Bulwark Takes - Democrats Want a Viral Star. Texas Just Gave Them Two.

Episode Date: December 11, 2025

Jasmine Crockett just changed the entire Texas Senate primary and maybe the Democrats’ whole “find a viral candidate” strategy. Sam Stein and Lauren Egan give their takes into why moderates have struggled to find their footing online, why the party is obsessed with digital darlings like Crockett and James Talarico, and whether going viral can actually win elections. Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/BULWARKTAKES. Promo Code BULWARKTAKES

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Your items arrive safe or your money back. Stop by your local, the UPS store for holiday help, shipping holiday gifts. Visit the UPS store.com slash guarantee for full details. Most locations are independently owned. Product, services, prices, and hours of operation may vary. See Center for Details. All right, hey, everybody. It's me, Sam Stein, managing editor at the Bullwark, here with my pal, Lauren Egan, who is the author of The Opposition Newsletter. This is a Bullwork Takes podcast. We're going to start saying that so people know what they're listening to, I guess. Lauren, we're going to talk about your newsletter. But first, how are you doing? It's been a while. I'm doing well. How are you doing?

It was a great seeing you in the office. Lauren, In North the gang came into D.C. I know. I know. We got to do that more often. I know. It feels like removed. You're down in Nashville and I'm up here. I feel like we, you know, you should have thought about it more. Okay. You can come down here anytime. I could come to there. You didn't see so enthused about getting together more often. Lauren's writing about, how would we describe this?

A little bit of Texas Senate primary, a little bit of like how to make kind of moderate people go viral online and the trickiness around that. Let's start with that. So your newsletter is kind of about this interesting phenomenon where there's a bunch of operatives who really want these centrist-minded, non-political people who don't really, you know, do the bells and whistles to figure out how to do the online conversation. And the results have been what? I'd say mix is probably being too generous.

Yeah, but I think it's early. You suggested that we do a subject line that was like, it's not working. I don't think we're there yet. Like, it's early. You're revealing all the, uh, of our behind the subject. like you know what I mean like we're not at primaries yeah I don't know I'm not like ready to be like it's not working they're trying to figure it out but I think it's hard what are they trying to do yeah why don't you just talk about what they're trying to do here there's a recognition that Democrats have to figure out how to navigate the attention economy it's something that Trump and Republicans have been really good at for a really long time and Democrats have frankly just kind of sucked at it aside from a few people right like an AOC or more recently Mum Donnie these kinds of

of folks who tend to be more from the progressive flank of the party are really good at it. They're good at making viral content. It is not a natural thing for more like centrist, moderate minded candidates who are just like not coming out with a super like exciting new policy, like freeze the rent, something that's going to naturally kind of take off online. And so the challenge is how do you make these kinds of candidates that are the, they call them the majority makers, which is fair, I think. These are the kinds of people where if Democrats are going to win the House or win the Senate, they have to win these Trump districts. So how do you make those kinds of candidates really pop? And it's hard. And some of the strategies that they've had is, okay, well, can we

find moderate or centrist candidates that just have really compelling backstories, like something in their biography is going to really resonate with their district, help them get some media attention? Or can we find people that are really kind of heterodox on some issues and aren't afraid of punching the rest of the Democratic Party in the face? And that's how they're going to kind of break out online and get some attention. Yeah, I guess the question is, how do you go viral, right? Like, doesn't that, it comes down to that? Or I guess, what are the ingredients for at least getting the likelihood that you go viral

to be better? And I don't know, is the idea that you have to be a lefty, just the prerequisite for being viral? I think that's part of the concern because, I mean, I can't really think of, I mean, there are some examples, like, I wouldn't call Ruben Gallego a left. but he's good at um not at all but he's good at like sitting there and you know talking about his big ass truck or whatever and that gets a lot of clicks and people engage with that um so there are pockets of examples but i think it just is like a better fit for some of the more

progressives and leftists in the party and i'm wondering a little bit of like if if maybe virality is the wrong way to think about it like maybe the idea is not not just to have moments where you're grabbing the attention, but to be more ubiquitous and more conversant in the online conversation. Like, I mean, Mamdani is an interesting example. He definitely had moments that definitely went viral. But his, he was sort of just all over the map, right? Like, he was on every platform.

He was, you know, you just felt like, you know, he was there. I guess I'm going back a little bit here with like Beto O'Rourke when he was running for Senate. He was, you know, he definitely, he was. live streaming everything. I don't know. I don't know what the right formula is, but it gets back to your point about the problem these people have, which is that they're not, you know, who in their real life is going to be practicing these traits, right? Unless you're going from being a streamer to being a politician, it's odd to be, you know, doing stuff to make yourself seem cool or get up attention online. Yeah, and I talked to Connor Lane about this a few months ago. And my

conversation with him just has always stuck in my head because he talked about this was shortly after mom donnie won the primary so this is back over the summer but he was like yeah i was doing all the right things when i was running in the uh pennsylvania primary for a senate against fetterman he was like i was doing all the right things i was talking to voters i thought i was checking all the boxes but i wasn't recording all of it so like people didn't know and he was like my lesson my takeaway is that like i guess i just have to like constantly record all the things that i'm doing to your point like it's like this aspect of like being ubiquitous and it's like he's like I just feel weird though like picking up the camera and like doing a selfie style video like that doesn't come naturally to sort of like my style of politics no it's inherently weird it's really odd you don't love doing it you don't love recording selfie videos I think I think you're making a dig at me but I'm going to ignore that um this is our relationship here um all right So that brings us to Texas, because this is the prism through which we told the story, which is, well, why don't you tell the story?

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So over the summer, there was this man named Terry Vertz, who was, a former NASA astronaut on paper seemed great more more of a moderate definitely I would say more probably on paper in line with where like the average Texas voter is so he announced that he's going to run for Senate in Texas in the Democratic primary he doesn't really take off he's kind of awkward is that an astronaut pun yeah it was did you get it you picked up on it okay I took it out of the text but I'll allow it here yeah what the hell come on I thought we weren't supposed to, you know, show behind the scenes. But okay. Um, you started it. Okay. So he doesn't really take off. His social media game is like pretty mid. Um, actually that's kind of generous to him. Um,

it's a little uncomfortable and awkward. He does the whole like direct to camera. I don't know. I mean, maybe I'm being like kind of mean to him. He just looks like, you know, he's, you know, it's, it's, it's not a like very, it's not compelling the content he's putting out. Um, and he doesn't really connect with voters. And this is sort of around the time when James Tellerico is getting in the raise. At this point, he's, you know, gone on Joe Rogan. We've all, most of us have seen his, his TikTok videos, he's super viral. And Terry Verts ends up dropping out and running for a house seat instead. And obviously then this week, Colin Allred drops out just as Jasmine Crockett announces that she's also getting in.

So I think it's just kind of like perfect storm of all the more moderate-minded candidates who are not that great online who aren't like super good at going viral are no longer in the Texas Senate race. And the ones who are good are super viral. Yeah. Someone used the term digital darlings to describe them to me, which. Yeah, I think that's right. I mean, they're very, and look, it's not, I don't know how old Colin all right is.

So I shouldn't speak to and two broad strokes. But it's not, you know, Tala Rico and Grockett are both young, right? they're of this age, they came up through this new media landscape. So it makes some sense. I don't want to paint me too broad a brush, I suppose. Like, I've seen a lot of people point out that Jasmine Crockett is, while, you know, a very, you know, provocative congresswoman, and she definitely can throw punches and she's made a name for herself as a fighter.

She's not a down-the-line lefty. So it's not like her ability to communicate online and get attention and navigate the attention I mean, isn't necessarily because she's embraced Medicare for all. In fact, I don't even know if she has. It's because she's a bit of a bomb thrower. And Tala Rico is totally different. He's like the opposite of a bomb thrower, but he's very conversant. And he has these, you know, speeches that he gives around like Texas education policy

and privatization of schools that manage to really take off and get in your algorithmic feeds. So there's different ways of going viral, right? Like, it's not just, oh, you have to be super lefty. It's, these people have some sort of recognition of the formula you need to use to seem authentic online. Yeah, I don't think it's necessarily just that you have to be a lefty, but, um, it helps. It helps. And I mean, Crockett's whole thing is like a lot of what's gotten her attention and kind of, I mean, people say this in sort of a condescending way. But I do think it's a, like, descriptive way to sort of.

describe it is that like it's the MSNBC like wine moms that love Crockett like she's really good at picking a fight with trust she does um and there is a huge audience for that and that's what she's tapped into but yeah i think the point about like she's certainly not like the progressive left's dream of what type of candidate they want to be running um yeah i'm not totally sure i know the consensus is now well she's just going to you know lap tarrico and win the nomination I don't think that's true. I don't think that's true. I don't think that's true.

I think it's going to be. I would say she's favored right now. Why? I mean, more name ID. Like, I think that's, I think she can probably raise. I mean, I'm curious to see like what these first few days of fundraising look like for her. But I think she can raise nationwide probably more than he can. But I don't know.

The first, like, what's today? Wednesday? Thursday, the first few days of her, thanks, the first few days of her campaign have been a little, she's had some stumbles, you know, like, I don't know how primary voters in Texas are going to respond to her getting up there and saying, I don't need to win. I don't need to win over any Republicans. How you make voters who previously voted for Trump, particularly given that you have been an outspoken critic and he has inserted himself, just take your campaign video, So as is, he has inserted himself at every turn when it comes to your commentary.

How will you convert those who are supportive of him to voters for you? Yeah, I don't know that we'll necessarily convert all of Trump supporters. That's not our goal. Do you need to? Our goal is to definitely talk to people. No, we don't. We don't need to. These ultimately are people that live in a red state that are somewhat tuned into the reality that in order to win, you probably do.

You probably should convert some Republican voters. It would help. Even if you don't think you need to, maybe make an effort. There's the other element of this which came at the very end of the piece, which I want to play around with, which is from Matt Bennett of Third Way, which is like questioning the utility of being ubiquitous on the Internet. And, you know, there are some downsides to having a lengthy Internet trail and saying things online all the time.

And I don't think that should go unnoticed, right? Totally. The example he pointed to was the Tennessee special race, which I think is an excellent example. The progressive candidate that won the primary had this long, long record of like, I think she had a podcast for a minute. I'd just been posting online for forever, including a lot of stuff in the summer of 2020 that all came back to bite her in the ass when she got to the general. And I'm not saying, like we've, we've all kind of. have this conversation. What a more moderate candidate have won? Maybe, I don't know. But that certainly wasn't helpful. No, it didn't help. I guess there's a distinction between past, you know, your archival online footage and

your ability to be, you know, a conversant online candidate in the, in the moment. Yeah. And I think that's, that's the distinction I would just say in response to Matt. All right. Any other thoughts on this? I mean, I guess we're all doomed. Anyone who's ever done, like, the amount of online posting you and I have done are probably never going to run for office, basically. Don't worry.

Or maybe we will because we have more fluency. You did? Smart. That's true. I know. I mean, it still exists somewhere. Please, no one. Yeah, the internet's forever.

All right. Any last thoughts before I let you go? No, I think the main thing is just, I don't think the Senate to this Texas primary is a foregone conclusion. We shall see. I mean, it's not like Tala Rico can't navigate the online. conversation. He's very deft at that. It's a question of, you know, how far he gets pulled in that direction of Crockett. So we shall see. Lauren, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Everyone should be subscribing to her newsletter already. It's the opposition. It's great. If you want to know what

the hell's going on with the Democratic Party, frankly, folks, like that is one of the few newsletters that really is going to get you the truth. You should subscribe to the bulwark too, and the bulwark takes. Thank you much. Talk to you soon. Take care of Lauren. Bye.