Let's talk about the Texas primary shifting dynamics all over the country.... - Belle of the Ranch

[TexasTowelie]

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about the Texas primary shifting dynamics all over the country.

The primaries in Texas happened and well, the Republican Senate primary was kind of a worst case scenario for the Republican party all over the country. Neither Cornyn nor Paxton received enough votes to win the primary outright, so they're going to be involved in an expensive months-long mudslinging rodeo to try to get the nomination. Paxton will try to play the outsider, while Cornyn will try to play the role of the guy who can actually win. Republicans will dump millions upon millions of dollars into a primary fight in Texas. And that's millions upon millions they can't spend elsewhere.

Senate Republicans will go all in on supporting Cornyn. And we had some questions about that. Why do they care? First is that Paxton is a scandal magnet. And there are probably some in the Senate that worry about his scandals becoming a problem up on Capitol Hill.

There's also a concern that Paxton literally can't win which means they'll have to spend even more money trying to defend Texas when the general election rolls around, which leaves traditionally battleground states underfunded as Republicans defend what should be an easy win.

Then there's the big one. He's not really Senate material. His rhetoric and attitude doesn't align with what's called the world's most deliberative body. Republican senators are looking forward to a post Trump world. They don't want another person who puts showmanship over substance.

Trump is going to be gone in a couple of years. Whoever wins the Senate seat will be their six. They're already trying to weed out Trump supporters who are a liability in a post Trump world. This dynamic is going to be a giant mess that the Democratic party can take advantage of.

The Democratic primary wasn't without issue. There were voting issues and it was a mess, but at the end of it, James Talarico became the nominee. A showdown between scandal plague Paxton and Talarico, a guy who hands out “love thy neighbor” signs, might be one of the more entertaining things to happen in Texas politics in a while.

Representative Dan Crenshaw lost his primary, becoming the first incumbent this season to be shown the door. Because of Republican retirements and Crenshaw getting the boot, Texas will have pretty much destroyed its seniority in the House. Representatives get seniority on committees the longer they're there. With everybody leaving, Texas is basically starting from scratch and will have less influence.

Elsewhere, it looks like Brandon Herrera is heading into the runoff against Representative Tony Gonzalez, who is currently surrounded by allegations of an affair with a staffer in his congressional office, who later died by suicide. Gonzalez has Trump's endorsement. So, on the Republican side of the aisle, this election season is shaping up to be much the same as all of those since 2016. By which I mean a giant mess ruled mainly by personality instead of policy. Call it the Trump effect.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.