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So you want him to fry his election odds by attacking the journalist? Really? I wish all Dems would take lessons from him. 1. Know the beliefs of the audience. 2. Show them you care about issues they care about. 3. Assure them that the attack issues are not real.

I have no problem with this framing. He addresses that audience belief, says he cares and that if it was an issue he would care. People should be talking about other things Talarico has said, however. I don’t get why this one when there are much more concerning take backs such as medical care.

@jamestalarico.bsky.social gross, dude

And this is why we can’t have nice things.

running against a dude who freed a convicted pedophile why would you ever go on the defensive? it wouldve been nice if TX flipped but i guess he just wanted all the super PAC donations hope the vacation house was worth helping further a genocide

Probably the worst response he could have given even if he was hedging to hold onto the Texans who have incomprehensible politics. YOU HAVE TO LEAD TO CHANGE MINDS. This is cowardice. Just say "there are no women or girls being harmed by trans athletes, next question."

i refuse to believe that you people are this fucking stupid so instead i believe you people are just this fucking transphobic

I would have preferred a response more like this one.

He didn't reject the framing; he legitimized it.

IF IF IF.

Y’all out here forgetting he is running in Texas. Don’t do a Beto. Beto lost to the least fav Ted Cruz because he wanted to take away their guns. It sucks, but the voters of Texas believe trans athletes are a threat.

This is an incredibly mainstream position. Why would anyone expect anything else

Rich kids go to schools with state of the art facilities and top tier coaches. They have access to great nutrition and don't have to get after school jobs or babysit to supplement the family income. They have comprehensive health care. I could keep going....

Well,when I was a kid and my dad worked the night shift and my mom worked 3 jobs just to keep us fed and the lights on, my brothers and myself were told we couldn't go out for sports,band,scouts, etc because our parents couldn't even afford the uniforms. I would call that a disadvantage

I’m in NC. We haven’t won a senate seat since 2008. Cooper has not taken this stance and vetoed a ban on trans women and girls playing in sports (the republican supermajority here overrode him). You 100% do not need to take this stance to win in a tough state.

Boooooo!

That 'if' is gonna have to be enough. This is for the republic. If we cede this place to this version of republicans, that's the end, and not just for trans people *like myself*.

*toilet flushing noises* Welp, there goes my interest in him.

as per usual, a spineless liberal hasn't made up their mind on whether we're full human beings or not

Oh.

I guess this is the progressive version of a bigot's dog whistle.

Trans sports person here. It DOES impact fairness.

Isn't this the position of basically everyone before the trans freakout? The safety and fairness bit is why most sports required a period of time on HRT, hormone level limits, etc. The phrasing, if deliberate, implies that he believes they can participate w/o endangering safety or fairness.

This is how. bsky.app/profile/appa...

My take on his statement is he’s trying his damndest to thread the needle with that “IF.” I wish he would stand ten toes down on trans rights but the conditional gives an illusion of centrism on the issue (which I think will play well with Texas voters).

Fuck you. If the things you require me to sacrifice "for the greater good" are my healthcare, my safety, my bodily autonomy and my right to exist as an equal human being in your society, then it's not the good at all.

no. no. absolutely not. we're going to teach these politicians that you cannot betray your constituents to win elections. we cannot reward this behavior. we are required to punish it. if you are concerned about his electoral prospects call his office to tell him what a misstep he has made

Oh, look how well capitulating worked out for him.... bsky.app/profile/esqu...

Is that what I said? Or is that you taking it that way because you're upset? What do you honestly want a candidate to do in TEXAS

Like how many people do you see praising Republicans for "confidence" or "telling it like it is"? Tons of those voters switch to Democrat when the Democrat has a backbone, even when the party at large tries to rip it out

Yeah. Being soft on fascism is a sure fire vote winner.

Lifelong Democrat here. I agree with him

It's honest. There are rules that trans athletes have to follow which subject them to drug testing verification. Sometimes athletes cheat. Trans athletes are so rare in sports that I doubt they'd risk their ability to play by cheating.

"we can sacrifice trans lives when people's lives are at stake" -you

And when they say “minors” they are insinuating that 8 year old boys are getting their dicks lopped off at elementary school. So yeah it’s usually a fantastical case they dream about anyway. 👍

Unfortunately to some people here in Texas it is a relevant issue. Parents of girls are being fed a fear diet of how a boy changing to a girl is going to ruin their daughter’s life. It’s ridiculous but in speaking with other mom’s here it is unfortunately a real concern and he has to address it.

like so many Dem candidates, he desperately needed some goddamn media coaching so that he could do exactly this politely saying "that's a stupid waste of time, here's what you should be talking about" is critically important, but instead they'd rather keep stepping on obvious rakes

And yes, people's lives can depend on this race. Which makes Talarico's complete failure to stand by those people all the more galling.

Did he shit on them? He basically gave the same kind of non-answer you're suggesting, just in a slightly different way.

Tired of people pretending there's an answer he could have given here that would have stopped people yelling at him

You support child abuse you know that right.

When someone shows you what they are, believe them. He's shown the rest of us he'll throw trans people under the bus when he's confronted on the issue. Why would we trust him to stand firm elsewhere?

Texas appreciates people who stand up for each other

If you want to pander to anti-queer bigotry for votes, have at it. Do NOT bully queer people into telling you it’s okay. YOU make the choice to try to win that way; don’t expect queer people to make you feel good about knifing us in the back.

A voice of reason.....how refreshing. Talarico sounds like a smart guy with a good handle on nearly every issue. While thoughts of Fetterman and Sinema still trigger latent PTSD in me, if he can notch a win in Texas and knock off a creep like Paxton, I say give him a shot.

Not trans people's live apparently. They must be sacrificed amiright? Nah fuck this nose. Shaving off our must vulnerable minorities to feed to bigots is not a winning strategy for "us" its a strategy for you. Just say your comfort and safety is all that matters.

PERIOD!!!! let’s continue throwing trans people under the bus so we can *checks notes* save lives! 😻

Trans people's lives, perhaps?

The mistake in this is ACCEPTING RIGHT WING FRAMING on this. The way to answer these right wing questions is to attack the shit out of the framing because it is BS. They don't even have to take a stand, just attack the lies the question is based on and call out the GOP for being creepy and weird.

Nobody who has a hard line of not voting for a candidate if they aren't anti-trans enough is ever voting for Talarico. What is wrong with your brain?

Eat shit

I should light myself on fire so you can be comfortable? Convince me.

Why does he need to not be super firm on this When has throwing trans people under the bus actually been a successful tactic for democrats

I doubt that there are any. There certainly aren't enough to swing an election. And if I'm wrong, and there are a bunch of voters who put their bigotry ahead of everything else, why would we want them in our coalition? Those would be awful people.

Then we will have Paxton. And what will you have gained?

People's lives literally can depend on this race! ...No- not THOSE people. NORMAL people. Geez.

Safety isn't an issue. Trans people being excluded from anybsports participation IS an issue. Trans people's lives don't count to you?

This is a non fucking issue. Nobody gives a shit except for transphobes and instead should address actual fucking issues like the pedo in the White House

Stop spreading hate and pandering to bigots I don't care which state he's in, there are a lot of Republicans in Oregon and a lot of Democrats in Texas. Choosing hate is wrong every. Fucking. Time.

Anyone who is bothered enough at the thought of a trans woman playing in women's sports to base their vote on it was never going to vote for the Democrat to begin with. Taking this position gets you exactly 0 new votes.

You've got it exactly backward, big daddy

Pathetic

Shut the fuck up nerd

Exactly, these people don’t live in Texas and don’t understand every word is a grenade here.

Who I throw under the bus to get elected shouldn’t matter to you, a group I am currently outwardly cool with!

So you have no info or opinion on safety or fairness re trans women in women’s sports, but you’re positing millions of independents and Dems in TX will vote for a corrupt Trump fraud like Paxton, or not turn out for Talarico re the trans sports issue, while they struggle to pay for gas n groceries.

Yeah, this is the same logic we hear every election and there's absolutely no evidence that it helps Dems in the short term, and it certainly hurts in the long term. People notice the pattern of Democrats getting bullied. That's BAD.

So its also fine for dem politicians to speak out against school integration if it poses risks to children? Im not saying the politicians support segregation, just that they speak out in favor of it.

Here: "If there were safety or fairness issues, I would agree that we should look into that, but the alleged issues that have been raised so far *have* been looked into and have been resolved to the satisfaction of reasonable people. I'm not interested in refuting zombie bigot talking points again."

Anyone who won’t vote for Talarico over any perceived support of trans wouldn’t vote for him because he’s a Democrat. He gains nothing and could potentially lose by agreeing with anti trans talking points.

How many votes do you think it costs the dems to shift right vs how many 2-time Trump voters do you think he'll pick up? I'd ask Kamala and Biden if you're unsure.

.........no you're a fucking idiot

Trans people's lives matter too.

If this was about Jewish people?

Hispanic independents uncomfortable with trans issues who voted for Trump in ‘24 might.

Yes, agreed. It’s about not mobilizing them to vote for Paxton.

Bless you You are 💯 right But there is no reasoning with a certain group of people, they rather lose and have it much, much, worse than accepting a bit of political ambiguity by the candidate that would help them the most Same ones that stayed home for Hillary and same that stayed home for Kamala

Believe it or not, throwing people under the bus actually doesn’t accomplish jack shit when your opponent’s voters belong to the “tie them up and lay them on the street then run over them repeatedly with the bus” party. He gains nothing by this and only pisses off people who would support him.

‘Christian. Father. Husband. Democrat’ yeah we can tell

Yeah, trans people's lives...

Fuck you bitch i had to flee a state due to this shit, not really an issue? Pay me $90 fucking thousand then

Grow a fucking backbone if you're gonna call yourself an ally

He has to win people with that attitude. It might not be their top issue but it’s something they pay attention to.

Sure, but not a great idea in Texas, unless performance is more important than results.

His ‘if it endangers’ is brilliant.

Why is it ok for me to die

He has to

The problem is that in this scenario either Talarico wins, or you lose bigger. US politics is, unfortunately, a zero sum game. If you sit out a vote - even for a "less shitty" candidate then you're essentially voting for someone that would harm you even more. It sucks and I hate it.

These are the people who cancelled, actually got people fired, for quoting Kirk after his murder. There’s not a logic behind it and entertaining them funnels people into the fucking psycho side. Please, for the love of god understand that.

Stop

"People's lives literally can depend on this race." Which is why he should've made them regret asking instead of accepting the bigoted framing. He betrayed the very people who's lives are in the balance, here.

Yeah always smart to concede that your opponent is right and then disagree with them! That way you make nobody happy so it’s easy to win

fuck off dude. people should stand up for justice, not pandering to bigots.

Except he could have helped Kamala Harris win the last election and protect trans lives instead of bigots All the people who want the Democrats to sacrifice trans people could have helped Kamala win but most didn't like her because she wouldn't sacrifice trans people

You dumb fuck, MY LIFE DEPENDS on this, you're just a fucking tourist!

No he does not. It's why they keep losing here. They pander to the other sides conservative base every damn time here in texas. It's why Collins lost last cycle

So whose rights should he NOT be prepared to throw under the bus in order to win? Do Dems not understand wedge issues?

Shut the fuck up. Oh he's standing in Bavaria! Better talk about how the Jews control the world! Listen to yourself.

people with these profile tags jerk off to queer people suicide statistics while pretending to care about electability

just go be a Republican if you think this is acceptable

💯 (like it or not)

This post, made by on of his idiot consultants giving him bad advice. Republicans will never vote for a democrat. Democrats lose their elections against the couch. You get people excited to vote for you by being bold. This isnt it.

How do people make such broad sweeping statements like this is mind boggling. It's weird how it actually paints the picture of trans people as weak and diminutive