The Democratic Party has a problem. A recent CNN poll showed a record number of Americans believe Democrats have gone too far left. The problem is that the party isn’t listening. Rather than take this as a sign that they need to move to the center, they’re just temporarily rebranding during campaigns to win elections.
Texas state Rep. James Talarico just defeated far-left firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary, securing 53% of the vote. If you were a Texas Democrat, it was the pragmatic choice. Crockett had a national profile, while Talarico was more of a blank slate with the potential to be competitive in a general election in a state that President Donald Trump won by 14 points.
And Talarico played the role well. He played up his Christian faith and generally didn’t sound like Jasmine Crockett. National media took the bait, lavishing favorable coverage on the candidate they believed was the electable option.
And then everything hit the fan.
Resurfaced social media posts show Talarico comparing his "white skin" to an immunity from the "virus of racism." Another video shows Talarico declaring "God is nonbinary" and claims there are six sexes. I suspect there will be more damaging clips and tweets to come soon.
ICYMI: Can We Just Appreciate How Hardcore Trump’s New DHS Secretary Is?
We’ve seen Democrats pull this scheme before. And rather recently. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill campaigned as a moderate. And we all know what happened next. An anti-ICE executive order and tax hikes. The same story played out in Virginia, where Abigail Spanberger ran on stability, pragmatism, and even anti-gerrymandering. Once safely inaugurated, she immediately showed her true radical leftist self.
We all knew it was going to happen.
Back in Texas, the media chose Talarico as the "reasonable" Democrat because Jasmine Crockett was simply too loud and too nationally prominent to make the fiction believable. Crockett wore her radicalism openly. Talarico tried to pull a fast one and got exposed. Make no mistake about it, Talarico won’t win.
Democrats see the data telling them they are too radical and won’t change. They will continue to put forth candidates that play the role of the moderate Democrat when it’s necessary to win, and then show their true colors once the polls close.
Yeah, yeah, some will bring up John Fetterman here. But being pro-Israel and occasionally trolling the left on social media doesn't change a voting record that tracks with the radical left on nearly everything else. Fetterman voted with Joe Biden nearly all the time. He’s not a moderate.
Make no mistake about it, the Talarico formula is the Democratic Party's 2026 strategy in a nutshell: take the most radical party platform in modern American history, dress it up in khakis and a cross, send it to church on Sunday, and hope voters don't Google the rest. Spanberger, Sherrill, and now Talarico aren't moderates who drifted left after winning. They were always going to govern this way. The "moderate" label was never meant to describe their beliefs — just their campaign trail performance.
There are no reasonable Democrats anymore, are there?
