In Texas, Democrats discover the power of the ‘nice guy’ candidate

When Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico declared victory in Texas, last week, he promised voters a clean break from the era of Trumpian political toxicity. Instead, Talarico offered the hope that “a new politics is being born,” where the “real fight … is not left versus right, it’s top versus bottom.”

Behind him, a wall of supporters held signs referencing the teaching of Jesus to “Love thy neighbor.”

At first glance, the centrist Talarico may have little in common with Democrats’ other breakout political celebrities of late, including the democratic socialist mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger. But Talarico, Mamdani and Spanberger represent the key to booting President Trump’s vengeful MAGA movement from Congress in 2026 and the White House in 2028: Democrats have rediscovered the power of being nice.  

In a political era defined by nasty personal insults and a race to emulate the worst elements of Trump’s broken character, the Democrats performing best are doing so by focusing on the values that unite Americans. They are upfront about how polarization and personal invective hate have broken our government and disillusioned millions of regular people. Talarico, Mamdani and Spanberger are bringing empathy back to the political mainstream — and voters can’t get enough.

As it turns out, being a well-meaning and earnest person still matters. Spanberger’s historic win in Virginia last year was in part because of Republicans who supported her despite disagreeing with some of her policy ideas. While Spanberger’s opponent spent the campaign bashing transgender Virginians and calling........

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