A wide range of Democratic voices are in the process of shaping new political language to move their party, and the country, forward. James Talarico is one of those new voices. On Friday, June 26, he delivered his official acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for U.S. senator from Texas at the Texas Democratic Convention held in Corpus Christi.<\/p>\n
He began by invoking Barbara Jordan, a lawyer who in 1972 became the first Black woman elected to Congress from Texas. A brilliant orator, Jordan delivered a statement on July 24, 1974, from her seat on the House Judiciary Committee during President Richard Nixon\u2019s impeachment that is considered one of the most powerful speeches in U.S. history. \u201cMy faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n
After tying himself to both the state\u2019s multicultural history and its defense of democracy through Jordan, Talarico used a different vision from Jordan to make his case for the future. He recalled that Jordan said \u201cthe soil and spirit of Texas\u201d made her feel that she could accomplish whatever she wanted, \u201cthat there are no limits.\u201d Talarico used Jordan\u2019s embrace of the American dream to anchor his own new political vision for the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n
It is a vision that resonates beyond Texas.<\/p>\n
Talarico rooted himself firmly in Texas\u2019s past and present. He emphasized that he is an eighth-generation Texan whose family arrived in the region when it was still Mexican. \u201cWe may not have always been wealthy or well educated,\u201d he said, \u201cbut we always served our state.\u201d His ancestor Elijah Stapp signed the Texas Declaration of Independence that declared the region free from Mexican president Antonio L\u00f3pez de Santa Anna, risking everything, Talarico said, \u201cto defy a tyrant.\u201d<\/p>\n
That independence cost Stapp dearly. Four months after he signed the document, Santa Anna\u2019s army destroyed his home, leaving him, his wife, and their six children destitute. But Stapp was undeterred. He wrote to his neighbors, \u201cAny duty that my bodily strength would enable me to perform, either in public or private, that would advance the cause of Texas, I feel anxious and ever ready to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTexans don\u2019t like tyrants,\u201d Talarico said, \u201cAnd we don\u2019t surrender easily.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bringing that theme to the modern era, Talarico told the story of his mother, \u201ca seventh-generation Texan from Laredo,\u201d who left an abusive relationship to make a life with her infant son. \u201cThat\u2019s what it means to be a Texan,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are strivers and builders and dreamers of all colors and creeds of all backgrounds and beliefs. It\u2019s in our blood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTexas is big,\u201d Talarico said. \u201cBig hair, big hearts, and big dreams. Our athletes are beloved across the globe. Cowboys, Astros, Spurs. Our musicians, our musicians are so iconic, they only need one name. Willie. Selena. Beyonc\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the current political landscape is too small for Texas,\u201d he said. \u201cTexas used to be known for our hospitality\u2026. Friendship across tribes, friendship across divides. That\u2019s what makes Texas so great. We\u2019re this big mash-up of all these different people, all these different cultures, all these different friends. Think about, think about Tejano music. If you\u2019re listening to a Selena song, you\u2019re hearing Spanish vocal styles from northern Mexico. But you\u2019re also hearing polka dance rhythms from Czech and German immigrants. This uniquely\u2026Texan ability to welcome new friends and new ideas has made us one of the most exciting and innovative states in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re the state that put a man on the moon,\u201d Talarico said. \u201cWe\u2019re the state that pioneered ranching and energy and computers. We\u2019re the state that gave this country Barbara Jordan, Ann Richards, LBJ, and the Great Society. We\u2019re the state that put breakfast in a taco.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then Talarico turned to the present. \u201c[T]oday, we face a new threat,\u201d he said. \u201cOur state is being taken over by a new kind of tyrant: billionaire megadonors. They\u2019re not invading with an army. They\u2019re just buying the system. The billionaires who own the social media algorithms, who own the cable news networks, who own the politicians fighting on our screens, they are turning neighbor against neighbor. Weakening that spirit of friendship that makes Texas so great. They divide us by party, by race, by gender, by religion, so we don\u2019t notice that they\u2019re picking our pockets. It is the oldest strategy in the world. Divide and conquer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut,\u201d he said, \u201cTexas will not be conquered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talarico accused \u201cthese new tyrants\u201d of looking out of state \u201cto find puppet politicians who were willing to do their bidding.\u201d He said they picked his opponent, Ken Paxton, \u201cthe most corrupt politician in America,\u201d who was \u201cborn in North Dakota, raised in California, and has a place in Hawaii.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cListen,\u201d Talarico said, \u201cI believe anyone can be a Texan.\u201d That identity lives \u201cnot in the boots or in the truck,\u201d but in people\u2019s hearts. But the billionaires and \u201ctheir puppets have the wrong state of mind. Their hearts and their dreams are just not big enough. We let these small men get their hands on our big state. You know the kind of people I\u2019m talking about. The kind who make themselves feel big by making everyone else feel small.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese men, they took all the money and power they could grab, and they set out to shrink Texas down to their size. They\u2019re shrinking our Texas economy with job-killing tariffs. They are shrinking our Texas public schools with private school voucher scams. They\u2019re shrinking our healthcare, so it covers less and less. They\u2019re shrinking our paychecks and how much those paychecks can buy. And they\u2019re shrinking our power by attacking our God-given rights at the ballot box and redrawing our districts to keep themselves in power. They have been shrinking Texas for three decades now. But that ends this year in this election.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn November, we can make Texas big again,\u201d Talarico said. \u201cWe can make Texas friendly again. We can make Texas, Texas, again. We have the chance to take back our state from those billionaire mega donors and their puppet politicians who stole it from us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t a partisan thing,\u201d Talarico said as he pointed out that Republicans and Democrats came together to impeach Paxton, and he reminded people that Sam Houston, the first president of the Texas Republic, told people to \u201cdo right, and risk the consequences.\u201d \u201cWhat would Sam Houston think about the small men who are shrinking Texas?\u201d Talarico asked. \u201cWhat would Sam Houston, who put Texas before himself, say about Ken Paxton, who puts himself before Texas? What would Sam Houston say to all of us at this critical moment in Texas history? I think he would say, do right, and risk the consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an old country song by Gary P. Nunn, called \u2018What I Like About Texas.\u2019 In the song, he lists the rivers and the bluebonnets, the music and the food. But ultimately, he settles on one answer. He says it\u2019s the spirit of the people who share this land. The spirit of Barbara Jordan. The spirit of my mom, the spirit that\u2019s in this room. The feeling that we can accomplish whatever we want to\u2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis election shouldn\u2019t be about the Democratic Party or the Republican Party,\u201d Talarico said. \u201cIt should be about chasing a vision of what our state can be. Texas schools that are the envy of the nation. A Texas economy that is second to none, and Texas families that are stronger and healthier than ever before. It won\u2019t happen overnight. But a giant state deserves giant dreams. We are\u2014 We are bigger than extremism. We\u2019re bigger than partisanship. We\u2019re bigger than corruption. Texas is bigger than all of those things. Because it\u2019s not just a state. It\u2019s a state of mind\u2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cTexans don\u2019t like tyrants. And we don\u2019t surrender easily. Tonight, standing before you, to accept your nomination for the United States Senate, I make the same commitment to you that my ancestor made 200 years ago. Any duty that my bodily strength would enable me to perform, either in public or private, that would advance the cause of Texas, I feel anxious and ever ready to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
Notes:<\/p>\n