I’ve always thought Republicans sucked.
I’ll say right now, if you need to know, I voted Democrat nearly always. Even if I didn’t like them, I am terrified of “conservative” rule as it has been defined for ages. So it’s in my best interest to vote against them. I think that. This last election proves it to me. Look who wins when no one votes? 🗳️ 💰
Democrats said “Hold my Beer!”
Now, I really hate a lot of democrats too. I find it hard to listen to them much the same way I find it hard to listen to Trump. Schumer, for example, is simply unbearable to me. Jeffries too. These folks are thinking about book deals and retirement. Booker even went on a book tour after his big speech. How can we take that seriously?
But what about locally?
What I’m learning is politics locally is engaging enough to still be involved and impactful enough to feel good. Texas has plenty of conservatives to keep me busy by itself. I need not look at Washington, I can just look at Austin.
Some Key Players in Texas Politics:
Republicans:
Greg Abbott is our Governor. He’s a major jackass. Really. He has some doozies. One thing I remember about him is talking about how he pulled himself up from bootstraps to be the man he is. He won millions of dollars in a settlement for a tree accident that put him in a wheelchair. That’s not “bootstraps,” silly Greg.
Ken Paxton is our Attorney General running for Senate (against Cornyn who we’ll definitely get to). What I like about this guy is for a long time, he had funding from Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks. They own most of the Midland/Odessa area. Oil tycoons. They are also preachers in their own churches they built. They donate to The Heritage Foundation and Project 2025, Ziklag, fun stuff. Ken got in legal trouble a while back. These oil tycoon preachers made it vanish. But now that Ken is running for Senate, he’s lost support of his rich preacher friends. Might have something to do with the affairs coming up in his divorce too, but might not.🤷
Dan Patrick is the Lt Governor and he’s a major idiot. Hell, I won’t even Google him. If you happen to find one single good thing about him, send me an email. [email protected] I’d like to know. But I do not want to punch his name in the browser. lol. He’s a travesty of a human being.
John Cornyn is on the national news a lot. For some reason I can’t fathom, folks ask him what he thinks. It never turns out well. I don’t know why they keep doing it. Some say he’s on his way out. But it ain’t over til it’s over. Maybe he’s the stupidest politician I can think of besides Trump.. On par for Texas.
Ted Cruz likes to ramble about keeping out immigrants and deportation and he’s an immigrant from Canada. Disqualified from immigrant talk, Ted, unless it’s to brag about the virtues. Sit your ass down.
Elon Musk has bought a lot of government and politicians in and around Austin. While he technically may not be a politician, I include him because even he recognizes the need to spend money on politics. I do not think that is “good.” Conservatives don’t seem to mind it.
Democrats:
Historically speaking, Texas has amazing democrats. Ann Richards was a hero of mine as a kid. I remember watching her at the convention. “Poor George, (George Bush Sr.) he can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.” Ann made an impression. But it’s gone down hill since. It’s also gone largely Republican. So I aligned with democrats pretty early on. Don’t feel wrong about it. But it feels more like shopping now than it did with Ann as a kid. I wanted to be like her. I do not feel that way about any politician I can think of, these days. I honestly couldn’t tell you if that’s me growing or the party declining. Where I am at on that.
I do know folks gotta’ go. There’s a senate race in my area and I have to pick between Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico. I’m not exactly crazy about either but would take either over the republican Cornyn/Paxton duel. Talarico talks a lot about church and that’s such a huge turn off to me. Crockett is a gamble because she could kick ass and take names or just flail zingers on the TV. For me, it helps to look at Ballotpedia. I can go there, look up voting records and get a sense of how these folks will vote. That’s not how they talk. For example, both Schumer and Booker have voted numerous times for bills and even cabinet members they publicly spoke against. That drives me bonkers, frankly.
I don’t think there’s wrong choice between Crockett and Talarico, as long as whoever wins that beats Cornyn or Paxton. I really hate feeling this way. But this is the sport of politics.
It’s not easy. Anyone who tries to make politics easy is looking for money or votes. No issue impacts no one. We’re often talking about thousands or millions of lives. Some things we vote on can have lasting impact. It’s complicated. Please don’t be the “easy” guy. It’s not easy. Never has been. This right here is what makes politics so special when they work. This is actually the goal. The best for the most. That’s not what we are experiencing, is it? We’re in the neighborhood of the most the least of us has ever had.
I think both sides are guilty of trying to make it simpler than it is for votes. I would likely vote for a candidate with the opposite approach. I want to hear folks talk about how complex the issues can be. I don’t care about hot button points to get a rise out of me. I want explanations. I want to be educated. That ain’t happening at all in Washington that I can find. If you got a good source I need to check out, all ears. [email protected]
A smart person is never going to be more simple than a MAGA. They are out of their element there. Go ahead, be smart. The MAGA can never be that. Either side, play to your strengths. If you’re up against a MAGA, your strength is brains.🧠
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