Talarico’s victory sends message about style, not ideology

Texas state Rep. James Talarico’s win over Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Texas Democratic primary was hailed Wednesday by some as a victory for moderates over progressives in the party’s never-ending civil war.

Yet Talarico’s victory might have been more of a win for candidates who are moderate in style and tone, not policy.

Talarico is hardly a centrist. He’s a progressive who has backed transgender rights and Medicare for all, issues his GOP opponent in the general election is sure to raise on the campaign trail in the coming months.

But his style is not as fiery as Crockett’s, and many Democrats saw his candidacy as the better bet in a general election because of that. That might even be why he won the primary.

“He connects to anyone,” Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor and former owner of the Dallas Mavericks, told The Hill. “He can sit at a family dinner where half are [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)] supporters and half are Trump supporters and make the dinner civil.” 

“The only criticism you can make is that maybe he is too nice, which in this age of division is a good problem to have,” Cuban said.

Democratic strategist Joel Payne put it this way: “Voting for Talarico wasn’t about voting for progressive versus moderate.

“He talked about things like faith that was culturally resonant there and his ability to link his faith to his politics successfully plays into the larger signaling that, ‘Hey, I can attract a larger coalition and I can tell the story of progressivism in a way that is more palatable to a larger........

© The Hill