The Blue Rose in Texas

 
On Saturday, Texas held several Special Elections.  And it got widely reported that the Democrats added a seat in the U.S. House (which was expected, since it was a very Blue seat and two Democrats were running against each other) – and also that Democrats flipped a previously-Red state Senate seat, with Democrat Taylor Rehmet defeating MAGOP Leigh Wambsganss.
 
But the news was more notable than just that, spectacular even, and in several ways.
 
First, though, some brief perspective.  As I’ve written previously, Democrats have gained an average of 16 points in every Special Election since Trump took office.  But early last month, I noticed two Special Elections that got little attention since they were just local state races, in Kentucky and Iowa.  (Both Red states.)  And the Democratic candidates in those improved on the previous average -- and gained a stunning 26 and 27 points respectively over previous elections. 
 
That bring us to Texas over the weekend.  In this state Special Election, it was a district that Trump had won by 17 points, but the Democrat not only won, but did so by 14 points.  Which means they gained – 31 points!!
 
So, it wasn’t just a flip, or only a huge gain of votes – but an even bigger gain than the previous gains in January…which were bigger than the previous average gains for the past year!  So, real-world results where people have cast ballot to vote (not mere polls) are showing, not merely huge gain, but an consistently increasing huge gain, making the results  a growing pattern, which is…spectacular.
 
And also spectacular is that Trump tweeted his endorsement of the MAGOP candidate (and did so three times)…and with that endorsement in deep Red Texas she dropped 31 points!!!!
 
But wait, there’s more!  Because almost as notable – and spectacular – is how massively Democrat Rehmet was outspent by MAGOP Wambsganss.  Are you sitting down?  (I assume so…)  Wambsganss spent $730,000, while Rehmet only spent…$70,000!.  (Both sides got third party funding and spending, separate of these amounts, but again here MAGOPs significant outraised Democrats, with millions overall.)  This is a gargantuan difference…in a deep Red district.
 
In an interview after the election, both Wambsganss and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called this result a “wakeup call.”  Honestly, if they and MAGOPs overall are only now just getting a “wakeup call,” man alive, they have drastically overslept.  And are far behind the starting line.
 
Moreover, she was saying so confidently that the results will be different in November (which presumes she’ll be the candidate – hardly a certainty when you’ve dropped 31 points).  Now, yes, all candidates always try to sound confident.  And the results could indeed be different.  But in addition to “confident,” candidates should also sound realistic – since Wambsganss (if she’s the candidate) now has a 14-point hurdle to make up.  And saying the results will be different ignores the reality that “different” could mean worse.  After all, she was in a Red district Trump won by 17 points, got Trump’s repeated-endorsement, and outspent her opponent 10-to-1…with him only spending a paltry $70.000 – and conditions would seem likely to get more problematic.  After all, Trump is surrounded by unqualified incompetents, there’s still the Epstein files, an unstable economy,  DHS attacks on Americans, Trump’s approval is 37%, and his dementia will worsen.  So, “This will be different” in November is a cavalier attitude to take without adding, “We have a lot of unhappy voters who we have to get back into the fold.  They sent a message, and we heard it clearly.”
 
And again, all this is separate of the aforementioned Texas Democrats picking up another House seat.  That was expected, as noted.  But it’s still deeply meaningful, since when Speaker Mike Johnson swears in the new representative Christian Meneffee, the MAGOP lead in the House will be down to 218-215.
 
And it can’t be repeated enough, all of this is in…Texas.
 
To be clear, none of this is to suggest Democrats can coast, especially in Texas.  The last thing that Democrats can do anywhere is coast.  Because MAGOPs are likely panicking at all these results and will be ratcheting up their efforts to manipulate the Mid-Term election, including trying to take over local election boards.
 
That said, there was a good interview on Ali Velshi’s show yesterday with Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (who will be running for governor) where she talked ab about measures states are taking for being prepared against the attacks they know are coming.
 
Worth adding is that it’s not only harder to try to attack many hundreds of state and local elections, rather than one presidential election.  And also, it’s much harder to screw around with results when one of the candidates is winning by 15-20 points…  Not just because it’s logistically harder, but harder too because the public won’t stand for trying to block a landslide in their district.
 
MAGOPs are absolutely making plans to attack elections and results.  But as Jocelyn Benson noted, Democrats know this full well and are planning in return.  And winning by huge margins.  It will be hell for the next nine months – but every hellish thing Trump does (and we know he will…) will also hurt him.
 
But before we go, in admittedly a slight diversion, we have one tidbit of information you will almost surely get nowhere else in a discussion of the Texas state Senate Special Election, but right here!!!  Because you deserve it and because, well…as you know, I’m oh-so me.
 
When Democrat Taylor Rehmet beat Leigh Wambsganss, this was not the first time I’ve heard the name “Wambsganss.” 
 
In 1920, Bill Wambganss – a second baseman for the Cleveland Indians – became the first player in World Series history (and still the only, 105 years later) to make an unassisted triple play!!!

​Yes, really.

We at Elisberg Industries are a full-service information enterprise.  And so, armed with that tidbit, you can go out and impress and astound your friends and neighbors!

We now return you to our regularly scheduled article...
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