Welcome to Texas, where the only thing inflating faster than the price of a gallon of milk is the required level of absolute, unblinking devotion to the MAGA universe. In the latest round of runoff elections, the Texas Republican Party completed its transformation from a standard pro-business group into a full-blown loyalty cult. Longtime Senator John Cornyn—who voted with Donald Trump 99% of the time—was obliterated by Ken Paxton by 28 points, entirely because Trump posted that Cornyn wasn’t supportive enough “when times were tough.” Even ultra-conservatives like Briscoe Cain got dumped by 37 points because they lacked the golden presidential endorsement. Down here, it doesn’t matter if you’ve spent years fighting on the front lines of the culture wars; if you aren’t ready to be the president’s personal wingman, you’re political roadkill.
But while the state GOP is busy cannibalizing anyone who doesn’t pass the ultimate purity test, the actual human beings living here are starting to look at their bank accounts with a severe case of buyer’s remorse. A new UnidosUS poll of 500 registered Latino voters found that one in five Latino Texans who voted for Trump would not do it again if given a do-over. Two-thirds of them currently disapprove of his job performance, with nearly half pointing directly to the brutal cost of living and inflation. It turns out that voting red didn’t magically make rent cheaper, leaving a lot of folks wondering where this promised “Golden Age” actually is.
Naturally, Texas Democrats are already salivating, dreaming of winning a statewide election for the first time since 1994. The poll shows Democratic nominees James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa leading Ken Paxton and Greg Abbott by more than a 2-to-1 margin among Latino voters. Furthermore, 54% of respondents in key battleground congressional districts say they plan to vote blue. Of course, pollsters are already warning Democrats not to get too smug, since they are still underperforming the historic margins they actually need to win statewide. So while the left plans a victory party they probably won’t get to throw, the right is purging anyone with an independent thought.
But hey, who cares if the people actually living here can’t afford groceries or housing, so long as our elected officials are completely unified in their total, uncritical submission to a single guy?
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