Thursday's online column was about a politician I admire named James Talarico from Texas, who caught the attention of Joe Rogan and ended up on his world-famous podcast. It was a look at Talarico's brand of Democrat, and how his Christian faith forms the basis for his politics. Zoomed out, it was also a snapshot of how national politics define local politics, instead of the other way around, and how unfortunate that is for us in Arkansas.

Rogan lamented how bad the Democratic party is, how the lack of options is paralyzing so many voters. Talarico's solution for this is for the national party to listen to Democrats in red and purple states and adjust the party accordingly--to pull back from the far left and re-create a bigger tent where moderates can find a home.

Then this happened, which illustrates exactly what Talarico was talking about--the same stuff I tried to be about when I ran for office in 2020 at the behest of Arkansas Democrats.

I shared a post from Will Watson on Facebook. Will is a kindred spirit in that he loves Jesus, his family, and Arkansas, and hates what he sees happening in the name of "Christian values" that hurts Arkansans.

He is working hard to do something about it. Accompanied by a picture of railroad tracks like the ones that cut right through my town, here is Will's post:

Next week, I am hitting the road again to find good candidates all over Arkansas. I have plans to be in Franklin County, where Republicans are forcing a billion-dollar prison on a community that doesn't want it. I'll pop over to Conway and Jonesboro and a few other places too.

Here's where my politics have landed: I think if you're not furious at the people running the........

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