Every few years, Democrats nominate someone who thinks he can tell one audience one thing, then tell the next audience the opposite, and count on nobody comparing notes. Texas has one of those candidates right now, and we’ve watched this exact routine play out before.
The first presidential election I ever actively participated in was in 2004. I was 24 years old. I ran a successful blog, donated to the Bush campaign, and even did some get-out-the-vote work on the ground in New Hampshire.
I was a Massachusetts resident at the time, which meant John Kerry, the Democrat nominee for president, was also my senator.
Kerry became infamous for his flip-flops that year. He shifted positions depending on where he was campaigning, and he did it so blatantly that the Bush campaign turned it into an effective weapon against him.
And boy, were there some doozies.
Kerry voted to authorize military action against Iraq, then attacked Bush for invading, calling it "the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time." He promoted his environmental agenda while insisting "I don't own an SUV," then bragged to select audiences about how many SUVs his family had. His flip-flopping was so bad that perhaps the most memorable and devastating line of the entire campaign was Kerry’s line in his first debate with President George W. Bush, “I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.”
Lately, I've been thinking about that campaign, because Texas State Rep. James Talarico (D-50th District) reminds me so much of Kerry. Talarico is desperately trying to pretend to be something he is not, while also trying to play both sides on issue after issue.
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Let’s start with the border. In a campaign ad released this week, Talarico presents himself as a border hawk.
"I called out Joe Biden for failing us on the border," Talarico says in the ad's opening. This was a clear signal he realizes he’s struggling with Texas voters. But what did he do when he participated in a CNN town hall on Wednesday night?
Well, when asked about immigration, the supposed border hawk, after rambling about his alleged pro-border security position, said, “and then lastly, I think we have to build a pathway to citizenship for our neighbors who have been here for years and decades," Talarico said.
James Talarico calls to grant mass amnesty to millions of criminal illegal aliens. https://t.co/88o1HMQgW0
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 15, 2026
That is mass amnesty.
Then there's the radical trans ideology Talarico has pushed for years. This is the man who declared that "God is non-binary" and that there are more than two genders. Now that he needs votes outside Austin, he's backpedaling.
"You know, the first comment about God not being defined by gender, when I said that I was being provocative, and I want to admit that and come clean about that," Talarico claimed at the town hall.
Provocative. That's one word for it.
Pressed on whether he wants to abolish ICE, Talarico said no, then smeared the agency anyway.
"We need Immigration and Customs Enforcement in this country. But that's not what we're seeing," Talarico said. "What we've seen over the last year is a secret police force, and that's what we don't want in this country. We don't want masked men in unmarked vehicles coming through and terrorizing our communities. We don't want federal agents murdering our neighbors before our very eyes."
So he supports ICE in theory and calls its agents murderers in practice.
Talarico rejects the abolition of ICE before proceeding to smear ICE https://t.co/8mVgUPDRme
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) October 15, 2026
John Kerry would be proud.
The most revealing moment came when a veteran in the audience asked about the SAVE America Act, an incredibly popular piece that has majority support from Republicans, Democrats, and minority voters.
"I served in Iraq and Afghanistan. My question for you today is about the Save America Act, because I think it's really important to — to be honest with quite a few of us here. So my question is, do you support the Save America Act? And if not, what parts and why?" the veteran asked.
"Well, I'd honestly have to read the details of the legislation," Talarico replied. "I — I'm a policy wonk, and so I always hesitate to — to say I'm going to support any one bill if I haven't read the final version of that bill."
Back in August, though, he claimed to know enough to call the legislation racist. Talarico claimed the bill was designed to "rob our neighbors, strictly our black neighbors, of those God-given rights" to vote. Somehow, this self-described policy wonk managed to divine the bill's sinister motives without ever reading it.
James Talarico lies about the SAVE America Act and thinks black Americans are incapable of getting voter ID. TALARICO: "With the SAVE [America] Act, they are trying to rob our neighbors, strictly our black neighbors, of those God given rights." https://t.co/7NG9KmI32P
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 17, 2026
Talarico is flip-flopping hard, and he's doing it on camera.
But here’s the thing: Even if you took him at his word — that he’s a border hawk who suddenly opposes trans ideology — does anyone think he'd vote with Republicans on any border issue? Does anyone think he'd vote to block funding for sex changes for children? Does anyone think he'd buck Democrats to fund ICE?
In the end, the Democrat Party demands conformity.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has learned the hard way that if you only support the party line 95% of the time, you're considered a closet Republican. Talarico is trying to win in a red state, but if he were elected, he'd serve the Democrat Party, not the voters of Texas.
