For more than 30 years, Texas Republicans have been very good at one thing: giving voters somebody to fear.
Immigrants. Crime. Socialists. Gays. Transgender people. Woke schools. The border. Election fraud. Washington. California.
The cast changes. The message does not.
For three decades, it worked. No Democrat has won statewide office in Texas since 1994. Republicans came to dominate every statewide office and both chambers of the Legislature. (The Texas Tribune)
But something is changing.
A new AARP Texas poll has Democrat James Talarico leading Republican Ken Paxton 48% to 44% in the U.S. Senate race. In the governor’s race, Greg Abbott leads Gina Hinojosa only 49% to 46%. A Televisa/Univision poll released a day earlier had Abbott and Hinojosa tied at 47%. (The Wall Street Journal)
The Wall Street Journal has now described Talarico as making Republicans nervous. That is quite a statement in a state where Democrats have spent more than a generation waiting for Texas to turn purple. (The Wall Street Journal)
So what are Republicans doing?
Reaching back into the fright machine.
At the Republican convention this week, Paxton attacked Talarico over transgender issues. Elon Musk’s political operation is spending heavily on anti-transgender advertising against Talarico and other Democratic Senate candidates. Republicans are again emphasizing immigration, crime, and cultural issues even while polling shows voters are deeply concerned about prices and the economy. (Houston Chronicle)
There may be a problem.
They are running out of new people to scare us with.
Texans have heard the border warnings for decades. They have heard that Democrats will take their guns, destroy their churches, release criminals, turn their children socialist, and allow one group after another to ruin Texas.
Eventually the frightening stranger stops being a stranger.
The immigrant is the man building your house.
The gay couple lives down the street.
The transgender child goes to school with your grandchild.
The Mexican American family has been in Texas longer than many of the politicians warning voters about outsiders.
Meanwhile, groceries still cost money. Insurance still costs money. Property taxes still cost money. Water, electricity, and housing still cost money.
After 30 years of one-party statewide government, Republicans also have a problem they did not have when the fright machine first started working.
They own Texas.
They cannot convincingly blame Democrats for everything that is wrong with a state Democrats have not governed for three decades.
Maybe that is why Republicans are nervous.
The machine still works.
It just may not frighten as many Texans as it used to.
