Don't Republican My Texas

Happy Monday, and welcome to the eighth edition of Waco Can’t Wait, a progressive newsletter focusing on McLennan County, Texas, and Federal politics.

WOW, WOW, WOW, this has been one hell of a week. We’ve got Russia invading Ukraine, Greg Abbott coming after transgender children and their parents, and Joe Biden announcing his Supreme Court Justice nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. The piece that I wrote this week seems to pale in comparison to all the things happening around us. There are so many different stories begging for our attention, and I am going to do my best to address all of them without getting too into the weeds.

As we get closer and closer to the November 2022 election, I have been thinking about what Democrats will need to do differently in order to win. In 2018, we found out that spending $80,000,000 on hardcore base turnout and voter registration (while running a once-in-a-generation candidate) will get you about 1.6% away from winning a U.S. Senate seat. Considering that Democrats lost this seat by 15.9% in 2012, this was still a huge accomplishment. That said, I believe it is going to take a compelling message to put us over the top.

I think the best message Democrats have is that the Republican Party’s hard turn to the right runs the risk of ruining all of the things that make Texas great. We have to create a compelling narrative for Texas that runs on the things that have made it successful, explains the path we are currently on under Republican leadership, and makes clear where we could be with Democrats in charge. Texas is the greatest state in the union and we need to fight for it like it is. But before we dive into all of the reasons that our state kicks ass, let’s take a look at the news!

Week in review (a collection of news from Waco, Texas, and beyond)

Waco:

The last day to vote in the Democratic (or Republican) Primary is this Tuesday, March 1st. If you are voting in the Democratic Primary and need some recommendations for who to vote for, check out my piece from last week. I am also not naive, and I understand that many of you vote in the Republican Primary to have a say in the general election candidate. More power to you, and make sure to read some ...