Crockett

It looks like Jasmine Crockett is going to run for Senate in Texas. Good. Colin Allred, who ran a poor campaign against Ted Cruz dropped out when he heard Crockett’s footsteps. Good.

My BlueSky feed is full of hand wringing:

1. There are lots of different formulations of “she might lose”. Well, no shit, Sherlock. So fucking what? <Insert platitude here> — I’ll go with “You miss all of the shots you don’t take.”

2. Some worry-warting about her “Hot Wheels” comments about Greg Abbott. Talk about a double standard. One tiny somewhat off-color remark versus the avalanche of racist bullshit she’s going to have to deal with.

3. Not really hand-wringing, but certainly condescension: a well-meaning note that “we should let the young people in the party advance.” Rep Crockett is 44 fucking years old. In a healthy party, that’s definitely far more than old enough to try your shot at what’s next.

Look, either we’re going to become a Blue MAGA party — a party that believes in healthcare and maybe a couple of other things, while throwing trans people and other vulnerable constituencies under the bus. Or we’re going to be loud and proud about what we support. Sotto voce support doesn’t work, Gavin Newsom - style bullshit doesn’t work.

Jasmine Crockett will face an uphill fight because she’s black. If you google the news about her, it’s already starting. Did you know she spent a lot of money on hotels and “limos” when she traveled? Why didn’t she drive a rusty 2003 Ford Focus from Rent-a-Wreck and stay at Motel 6 instead? That’s going to be the least of it. If she wants to take on this fight, more power to her. As a black single woman in Texas, she knows what she’ll be up against.

Also, don’t forget that the Texas Republicans are getting ready for a big fight of their own, with ugly divorcee Ken Paxton planning to stink up the joint against too old and not-MAGA-enough John Cornyn. That side drama was missing in the 2024 Cruz/Allred race.

Finally, James Talarico is also running, so if Crockett turns out to be a bad candidate, there’s another viable candidate. Someday we’ll crack the nut of Texas and get a statewide Democrat elected again. Maybe Crockett is the way, maybe someone like Talarico, who knows until we try?

It’s a huge index of the decline in our party that we’re so fucking scared of losing our precious few fighters that we don’t want them to fight. She’s a fighter, of course she’s going to pick a fight, that’s how it works! Jesus Christ I’m tired of explaining something so god damned simple.