making things better. We all know what's wrong, we all know what sucks, we know why. So there is a desire for a little bit of castration in terms of just playing to the problems. Now this metaphor is qualified. Why? Because you are outraged, you are pissed off, especially in the center and on the left and there is no real center. Independence and left leaning people are really angry right now more than anybody else. Why? Cuz you're out of power and you feel that you have been victimized by this administration and that it's an ongoing crime. I get it. Outrage matters. Wanting outrage reflected in your candidates matters. You guys want fighters. Really care what they're fighting about or how they fight, but you want fighters. That's what you want. You believe you got beaten by a fighter and you don't want to get beaten again. So you want a fighter to match their fighter. Now I think, of course, of course there are warnings that come along with this. Why you got to be careful about becoming what you oppose. Yeah, but it beat us. I know, but either you're going to be better than that or you're in a battle to the bottom that I don't think you want to be in. Second, when I say you're what you oppose and you gotta be careful about that, is that's what Trump's, the voters that drive you crazy, the ones who say, yeah, I know Trump is this, I know Trump is that. I know he did this, I know he did that. I know he's right. No, I wouldn't want him dating my mom. No, I wouldn't want him manage my money. No, I wouldn't want him here, I wouldn't want him there. But I voted for him anyway because I feel that he got where I was coming from with my outrage and he wanted to do something about it, he wanted to disrupt it. You sound the same way now. Now hopefully you make a better choice in who manifests that outrage for you so that something gets done to make some of the things you care about better. That's where Talarico comes in. Talarico is all about, we're pissed off and we're not gonna take it anymore. He's in Howard Beale mode, but his package is, I think, the right one. And I'll tell you why you may want A guy who looks like the rock movie star. Looks big, dominant, strong. You know, if you're looking for a guy at all, or a woman. Similarly, a real alpha female, alpha male, tough, could kick this guy's ass. Could kick that guy's ass. Smarter, quicker, blah, blah, blah, blah. Looks the part. Talarico. Small, young, voice is measured and good. Maybe a little thin. Okay. He doesn't really fit that mold. I disagree. I think he does fit the exact mold, and here's why. Of who you want in this particular fight against Ken Paxton. Now I get why you would say, no, no, no. I want the rock. I want a big guy who's who. You calling low T? Yeah. No, I don't see it that way. Could you be right? Yeah. I don't think so. Here's my argument. Paxton is everything that's wrong with being an alpha male, okay? He's a haughty, arrogant bully who does not live by any code other than his own appetite. That's just demonstrably true many times over. And I will make that case to you today. Talarico has no stink on him. Very important. No scandal. No. They're going after him for his diet. And look, let's be honest. They're trying to say that Talarico is gay. Right? I mean, that's what all this coded stuff is. They don't want to just come out and say it. Which I'm surprised by, by the way, but that's what this is. I don't know what his deal is. He doesn't talk about it. Oh, well, that's telling. I don't know. I really don't care. I also don't care about Paxton's affair, by the way. I don't. Why? Listen, I care about me and my life. I care about my kids and their options. I care about our national security. I care about what's going on in this country and what's being done about it. That's what I care about. None of those things are reflected by who is in Talarico or Paxton's bed. I don't know about you. I don't care about who is in Talarico's or Paxton's bed. I get that you can draw conclusions about those things if you want. I just don't think they matter to me. I see it this way. I'm drowning. I'm reaching my hand up. I'm drowning. I'm drowning, okay? I cannot save myself. I'm drowning. Do you give a shit who's grabbing your hand, seriously? Or do you want to make sure that, one, they're willing to grab your hand, and two, they're strong enough to pull you out. They have a way to pull you out. Isn't that what matters most? That's where I am. You may be somewhere else, that's fine. But I'm arguing that the majority of Americans are where I am, not where you are. And if you would ask them straight up, do you care if the guy is gay? Do you care if he cheats? Do you care if he's this? Do you care if he's that? They don't care what you eat. They don't care who's in your bed. Those are luxury issues. Those are luxuries. Those are good problems to have in politics. Ken Paxton is playing by old rules, and I think it's tone deaf at a minimum. I'll get to it. Talarico is the right package for the Democrats. Why? Because he's a real Christian who lives it in a way Ken Paxton can't even imagine. Okay, Ken Paxton, Donald Trump. These guys are pigs, okay? And that's just how they are. It's how they live their lives. It's how they speak. It's how they regard themselves, women, other men. That's it. They're pigs. Okay? Now, pigs can still be useful, right? And not just when you want bacon, but they are cunning. They know how to get what they want, and they're playing to a type of what is strength that I think is spoiled. Now, Talariko is a real Christian who lives it and articulates it the right way. For those of us who understand Christianity as a label to be about something more than how holy you are, it's about loving mercy. It's about how you apply it and live it. And by the way, I'm not saying I want Christian leaders. I want ethical leaders. I want competent leaders. If they're religious, and that helps them in that regard, great. I don't give a shit if they are or not. I don't. But if you are going to say you're that, you better demonstrate it the way Talarico does and articulate it the way he does. Even Nancy Mace, who I have complimented in the past for things that I've seen her do with my own eyes. But we're one nation, one under God, not under Muhammad. What the fuck does that mean? We are not a religious country. Well, but it says under nation, under God. It's a tradition. The Supreme Court has said it's a tradition. Yeah, A lot of the people who Started this were Christians. Thomas Jefferson was an atheist, by the way. Not exactly one of our worst minds. The point is we are not a religious country. So I don't give a shit if you care about Muhammad or Jesus or whoever. That's not what we are. We're a secular state. Live it. Don't tell me about it and don't put it on me. Talarico checks those boxes, okay? His articulation of the culture wars I think works in his favor. The people are where he is on reproductive rights and women should have been trusted and should not have had a right taken from them. He's right on that. And he's also right because of where we are right now. I don't think Paxton and the right MAGA get to say they care so much and they're better people because they care about people in the womb and they clearly don't give a shit about people when they're out of the womb. You want to cut benefits for kids in need, health care, food, you want to cut them. You want to demonize people because of type, you want to abandon kids from their parents and you're okay with all of that, but you care when they're in the room, when they're in the womb. You come out of the womb, you don't give a shit. You want to talk about them like shit. You want to treat them like shit. In the law and in culture, I don't think they have the high ground and I don't think people see the issue in a vacuum. And the obsession of outrage is what, what kind of man you are? Nope, not now. We don't have that luxury. Not in this economic environment. Not in Texas. Texas is hurting. Texas has been hit harder by tariffs and harder by Trump's policies than other states. They are feeling it. And no, they're not a single issue voter anymore. The border. The border. Talarico is not for open borders and he's not going to say he's for open borders. He's a multi generation Texan. He's going to talk about enforcing the law, he's going to talk about how that should be, and he's going to leaven it with his understanding of humanity and compassion as a Christian. He's going to be fine on that issue. It's on the economics that Kim Paxton is not going to be fine. Ken Paxton is playing by Trump's playbook and Trump's playbook is dated because he's not out of power, he's in power and he is dirty and dirty Matters. Okay, He's a dirty politician. He has been in trouble for how he behaves multiple times. And yeah, he was impeached. And yeah, his party is in control, but he was not removed because they didn't have enough votes because it's a higher standard and they didn't prosecute him. Why? I believe it was rigged in his favor, but he wasn't prosecuted and he has let people go. He did let a guy who basically admitted having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a seven year old for years to basically serve no time as Attorney general. He was okay with that. He absolutely helped a donor and a business partner, and that's what got him impeached. He's dirty, he's trumpy. But he's the old playbook. Because people are pissed about things that don't include Talarico's diet, his faith, who's in his bed, and just calling him extreme because there's nothing radical or crazy about saying, you're killing us with this economy. Nothing. There's nothing radical or crazy of saying that what's happening in Iran and in Venezuela is not helping Texas, it's hurting Texas. The interesting thing here and the reason this is the fight we need to have right now, even in Texas. And I get it, it's been decades since a Democrat won statewide office in Texas. Yes, Talarico could be the next Beto o'. Rourke. I don't think he is. I think Democrats have to be careful about how much money they dump into the race. Why? Because an advantage can be painted as a disadvantage. And money is the problem in politics, it is. If we change the money, everything would follow. Because what would be rewarded and what gets you rewarded would change. But they have to be careful about that. I think it will hurt Talarico. I think his being organic and his working it the way he's working it. Let Paxton be the rich guy who helps the rich people, who gets the rich donors. Let him be that guy. He is that guy, so let him be that guy. Support for the Chris Cuomo project comes from hims. Once you get to be my age, okay, you are in the age of knowing and there's no shame in your game. You do and you take what can help you, right? You got weight loss, okay? Now, how you deal with weight loss is about either intelligence or about extremism. I say go intelligent. I say go to hims, okay? You go to himss, you enter weight loss by hims, you're gonna see that they have programs, they have products. The intelligent way to get what you need. Hims now offers access to an affordable range of FDA approved GLP1 medications, including the Wegovy pill and the Wegovy pen. Okay. 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As to get started and learn more, including important safety information, WeGovy's clinical study information, and restrictions, visit HIMSS.com this is the death knell for MAGA this election. Here's why. The economy was always the main pitch. The culture was the seasoning, okay? Now they're flipping it and they're taking the seasoning and they're making it your main dish. So it's just a plate of salt, and now it's salt in a wound, which is the growing economic disparity that Trump is advancing, which makes so much more sense than him being a populist. Trump cutting taxes for the rich, helping the rich, not stepping up to the banks about credit card rates, not stepping up to the health care guys about their, you know, just complete control of our healthcare system for their own profit. Wanting to cancel the CHIPS act when we're in an existential situation with Taiwan starting foreign wars just to distract. Now pretending waste, fraud and abuse is the key to domestic tranquility, which has always existed, existed on his watch just as much. Doge was a complete bust except for its legacy, which no one has ever told you, which is going to be Elon Musk and Donald Trump ushering in the era of private industry AI guys getting our private information off government servers. That's what Doge did. Open the door, let them in and let them use all our information for what purposes we will see. No one talks about that. But they should. This is maga. Uber Maga, uber alles. That's what this race is in Texas. It's all about Trump. This is Trump's guy for no good reason. John Cornyn is a better public servant, a better Republican by any measure other than one complete fealty and obeisance blindly to Trump. Trump killed one of the Republicans better senators for no good reason except his own self satisfaction. And to show the others, you better stay in fucking line. Think about that. This is maga Ober, Alice, what does that mean over everything else. And yes, that is often connoted with Nazi propaganda. No, I do not think Trump is a Nazi. I do not think he is Hitler. I think he plays with those kinds of ideas and his manufactured division and his xenophobia. Absolutely, absolutely. Ken Paxton is a bad candidate. He's got personal problems, he's got professional ethical problems, he's got financial entanglements. He definitely let off a scumbag who abused a seven year old and made it into misdemeanors. Well, I had to do a deal. You know, sometimes justice requires compromise. With a pedophile? I don't think so. He's got a lot of baggage. All he has going for him is that talk about who's in your bed. Trump is in his bed. I don't care about his mistresses, affairs, any of that bullshit. Maybe that's why Trump likes him, who knows. But this is the real test. Is MAGA and fealty to Trump going to sway more voters in Texas than everything they see, they hear and they experience every day in their lives? And I believe for Democrats, you don't need to look like me to be a manly man. I don't even think you have to be married or have kids. To be honest, I don't. He's only 37 years old, okay? He is really churched up. He doesn't put it on you in an obnoxious way. If you're an agnostic or you're somebody who doesn't really buy or receives religion as a sign of mental illness. Talarico makes a different choice. But he's not offensive to your choice. You'll see that in him. He's very smart. He can kill you with kindness. Paxton is a ham fisted brute. He's a bully. We've all known guys like him. I've had to take guys like him on because they were bullying me, because they were coming at me When I was a kid, when I was an adult, professionally, personally, I know guys like him and I know how to sit them on their ass. So does Stellarico. Now, is he exaggerating certain things? Is he playing politics? Yeah, but look, I don't think Democrats are gonna punish him for that, okay? I think that if anything, they're gonna want him to be more of that, and I think he's gonna have to fight that inclination. But he's got the right fight in the right place, believe it or not. Why? Because I think he can win. I do. And I hope that early polls show not too big a yawning gap so that people take the race seriously. But then again, there is a good side to a yawning gap early on, which is if he chops 10 points off it in a month and a half or two, now you got something. So it could work either way. But for the Democrats, this is exactly your fight, because it's all about what the out of power party wants to manifest. Look what he's done. Look what's going on. Everything's worse. And how he's doing things that have been done to the satisfaction of the voters are still being done in a way that's hard to feel good about. That's ice. Now, why still would you want this Talarico? I don't know, man. You know, he's got these personal things. No, he really doesn't. That's what I'm trying to tell you. He really doesn't. Okay? And he is right on the economics and he's right on pointing out that Paxton is Republican representative of exactly what has made it this way. People with poor ethics, poor ambitions and poor skills being rewarded for keeping the rich and the two tiered system in place. That's Ken Paxton. Talarico is exactly right, and he is not that guy. And when they look at him as a state legislator and as a community organizer, he is about very different things. He's worked with other sides, he's written the right kinds of bills, he's done the right kinds of things. The economic reality is going to be the dominant one. And Talarico has his finger on the pulse. Okay, Paxton represents exactly what got us here. Right? Another doughy white guy who thinks Trump before anything else, who takes care of the wrong people in the wrong situations for the wrong reasons. He checks every box. It's almost crazy to have him running against Cornyn and taking him out the way he did. Does it show Trump is strong? So how do you factor that in? Isn't that enough? Maybe. Maybe it is enough in Texas. Maybe if this were a different state that has a chance of being more purple, being more balanced, it would be better for Democrats. I say no. Why? Because if you can change it in Texas, you'll be changing it everywhere. And it is a real bellwether. And it's gonna be a real sign of what's gonna happen in the midterms that will actually do. What we saw with Reagan, the last Trumpy guy we had now, he was much more classy, he was much more genteel, he won over a lot more hearts and minds. He was not a divider by nature or inclination. I would say he was by effect and the underlying meaning of a lot of his rhetoric. But be that as it may, the Democrats swept into Congress afterwards because his policies were such bullshit. I see that here again, because waste, fraud and abuse is not gonna make up for the fact that, by the way, if you really cared about those things and you don't, Doge wouldn't have been the disgrace that it was. You wouldn't be putting together a slush fund for the scumbags that broke into the Capitol. You wouldn't be making money hand over fist and cutting services and cutting oversight and cherry picking things. And people who cared about a fraud and an abuser would be all over Donald Trump and his administration every day of the week, 24 7, 365. And they're not. Waste, fraud and abuse is real. It's hard to argue I'm for waste, fraud and abuse. Of course I'm not. Who would be? And of course, if you're going at them about going after waste, fraud and abuse, it seems to mean that you're defending it, but you're not. It's that it's a 10% margin. Oh, but that's real money to real people. Fuck you. It's not real money to you. You've increased our spending like nobody else. You've increased our debt like nobody else. You've made our borrowing more than the GDP for the first time in our fucking history. All right? You're not a real one. Talarico can make that case. Talarico can make that case to Ken Paxton's face. And he will be looking for opportunities to do that. And Ken Paxton will, will not want to give him those opportunities. And wait and see how that plays out. Wait and see. And what will happen is this goes one of two ways. He's going to chase him and he's going to get him, or Paxton's going To say, I'm not afraid of this guy. I'll take him apart and he's going to get his ass kicked and then he's going to run and Talarico is going to follow him around the state. Remember, I said this. And that is the right thing to do, because that's the right kind of strength and muscularity of purpose. It's not about what you bench press or how big your belly is or how many women you chase around. Those are MAGA metrics. They're not real ones, they're not American ones. Talarico checks all the right boxes. I don't care who's in his bed any more than I do about Ken Paxton. He's got no high ground, that's for sure. And whatever Talarinico's doing with his diet, Paxton should think about. He's a tub of shit. If you really care about that. And by the way, I do. By the way, if we were talking about me, I look at Ken Paxton, I'd rather be Talarico than Ken Paxton. Why? Because I can always add on, you know, paring down from being a tub of shit at 63 years of age. No good. Better watch out how many young women he's getting a piece of. He may have a heart attack. But this is the fight. Why? Because on the right, it's all about Trump Uber alles. And you can say you. Yeah, but look how he killed John Cornyn. Doesn't that make the point that Trump is too strong? At least in Texas, he's too strong. Well, among ruby red Republicans, sure. But that turnout wasn't amazing. It was the largest turnout in a runoff. Wait, but we just proved Trump brought out more voters than ever among his base. Yeah, but the whole state's his base. I don't know that. I don't know that. Not when they're thinking about what's affecting them personally and not when they're thinking about what we need in the US Senate, which is supposed to be a deliberative body. It's another thing, Paxton doesn't have any. Doesn't have it going for him. Why? Because he's a low rent guy. Talarico is actually a thinker. Yeah, but he's only 37 now. I get it. But age and stage are different things. And you can have talent at a young age. You know how old Martin Luther King was. You know how old Malcolm X was. You know how old the founding Fathers were. Age is not everything. Experience, stage matters also. Now, this main pivot point is. But he Brought out more votes in the primary and the turnoff than we've ever seen. 100% increase. He killed the guy who you're saying is better. MAGA is just too much? I don't think so. Set against what people need for their own families? I don't think so. And I believe that if you don't do it where it's hard, you're not gonna do it in any huge scalable way. That's what I'm trying to tell you. See, they'll argue to you, look, Texas is the hardest place we could be doing this. Maybe. But if you wanna do it at the scale they say they do, I believe this is the race. Because if you do it in Texas with Talarico vs. Maga, you are doing it on what I believe is the most potent oppositional structures in our politics right now, which is MAGA versus reality. And I think the reality is on the side of not being maga. And I think that him taking out Cornyn was a huge mistake because Cornyn beats Talarico and I don't know that Paxton does. He is everything that's wrong with Trump. He is everything that people want disrupted and to change. Think about that. What does it mean to you that you're in a Christian state supposedly, right, and you're running a guy who's a real Christian against a guy who's a complete dirtbag on so many different levels. I'm not even thinking about his personal. His love life. And he is absolutely that. He's done all kinds of shady shit said shady shit that Christians should reject first if they weren't being complete hypocrites. This is the race exactly because of what makes Paxton formidable in the place where he is. Ken Paxton doesn't exist in Illinois. Ken Paxton doesn't exist in a place where a party takes itself seriously with any kind of standards other than just checking the box of which side you're on. He's dirty. He's dirty. That's what he is. And I'm telling you, going full MAGA the way he is, instead of talking about the problems, now they'll say, oh, we're gonna do that. What you say first is what you mean most. Okay. What you say first is what you mean most. Low ti Talarigo. And I wouldn't be surprised if Trump gave him those lines, by the way. Trump's very clever, very good trash talker, very good. But I think each and all of them are gonna piss people off one, because they're tired of it. They don't wanna own mean people don't wanna have to own your hate. People don't wanna have to own your prejudice, your bigotry, unless they're bigots. And most of us aren't. Okay? Overwhelmingly, most of us aren't. I don't wanna. I don't wanna own some. I don't have to defend somebody who's gay bashing, who's, you know, talking about being a real man on the basis of your diet, some stupid shit like that. I don't want to own that. Do you? I don't want to own a guy who let a pedophile go. Do you? I don't want to own a guy who obviously let his partner who helped him get his house renovated, go on really dirty political stuff that got him impeached. Do you? This baby Trump. Yeah, but look how well it worked. Only among maga. Yeah, but Texas is all maga. I don't know that. What are you saying? You haven't had a Democrat win statewide in decades. I know, but if there is real change afoot, the way I believe there is, I believe this. Why every metric tells me, what do people hate about Republicans? Trump. Protecting and defending and being about Trump. What do they hate about Democrats? Two left. What is that? Bad messaging. Bad messaging. Well, they're for open borders. No, they're fucking not. James Talarico is not for open borders. No, he's not. Well, it should be a front porch, a big welcome sign. Yeah, look at the rest of the quote. He says, you don't get just to come in, we gotta meet you, we gotta know who you are. Then you get to come in the House. You're not hearing the rest of the quote. See, the problem is Ken Paxton's not being taken out of context the way they're doing with Talarico. Ken Paxton's a real one. He's a real nasty Trump. That's what he is. And that's what people hate about Republicans the most. He's exactly that. Yeah, but Talarico is exactly what they. No, he isn't. First of all, he's a straight up Christian. How many radical lefties are straight up Christians? Okay, and by the way, I could make the case that you could be a straight up Christian and absolutely be a radical lefty, but whatever, not many. How many are as clean cut and open to conversation and working with the other side as Talarico has been and says so all the time? Yeah, but he doesn't believe in gender. No, he doesn't believe it's important. To limit and to create boxes. I mean, come on. That's where most of us are. Maybe certain things make sense to you, seem normal or not normal to you, but do you want them excluded because of that? Do you really care what one of your friends, kids comes home and says, I'm bi or whatever they are? Do you really care? Come on. Well, I don't want him teaching my kid that he should chop his dick off. Yeah, me either. Nobody's doing that. Talarico's not gonna say he's for that. Stupid. All he wants is abortions. Really? Really? You think a Christian is abortion crazy? That's what you think? Come on. I'm telling you, it's good. If you're afraid of these things, good, you're going to be pleasantly surprised because he's going to wave these things away as the bullshit that they are. He's got problems. He's in the wrong place trying to convince the wrong kinds of people about the right things. It's true. And I'm not condemning Texans. I'm saying that they are politically and culturally conditioned, just like you are in New York, just like you are in Pennsylvania, just like you are in any big state, even small states. You have your ways. You have your trigger points. You have your points of controversy that are specific to you. And Talarico's got a challenge on the border side. He's gonna have to go bad on Democrats and what they've done in the past, and I believe he will. But I do not believe he's got anywhere near the level of restrictions on him and red flags on him that Paxton does. Paxton is exactly what Republicans are hated for. Exactly. To the T. Okay. And yes, as in for Trump. Talarico is not. He's not. And I think the fact that he may not look like some leading male matinee idol is okay. He's a good guy and it comes through. And he believes in good things. He believes in goodness. He believes in taking care of people. He believes in working with the other side. He does not want to demonize his opposition. Oh, yeah? Then why is he calling him the most corrupt politician? Well, look, he's in politics. He's exaggerating it for effect. But Paxton's also pretty dirty. It's not like he's saying it about a clean guy. Right. But going after his diet is the best thing you have. And you don't think it's a warning sign that they don't have a lot. You're worried about your business suffering, jobs are leaving, purchasing Power's down. A lot of scary things seeming to go on about what's happening. And he's talking to you about the guy's diet and you think that's going to work for more than the rabbit? No way. This is the race in the right place at the right time to send the right message. And look, Talarico is the underdog, there's no question. But so are you. We are the underdog. We lose against they, the powerful, the wants of the few. The two tiered system that we have in this country, we lose consistently to it. Consistently. Taxation, regulation, preferences. I mean everything's set up for them. The justice system, it's all set up for the wants of a few. You don't think it's a coincidence that the guy that Paxton got out of the pedophile thing is a rich guy? You don't think it's a coincidence that the guy he helped that got him impeached is a rich guy? Come on. We are underdogs in our own country as the majority. Why? Because we've enabled it. And I think that changes. Look, it's too easy. There are too many critical thinkers who can just look back and say what the fuck changed here? Anyway, look, from the 70s to the 80s and you'll see what changed. Productivity went up 60 plus percent. Wages 17. Wait, why? Because we stopped rewarding the people who created the productivity and started rewarding the people who were betting on was just a choice. And then we preferenced the companies who were doing that instead of preferencing them for 60% up in that 40, 50% up in the wages the way we used to. The reason C Corps get the preferences they get over small businesses when they're only 0.1% of the businesses in the country. And yes, they do half the gdp, they do half the hiring. They don't do all of it, they do half. But they get all of the preferences Just about. Why? Because they took care of a lot of workers. But our two largest employers have a huge percentage of their workers, in my opinion on Medicaid. How do you deserve a preference? If I have to pay for your workers health care, how do you deserve a preference? If you pay your workers so little they're on food stamps, how do you deserve a preference? You tell me. That's what Ken Paxton wants to defend. That's what Talarico wants to change. See what I'm saying? This is the ultimate test of what MAGA really means in a state where it could mean everything. And I don't Think it will. And I think this is the exact fight, and I think this is the exact kind of guy that Democrats need. I don't think they need a fire breather. I think this is a strong guy who has a lot of strength in his convictions and his ideas and is very adept at arguing them. I even think he's better than Buttigieg. I do. Buttigieg is very smart. Now, why do I put them in the same category? Why? Because they're both small men who get hits for not being macho enough, which I think is stupid. But I also have to pay attention to what's actually real. Right? And that has been done and it's being done now. But I think it's a different time, and I think there are different stakes, and I think there are different people who are pissed off in different ways. And MAGA has been bested in populism by the mega movement. More deeper, angrier, not vindictive, not prejudice based. Okay? Not us and them. It's we versus they. It's the many wanting the balance of the benefits, not just the few. That's what shifted. That's never what Trump was. Trump was. We are the angry few. Remember he said the deplorables. The deplorables. I still love you. Deplorables. He really does think that about you, by the way. You know that, right? He thinks you're shit. Just so you know, he used to not even want to shake your hand. He only does it now because he got too much criticism of it in politics. That's why he's also kind of going to the fist bump as much as he can. By the way, I totally get why people don't want to shake hands. I don't. I get it. From a health perspective, I get it. But from a character perspective, I do not get it from. In terms of a human regard, I don't get it. And I think it's a real problem. But Trump has been able to overcome all the things that would have killed anybody else. Why? Because the outrage and the desperation for disruption was greater. And the people who voted for him were not necessarily wrong about what's wrong, but they were wrong about who and what would make it right. Talarico has the ability to not shame those people for voting for Trump, but to say, come together, you were right about what's wrong. I see it. Maybe I didn't even see it as well until you pointed it out to me, but I do now. And we're going to do something about it together that could work even in Texas. And I think we're going to see that. I think it's the right race at the right time with the right two people who represent all the right things that need to be into a fight where only one survives. That's how I see it. 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