Still a crook any way you look
President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed Ken Paxton in the Republican runoff for U.S. Senate in Texas, ending over a year of furious lobbying and giving the attorney general a significant boost in his campaign against Sen. John Cornyn.
“Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate,” Trump wrote on social media, praising Paxton’s support for ending the Senate filibuster and the GOP’s signature voting restrictions bill, and dinging Cornyn for being late to support his 2024 presidential bid.
“John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough,” Trump said. “John was very late in backing me in what turned out to be a Historic Run for the Republican Nomination, and then, the Presidency, itself, both of which were Landslide Victories and, more importantly, gave us the Country that we have today.”
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Talarico reacted to the endorsement by renewing his contention that “it doesn’t matter who wins this runoff.”
“We already know who we’re running against: the billionaire mega-donors and their corrupt political system,” Talarico said in a statement. “For decades, John Cornyn and Ken Paxton have embodied a broken politics that enriches wealthy donors while costs skyrocket for the rest of us.”
Democrats have made no secret of their preference for Paxton, who they believe is beatable. In a statement, Senate Majority PAC, the campaign arm for Senate Democrats, noted Paxton’s prior scandals and the fact that Trump endorsed against a candidate backed by some $100 million from Republican establishment groups and donors.
“With all the baggage, it’s no wonder that one-in-four John Cornyn voters say they’ll vote for James Talarico if Paxton is the nominee,” SMP spokesperson Lauren French said. “Talarico has $27 million, leads in the polls, and has never once had his own staff call the FBI on him. We’ll take those odds.”
Like I said, it sure took him long enough. We’ll see how much difference it makes. The question of what happens to the loser’s supporters after next Tuesday is a key one. I’ve speculated all along that the anemic general election poll numbers for both Paxton and Cornyn are likely due in part to the unsettled runoff. Will the losers rally ’round the flag, or will some number of them take their ball and go home, or even better defect to the other team? Not all polls suggest there will be a significant effect, so again, we’ll have to wait and see. I do think Paxton is the weaker overall candidate, but we’ve been burned by that belief before. The main thing I know is that this was the big headline that Paxton had been seeking. Now he has it. Let’s all move on. Josh Marshall, who connects this to some other recent Trump behaviors, has more.
I might feel sorry for Cornyn, but he brought this on himself. Feeding a crocodile in the hope that it will never eat you is a fool’s errand.
“Come along and climb on my back and we’ll cross this river.” The scorpion climbed on the frog’s back and off they went to cross the river. About halfway across the river, the scorpion raised its tail and stung the frog. The frog was both astounded and disconsolate.