Even before last week, when he became a central character in Stephen Colbert\u2019s fight with his own network and with the head of the Federal Communications Commission, the Texas state representative James Talarico had shown a knack for getting attention. The thirty-six-year-old Democrat\u2019s social-media posts, in which he connects his religious faith to his hopeful politics, have racked up millions of views. This past July, Talarico went on \u201cThe Joe Rogan Experience,\u201d and, by the end of the show, Rogan told his guest, \u201cYou need to run for President.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, Talarico is running for the Senate, becoming the latest in a line of buzzy Democrats put forward to pursue the Party\u2019s increasingly elusive dream of winning a statewide election in Texas. But, as Tad Friend reports in the week\u2019s issue<\/a>, Talarico is different from other Democratic standouts past and present. Part of it is his public expression of Christian faith\u2014Talarico is currently on leave from the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary\u2014but it\u2019s also the way he talks about elections and political life. \u201cI\u2019m not a huge fan of being against someone,\u201d he tells Friend. \u201cA campaign based on love is more durable than one based on fear.\u201d Even his mother wishes her son would get his hands a little dirtier. \u201cHe won\u2019t trash-talk,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s very annoying, because some people need trash-talking.\u201d<\/p>\n Friend spent weeks on the trail with Talarico, speaking to the candidate and those around him in Texas politics. The resulting portrait reveals a man who\u2019s less beatific than he may first appear. His colleagues in the Texas legislature, impressed with Talarico\u2019s skills, have called him \u201cthe baby-faced assassin.\u201d Friend documents the way that Talarico muscled his way into the Senate race, going against the wishes of some of the state\u2019s Democratic Party leaders. \u201cJames came in, like, \u2018I don\u2019t care what you guys are doing with your little huddle. Fuck all y\u2019all, I\u2019m doing this,\u2019 \u201d Beto O\u2019Rourke<\/a>, the former golden-boy Senate candidate, tells Friend. \u201cHe blew everything up in his excitement to make the case for himself.\u201d O\u2019Rourke adds, \u201cYou\u2019re not going to win in this game unless you\u2019re really fucking confident.\u201d<\/p>\n Friend spoke with Talarico shortly after his campaign was hit by what the candidate describes as \u201can asteroid\u201d\u2014the late entry into the primary race of the U.S. congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, a liberal firebrand and social-media superstar, who sharply criticizes Donald Trump\u2019s agenda but operates with much of his rude charisma and main-character energy. Crockett\u2019s bid was cheered by Republicans, who believe she will be easier to beat in a general election. Crockett has won endorsements from many prominent Democrats. Polls are, at this point, inconclusive. When Texas Democrats make their pick between Talarico and Crockett, on March 3rd, they will be, in part, choosing between two modes of resistance in the Trump era\u2014a commitment to seek common ground or a steadfast promise to fight. For his part, Talarico has declared that the primary result \u201cwill determine the course of the Democratic Party.\u201d We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n