Quick notes on Talarico/Crocket U.S. Senate race in Texas
A campaign about the basics
Every campaign, winning ones and those that come up short, should, of course, do an after-action report. A few quick points from my perch in Houston.
Point 1: Talarico had a message. It was this: The biggest divide in America is not left/right but top versus bottom. It’s an economic populist message that takes on the billionaire class. There was a moral thread, something missing in politics for years. U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett had a strong brand--tough and savvy fighter against Trump– but I didn’t hear a clear message that had to do with Texas. Her launch ad was all about Trump. Both candidates were social media stars. (Talarico went from 0 to 60 in a few short months when it came to his name ID statewide. He was an unknown six months ago.)
Point 2: Crockett didn’t invest in a full-fledged campaign. She had little serious fundraising or grassroots operation. It felt like she was winging it. The core campaign basics weren’t there.
Point 3: CBS News’ attempt to censor people they don’t like on their own air backfired. Had the network not been worried about Trump’s FCC, CBS wouldn’t have ordered Stephen Colbert to shelve his Talarico interview. The interview, posted instead to YouTube, received much more attention (9 million views) because of the controversy. That helped his fundraising and brand.
Point 4: The national media framed the race as Talarico the moderate versus Jasmine Crockett the progressive. That was the media’s laziness. Both held similar policy positions on the mainstream left. Pundits confused political strategy, which did define the candidates, with ideology.
Point 5: There are plenty of examples in politics where money isn’t everything, meaning the candidate who raised the most money (by far) didn’t win. But, in this case, Talarico outspent Crockett $25 million to $5 million on ads, per AdImpact. In this race, money mattered. Talarico was a first-time candidate few had heard of. Crockett was a better known quantity because of her national media exposure and MAGA take-downs and clap backs.