All politics are identity politics. Republicans have long mocked this notion, treating the very concept of “identity politics” as a left-wing fixation. In reality, the GOP’s success is entirely due to the cheapest form of identity politics: For decades, but especially now, they have worked to distract voters from the party’s ruinous policies with appeals to their identity as white, provincial and, most importantly, Christian. This campaign has been enormously successful. White evangelicals have been the backbone of the GOP for decades not because they love tax cuts for the rich and environmental degradation, but because they have been told, repeatedly, that Democrats are demonic and there is no such thing as a liberal Christian.
This is why there’s a growing panic in the Republican ranks over the campaign of James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Texas, and it’s not just fear that he could beat Ken Paxton, the state’s Republican attorney general. Win or lose, Talarico — a seminary student-turned-politician — embodies an existential threat to the right’s long-standing myth that to be Christian must necessarily mean voting Republican.
I think that’s why he’s the perfect weapon. You can’t look at that guy and say he isn’t sincere or knowledgeable in his religious beliefs, and he draws a straight line from that to his political position. His sincerity must come over as something exceptional if you’re used to listening to GOP politicians. It’s not going to win over every voter but I think it will cause a few to really question themselves.
I felt much the same way. Like, when he dropped this - that God loves transgender and queer children, and that they, too, are made in his image. - dude yes, this is the way.
so when he tossed trans kids under the bus I was pretty fucking bummed out.
I’m not in texas, still will tell fam there to vote for him, but fucks sake human rights are human rights and if you’ve already staked that out, you’re doing right. to backpedal now is just… fucking fuck.
None of that has changed. He just feels different about a couple issues.
“feels different”? When talking about real actual day-to-day life, he talks about trans people like they’re second class citizens.
Does he? You got examples of this?
His stance on trans people in sports for one. He says he opposes trans people in sports if it affects the “safety or fairness” of the sport. It’s the exact same line white racists used to justify segregation in sports. It implies trans people are inherently unsafe, untrustworthy, or otherwise “less” than non-trans people, ie, treating them as second-class citizens.
You said he was talking about trans people’s real actual day to day lives. But your only example is sports.
And even your reason for feeling like a second class citizen there seems like a stretch. Nobody is saying trans people are unsafe or untrustworthy or even “less” than. You are putting a lot weight on these comments that don’t seem justified.
Yes they are, or else trans inclusion in sports would be treated as the common-sense no-brainer that it is, instead of openly opposed. And how is this reasoning a stretch? It’s literally a bigot dog whistle, the exact same type of discriminatory “reasoning” that was used to justify segregation. It’s not even consistent with his whole “God loves all people, including queer and trans people, equally” schtick, because if that were true, they’d be treated equally. And until all of us are equal, none of us are equal.
This is a really tricky issue for him, not saying he handled it the right way. Voting the right way in the Texas House but seemingly walking it back in a Fox interview isn’t great, but I don’t know how to handle it better. Trans kids in sport is the wedge issue of the moment and if he takes a confrontational hard line about that on Fox news it would instantly alienate him from the audience he is trying to reach. I don’t think you can realistically be the guy who appeals to right wing christians and the guy who consistently champions trans rights. Getting people to break out of identity politics isn’t easy and wedge issues exist to drive people back into their tribal mindset. Not a battle you can win.
That’s why I’m saying he’s the perfect weapon, not the perfect politician. Honestly the whole clean cut white christian thing gives me the creeps and I wouldn’t leave him alone with my kids on that basis alone. But I do think he’s the right guy in the right place at the right time.
It doesn’t help that the Trans community is taking such a hard stance on this issue. You’re either 100% on their side, or you’re a bigot. It’s playing right into the hands of the Republicans.
yeah, it’s not like a human rights issue where a tiny sliver of people are being denied human rights by bigots for no scientific reason whatsover.
oh wait shit that’s exactly what it is.
yeah he’s still better than paxton, but that’s a damned sad thing to boast
My trans son doesn’t think sports are a big deal - doping is already disallowed so he couldn’t compete on either the boys or girls teams in soccer at high school, wanted to play but it’s not anything he thought a big issue - more like if he wanted to play that bad, would have waited to do T and “tomboy” his way onto the girls team, and did end up having to wait until 18 anyway, the laws changed.
And almost no people are good enough at sports to be pro. And not a large proportion of the population is trans, the intersection of those two has to be vanishingly small.
Is it legal for a very short athletic woman to have her kids with a short athletic guy to advantage them in gymnastics? Is it legal for me to have my kids with a very tall athletic guy because it will advantage them in volleyball? There is just SO much intra-sex variation I don’t understand why it matters but mostly just wanted to say the actual trans people I personally know don’t give a fuck about being able to be on a gendered sports team.
I hate to say I agree with you on this. And I really hate to say it because I also agree with the trans community in principle. But it’s a really small issue compared to a lot of the other evils in this world, and it’s being used to perpetuate those other evils.
Yes! It’s frustrating because I genuinely want what’s best for this community, but I feel like this is such a massive misstep.
I think of the issue of gun regulation. Democrats wanted “common sense gun regulation”. With was incredibly popular in the polls. But Republicans lied about what democrats wanted, and this engaged their voters. They went to the polls to protect their gun rights.
Now guns are deregulated in ways nobody even wanted. Maybe democrats were on the right side, but the messaging was wrong, and it backfired massively.
On a wedge issue like this there really doesn’t seem to be a right way to do the messaging. On Fox news you’re addressing entrenched beliefs that trans athletes are this huge threat to all that is good in the world, trying to explain why it isn’t so is a losing game.
I think Talarico tried to sidestep the issue by saying he opposes trans athletes “if it endangers safety or fairness”, which is really quite a reasonable position. To the right wing it sounds like he opposes trans athletes but the condition he put on it means he actually doesn’t. He put forward a position that both sides might even agree on, but it didn’t give the trans community the impression of endorsing their side that they wanted.
never fucking cave to conservative bullshit.
you do it to cater to the fox news crowd? THEY’RE NEVER GOING TO VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT ANYWAY.
What a fucking waste
There’s no such thing as a right wing Christian so there’s only hypocrites, bigots, and liars to try to appeal to but otherwise, sure, that’s the rhetorical line he needs to draw to get those hypocritical votes.
No such thing as a true Scotsman