By: Sam Massey

The Texas Senate race has been an absolute firestorm over the past two weeks. Watching the situation between former candidate Colin Allred and State Rep. James Talarico spiral outward, sparked by a conspiratorial TikTok post that conveniently boosts Jasmine Crockett, you end up at the same question over and over: why are we even here? Why is Colin Allred posting insecure cringe to boost Jasmine Crockett? Why are Texas Democrats seemingly determined to hurt their own chances just to elevate a candidate who, in the coldest possible general election terms, looks like a risky bet at best?

Jasmine Crockett should not be the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Texas. While she has national appeal and a great knack for debate, she simply does not have the policy. Just open Crockett’s campaign website. You are immediately prompted into two actions. The first is to donate. The second is to watch a launch video built around Donald Trump talking about her, with Crockett staring into the middle distance like she is absorbing something profound before she finally meets the camera. It is staged like a myth being born.

In contrast, going through Talarico’s campaign website feels almost boring in the best way. It is methodical and clear-sighted. There are expansive paragraphs on policy with actual substance, and in places there are videos pulled from speeches he has given that show he can carry an argument without relying on a viral moment. There is also a section where you can find events and town halls his campaign is hosting, which only makes Crockett’s online presence feel even more lopsided. It is heavy on fundraising and aesthetics, and light on the basic mechanics of persuasion. If you are asking what a serious Democratic campaign in Texas should look like, it is the unglamorous stuff. It is agenda, message discipline, and a visible effort to meet voters where they are.

That is what makes Crockett’s launch video so telling. The video is not really about Texas at all. It is about attention. Between Trump hurling insults and doing the usual routine, the campaign makes sure to include the clip where he calls her “the new star of the Democratic Party.”

You can practically see the strategy in real time. The point is not just that Trump dislikes her and she can position herself as the anti-Trump candidate. The point is that Trump is validating her status as a star within the party, even if he is doing it while sneering.

But Trump insulting you is not a platform. Trump praising you is not a credential. We know both of these by now. Trump clips are not childcare costs, property taxes, the grid, border security, housing, or healthcare. They is not a plan to win statewide. They is a plan to dominate a feed. If the opening act of your campaign is essentially “watch me be famous,” then you are telling voters that fame is the product.

This is where the situation stops being annoying and becomes actively counterproductive. As of early February, Crockett’s site still does not offer voters a real policy platform. There is biography. There is vibe. There is a “Why I’m Running” narrative that gestures toward Texas going in the wrong direction and promises affordability and progress in broad strokes. That is the part that should set off alarms. Texas Democrats do not have the luxury of running on vibes alone. They need persuasion. They need specificity. They need an answer to the basic question every skeptical voter asks, which is what exactly are you going to do for me, and how are you going to do it?

To be fair to Representative Crockett, there are real strengths in what she does. She is sharp on camera, fast on her feet, and clearly comfortable in political combat in a way a lot of Democrats simply are not right now. She has a national profile too, and there is no doubt that she can raise money. In an era where Republicans have turned politics into an entertainment product, having someone who knows how to fight in that arena is not nothing.

But that is also exactly why this moment demands more than vibes and visibility. We are not in a normal political climate where the stakes are mostly about marginal tax rates or the outcome of a highway bill. The country is in a period of accelerating democratic backsliding, and the broader trend line is ugly. State legislatures of both parties are testing how far they can push election rules and political violence is not a taboo the way it used to be. It does not help the most powerful figure in the Republican Party is still openly flirting with the logic of fascism, and apparently does not mind all that much being called a fascist. The point is not to be melodramatic. The point is that this is a high-stakes moment that requires seriousness, especially when Gambit’s model predicts Democrats have less than a 2% chance at retaining the Senate.

The substance of this run matters just as much as the aesthetic. Talarico has already pledged not to send any more funding to Netanyahu and Israel to help them starve and bomb Palestinians, so why will Crockett not, and why did Allred not do so when he was running? Why are we disqualifying Talarico over an unsubstantiated claim that he called Allred a “mediocre Black man,” while just last year at a podium Jasmine Crockett said the United States needs migrants because “we’re done picking cotton.”

We are treating a TikTok rumor with no sourcing like it is the end of the world, while brushing past the incredible amount of comments in her own past that can fracture the democratic coalition in Texas. If the standard is “can this person win and govern in a moment like this,” then it is backwards to obsess over an allegation and ignore the actual signals of seriousness, judgment, and priorities.

If your campaign is built around your own celebrity, your own storyline, and your own right to the spotlight, it invites an uncomfortable question. Is this a campaign about beating Republicans in a red stronghold, or are you willing to lose that race just so you can secure a MS NOW slot? I’m sure they’d let you on if you just asked.

In a moment when people are anxious about whether institutions will hold, this form of politics is annoying and so 10-years-ago. That is the exact kind of self-centered political culture that creates openings for authoritarians in the first place, because it teaches voters that politics is performance, not responsibility.

This article was written by Sam Massey.