by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
When scandal-plagued Texas attorney general Ken Paxton won the GOP nomination to run for the US Senate last week, both he and the propaganda wing of the Republican Party, Fox News, hit the ground running with personal attacks on the Democratic nominee for that Senate seat, State Representative James Talarico, of San Antonio. Talarico, who is just thirty-seven-years-old, is clean cut, soft spoken, highly intelligent, and an 8th generation Texan who is also enrolled in a Presbyterian seminary and has no trouble weaving a positive strain of Christianity into his thoughts and remarks on the futures of Texas and the Untied States.
Paxton, who defeated four-term Republican Senator John Cornyn in last week's primary election runoff with the help of a last minute endorsement from Donald Trump, has been plagued with personal scandal, accused of impropriety in his state job, impeached, and embroiled in a nasty divorce within the past couple of years. Talarico, on the other hand, comes across as squeaky clean. The choice between Paxton and Talarico is stark, night and day, and many Republicans feel that Talarico could conceivably beat Paxton in November's general election.
Paxton seems to think so, too.
Before the ink was dry on his election cerificate, Ken Paxton and the Republicans were coming at Talarico with all their political guns blazing, but unlike Paxton, Talarico seems to have led an exemplary life and does not have a closet packed with skeletons to deal with. So, sleazeball Republicans being sleazeball Republicans, cut straight to the chase and began lobbing personal attacks. Fox News spent the better part of a day implying that the single Talarico might have some gender identity issues or even possibly be gay, and one commentator seemed concerned with what she perceived to be Talarico's "soft skin."
Paxton also formed a line of attack trying to link Talarico to trans individuals, and finally got down to bare-knuckle name-calling by referring to his opponent as "Talafreako." Good one, Ken! (Not!). At another point the Paxton campaign painted Talarico as not being a real Texan because he didn't eat barbecue - to which the young Texas lawmaker replied that he had been eating barbecue "since before Ken Paxton's first indictment."
Everything's nastier in Texas!
This week, in response to the homophobic attacks, Talarico introduced his girlfriend of the past several years to the press, a very beautiful lobbyist for the Texas Medical Association named Brianna Menard. At one time, before they were dating, she was the chief of staff in Talarico's office. Then the young politician also displayed some new merchandise in his campaign store - tee shirts with logos saying "I'm a Talafreako," and "Texas Is Talafreako Country!"
When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade - and whn life gives you catchy slogans, you make teee shirts!
Well played, Jimmy!
