Whether It’s Jasmine-Mania or Fantasy Football, Let’s Not Let Politics Divide Us
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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2026 United States Senate election in Texas
9 min read
Linked in the article (5 min read)
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Negative partisanship
12 min read
The article extensively discusses negative partisanship as a key political science concept, citing multiple studies about how hatred of opposing candidates drives voter turnout. This is a central analytical framework the author uses to evaluate Jasmine Crockett's candidacy.
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Texas Democratic Party
14 min read
The article discusses internal Texas Democratic politics, primary dynamics, and the history of Democratic candidates in Texas. Understanding the party's structure, recent electoral history, and relationship with national Democrats would provide valuable context for readers following this intra-party debate.
Somewhere on the interwebs, there’s a video of Jasmine Crockett floating around where the commentator asked her about the Senate race, and she said, “I’m closer to a yes than I am a no.” Boy, oh boy, does that have everyone abuzz. Some, even spreading fake news that she claimed she’s DEFINITELY running.
But what’s even more maddening is the stream of people on multiple social media platforms (some who don’t even live in Texas) are pushing narratives that James Talarico and Colin Allred should either drop out of the race, or switch races. See, ever since Joaquin Castro talked about all the heavy-hitters running as a slate at TribFest, I think some Democrats have got it in their mind that’s still a possibility.
After something like the 20th post of someone saying, “Talarico should just drop out and support Jasmine,” I lost it.
Further reading: It’s Election Season, So Suddenly Everyone Is A F*cking Expert In Texas Politics
I told the person, who I later found out was very friendly, that Talarico has already hit record-breaking numbers. His polling numbers show he can win the Senate race. And why should he drop out because you like Crockett better? I may have finished it with “This isn’t fantasy football, honey.”
Yes, it was condescending. Yes, I was called out for being condescending. And I apologized, because I wasn’t trying to be an asshole, but I was frustrated with the premise that Talarico should drop or change races for Jasmine Crockett because of her celebrity, when she’s not guaranteed to win the general election. (I’ll get there.)
We have a lot we need to talk about. And I’m going to put a lot on the table, and some of this is going to be very inside baseball. But my dear, sweet Texas Democrats, there just isn’t enough nuance in politics, and I really hope this brings more.
First and foremost: Polling.
Why does everyone and their mothers and cousins want to get in the Senate race? Because every single one of them has internal polling that shows they can win. Every single one. Allred’s polling shows that he can win. Talarico’s shows he can win. Crockett, the same. Even Beto and Castro had polling done on that race that showed they would win if they jumped in, too.
Does polling automatically mean they will win? Not necessarily, but it’s an indicator.
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