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Can a Democrat Really Win Texas?

Plus thoughts on how Dems should respond to the DSA and what comes next for NBC News.

Dan Pfeiffer

Jul 8

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I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July holiday and celebrated our country despite Trump’s best efforts to destroy it.

These mailbags typically come on Saturdays, and since Saturday was the Fourth of July, I thought sending it out that day would hurt engagement. Now that I think about it, sending it out on the Monday after a holiday weekend probably isn’t much better, but I made a promise (without really thinking it through), so here we are.

As a reminder, these mailbags are for paid subscribers. If you want to get your question answered — and read my answers to everyone else’s — please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

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Carrie

In your view, what is similar (Gov, Senate, House, State leg) and different from the last time it broke our hearts? What races is Vote Save America focusing on and why?

When i think about how consequential Texas is - this November and particularly beyond - I feel like I should be directing effort there, but like driving across it, it’s just so damned big and overwhelming.

Answer

So many Democrats I talk to love James Talarico but are afraid to get their hopes up for a Democrat in Texas. I very much get this sentiment. Texas has been Lucy with the football for Democrats for a decade now. The 2018 election, in particular, crushed our souls. Beto O’Rourke was such an inspiring candidate and Ted Cruz was so viscerally annoying that we came to believe a Democrat could finally win Texas.

Look, this is a tough race. Texas is a tough state. The GOP is going to drop about half a billion bucks in negative ads right on Talarico’s head. According to the New York Times poll of Texas released last week, Talarico and Abbott are tied 47-47.

But I think Democrats have a better chance in this election than we did in 2018, for three reasons...