Staunch TX Republican breaks with GOP to vote for Talarico

[0:00] A lot of activity in Texas. We're a week out from Election Day. Already many people have voted and [0:04] out front now is Thomas Phillips, the former Republican Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme [0:07] Court. He is supporting Tallarico in the Texas Senate race and I very much appreciate your time [0:12] Justice Phillips. So let me just ask you as you're a longtime Republican and I know that that's an [0:19] important part of who you are. What is it about James Tallarico, who is a Democrat, that has made [0:25] you decide to support him? Well, there's several reasons. First, I think Congress has not been [0:32] active enough in several decades in legislating. And in particular, the Senate has not done an [0:39] adequate job of advising and consenting on presidential appointments. So I start off [0:45] thinking this, if ever there's a time for more Democrats in the Senate, it's right now. But second [0:51] and from a much broader view, James Tallarico has impressed me as a candidate who wants to be [0:59] representative of all Texans. And when you have one party that nominates a moderate, who's trying to [1:06] work together to solve the many problems our country has, and the other party nominates someone [1:12] who's purely a party ideologue, I think that's a pretty easy choice. And third are just the respective [1:22] qualities of the candidates. Tallarico's campaign has addressed the issues. Both campaigns have [1:29] been pretty negative. But he's devoted a lot of time to talking about bringing Texas together, [1:36] solving the problems we have. And the Republican campaign has been almost entirely negative. [1:43] So it's interesting, Justin. I appreciate you laying out all three of those things. Actually, [1:46] the first point, I think, is one that could speak to people across the country as well, [1:49] as they talk about what is the role of Congress as a check and balance, and frustration that so many [1:55] Americans have with that role's lack of fulfillment. You know, you laid out your decision in an op-ed, [2:00] and on this, you said, Justice, that you would vote for Republicans this election, just not Ken Paxton [2:06] among them. And then you continued to say why you wouldn't vote for him. You wrote back, you wrote in part, [2:13] quote, Paxton's longstanding reputation will embarrass Texas in ways our state simply cannot afford. [2:19] Even the most fervent Republican would do well this year to remember President John Kennedy's warning [2:24] that sometimes party loyalty demands too much. Now, Justice Phillips, when you say Ken Paxton's [2:32] reputation will embarrass Texas, what worries you most? Well, it's just been the ongoing litany of [2:41] controversy surrounding him ever since he was in the state Senate before and during his first race for [2:48] attorney general in 2014. And it seems to just be a slow, steady drip, drip of accusations and [2:56] complaints and worse than complaints, charges brought by former employees against him. [3:06] And it seems to me they've not been adequately answered. And right now, we need a senator for [3:13] the second most populous and second largest state in the nation who will hit the ground running and [3:19] not be distracted by those kinds of controversies. So, you know, when you talk about the negative tone [3:25] of the campaign, you know, we've heard a lot of things, you know, J.D. Vance has sort of outright [3:31] said that, you know, made comments that make it clear that, you know, he's saying that James, [3:37] that Mr. Tallarico is gay. And, you know, you've heard a variety of other insults. Let me just [3:43] play a few of them. The other guy's a freak. Tallarico. They call him Tallarico. Can you imagine? [3:54] He's a vegetarian. I love you too, sir. In a totally platonic way, to be clear. I'm the vice president, [4:05] not James Tallarico. Because obviously the president and the vice president of the United [4:11] States, what do you make of the tone of those attacks, the tenor of those attacks coming from [4:15] the leaders of the Republican Party? Well, I think it's unfortunate. As I said, [4:21] there are a number of really difficult issues facing our state and nation. And the parties have [4:27] different solutions, by and large, to those. And that debate would allow people to cast an [4:33] intelligent vote. Then they can weigh into, they can factor into that, the respective character of [4:41] the candidates and how important that is to them, how overriding a factor that is. But to have [4:48] nothing but attacks, really, that my party has brought in this Senate race ever since its inception, [4:55] I think does a disservice to the whole body politic. Well, Justice Phillips, I appreciate your time. And [5:02] thank you very much for being willing to come on and sharing your thoughts about this. Thank you. [5:06] My first two political sources tonight are Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist, [5:11] and Kevin Madden, who is the former campaign advisor to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. [5:16] And Kevin, you know, when you hear the president, as he was talking there about how much the United [5:19] States is making off this war, what do you think Texans, who the president is speaking with tonight, [5:25] or in their state, have to say to that? Well, look, I think Texans, probably more than [5:30] many other states have an appreciation for the energy economy. They recognize how much work and [5:36] investment goes in, not only from people, but from infrastructure into producing the energy that the [5:41] American economy needs in order to run. But when you think about how voters look at this and how they [5:48] live their daily lives, they only really have one metric by which they gauge whether or not the economy [5:55] is working for them. And it's often the price of gas. And so I think right now, the everyday reminder [6:02] that they're getting when they go to the gas pump to fill up their car, fill up their truck, [6:07] and seeing those prices high, that is, for them, it is a strain on many, many, many budgets. [6:14] And so when they hear the president talking the way he does, that just creates a very discordant [6:20] understanding of where politicians, priorities and politicians, and sort of is Washington working [6:28] for us, it creates that tension right now. And when you're one week from election day in the titular [6:33] head of the Republican Party with many members of the House of Representatives and the Senate running [6:39] for reelection underneath that Republican banner, that does create some electoral challenges, [6:45] to say the least. [6:46] Well, I mean, Paul Begala, speaking of those electoral challenges, James Tallarico, [6:52] the Democrat running for Senate in Texas, says this is an election, basically, he describes as a fight [6:57] between David and Goliath. He's running, of course, against Ken Paxton, the president's chosen Republican [7:03] candidate in that state. You're our resident Texan here tonight. Do you think these two rallies today [7:08] that the president held will be enough to get Ken Paxton over the finish line? [7:12] I don't. And I understand what the president's trying to do. He's trying to rally the base, [7:15] and I respect that. The problem is a good bit of his base is angry with him and even angrier [7:21] with Ken Paxton. You know, I don't think that more Trump out there is good for the Republican [7:26] Party. Trump is the problem, not the solution. And I think Tallarico is probably perfectly happy to [7:33] see the president come to his state. You pointed out gas prices are up. They're up for Texans, too. [7:39] And by the way, it doesn't create jobs in Texas to bring oil from Venezuela any more than it helps [7:45] American beef producers in Texas that he's importing beef. It's like he doesn't even get [7:49] his audience. And it seems to, I think, just disrespect them. You know, my father spent his [7:55] whole life in that business. He was a salesman in an oil patch. And you want those rigs turned to [8:00] the right. And that's good. He said that. But when you're unloading a tanker full of Venezuelan oil, [8:04] it doesn't exactly create jobs for the folks in the oil patch. Watch Landman, Mr. President. It's [8:09] a great show. You'll learn a little something. Kevin, what do you make of that? Do you think [8:13] that that is something that the voters there are impacted by? You know, I think, again, [8:21] you know, if you want to understand how your economy is working, open up your fridge and fill up [8:26] your car with gas. So I think when you look at how this campaign is right now is being conducted [8:31] in many of these issues. Gas prices are just one part of it. It's the everyday nature of the [8:35] affordability issue that is creating a challenge right now. Again, you go to fill up your car with [8:41] gas, prices are higher. You go to the supermarket to pick up some food, food prices are higher. [8:45] Health care costs, energy costs, education costs. These are the strains right now that are being [8:52] placed on family budgets. And what folks want to know in an election cycle right now is, do you [8:59] understand the problems of people like me, right? And what are you doing to fix it? And I think [9:03] that's what this campaign has been about. And, you know, every time that the folks in Washington [9:10] aren't talking about that or the folks on the campaign trail aren't addressing those affordability [9:15] concerns very directly with voters, it's a missed opportunity. Yeah. And, you know, as we've been in [9:21] this, you know, watching these two rallies, the president was just in Lubbock for his second stop [9:25] tonight. And Paul, you know, one thing he's been talking about a lot is Ohio Senator John [9:30] Houston, the Republican, he's trying to pull across the line there, his physique. But Ken [9:35] Paxton caught a stray in the middle of all of this today. This is what the president just [9:38] said on stage a few moments ago. Studying his anatomy and explaining it to the audience. [9:47] And the audience loved it. By the way, he went up 12 points that day. He went from being down [9:54] to being up. Maybe I should do that with Ken Paxton. But I'm not sure your body is going [10:06] to qualify. Paul, you're a longtime political strategist. What did you think of that? [10:12] Well, when he's right, he's right. I know. Paxton's a beautiful human being and we love [10:17] him. But good night. Is he trying? Is he trying to tank the race for the Republicans? I mean, [10:24] believe me, nobody wants to hear about John Houston's rear end, much less we certainly don't [10:29] want to hear about Ken Paxton's. It's as if he's trying. And here he is. You know, think [10:35] if you're Tallarico, you have the most powerful man on earth coming into your state for two [10:39] rallies today. You have the wealthiest man on earth, Elon Musk, spending millions and [10:44] millions and millions. Somebody told me it was over 100 million, maybe more, attacking [10:48] him. And then he's got as his opponent the most corrupt politician in Texas. And he needs [10:53] help. Tallarico does. Now, I have to say he's leading in nine out of the last 10 polls in [10:59] the 10th. They're tied. So I can't find a poll that's got Paxton winning. And I don't [11:03] think that President Trump telling us that his his his rear end is not as nice as John [11:08] Houston's is actually going to put him over the finish line. I can look there very few [11:12] guarantees in politics. I can 100 percent guarantee this election is not coming down to either [11:16] one of those candidates anatomy. It had to be said. Thank you, Kevin, for that. You [11:22] know, one thing that was notable to me about this race today is there is a former Texas [11:27] Supreme Court chief justice. His name is Tom Phillips. He put out an op ed endorsing James [11:32] Tallarico today. He said that that was because, quote, Paxton's longstanding reputation will [11:37] embarrass Texas in ways our state simply cannot afford. Do you think, Paul, that that's going [11:43] to swing any of those Democratic or any of those Republican voters when they hear that? [11:48] Yeah, I know Chief Justice Phillips. He's a very conservative jurist. He was he was supported [11:54] by Bush in the Republican Party. Certainly no liberal. He's no Democrat, but he's a man [11:57] of integrity and he cares about the rule of law. And I think this creates I think what [12:02] the shrinks are telling us is a permission structure. Right. It makes it OK for Normie [12:08] Republicans, for Cornyn Republicans, for Chief Justice Phillips Republicans, for Bush [12:12] Republicans to either support Tallarico as President Bush's own brother is doing and [12:17] President Bush's daughter or at the least stay home. Like if you can't quite stomach voting [12:21] for Democrat, I respect that. I think they're telling you can stay home. So, yes, that permission [12:26] structure is extraordinary to allow Tallarico, who then makes it easy. Right. He's not in [12:32] your face. He's certainly not far leftist DSA type. He's a you know, he's what he is. He's [12:36] a seminarian. He used to teach middle school. So that makes it kind of an easier journey for [12:40] those voters, too. Kevin, I mentioned that we have viewers submitting questions throughout [12:45] the hour. They have a lot of questions. Of course, we're watching next Tuesday and a bunch [12:49] of these races, including in Texas. One of them asked, you know, how long should it really take [12:53] for gas prices to go down? What's a reasonable lead time in terms of what this is looking like? [12:59] Well, there's a lot that goes into the production lines. There's a lot that goes into everything [13:05] from insuring tankers to trans transporting energy around the globe. It's a very dynamic [13:11] marketplace. It's a very complex marketplace. So it doesn't just happen overnight. I think that's [13:17] one of the things that politicians always have a hard time with on the campaign trail. [13:21] They want to make promises in the you know, in the room with 100 people in a gymnasium somewhere [13:26] in Corpus Christi. But they also have to recognize that that these are much more difficult problems [13:33] to solve. So, you know, it is one of those things where it is going to take some time. I mean, [13:38] refining capacity takes a while to build. We saw the the disruption that many of these conflicts [13:44] in both the Middle East and as well as in Eastern Europe have had on on the infrastructure that [13:49] doesn't get repaired or, you know, replenished overnight. So this is a this is a long term [13:57] dynamic market that we're going to have to watch. [13:59] Well, I mean, to that point about what politicians are saying on the campaign trail, [14:03] Paul, another viewer is asking, what is the Democratic plan to lower prices for Americans? [14:08] Because that is the number one thing that you're seeing Democrats run on. If they win on Tuesday, [14:13] do they have a plan in place to to act on those promises? [14:16] Yeah, I think a lot of good Democratic candidates are. There's not a unified message. We're a very [14:20] divided, diverse party right now. But if you if you look at what these candidates are running on [14:24] first, they're saying they want to end the war in Iran. And if they vote to end that war, [14:29] gas prices will come down if the president obeys Congress. Second, Congress, not the president, [14:35] has the power to levy tariffs. These tariffs, I believe, are unconstitutional. Congress should repeal [14:40] those tariffs. Tariffs are taxes that raise the prices of all the groceries that Kevin was talking [14:44] about a minute ago and every other consumer product that the tariff is placed on. I think [14:48] Democrats ought to raise the minimum wage immediately. That hadn't been raised in decades, [14:52] and that'll help your cost of living. It'll make you a little bit more money for most folks. [14:56] And the president in that clip he played, I didn't remember him saying this, he seemed to support a [15:01] windfall profits tax. Let's do it. Democrats want to raise taxes on those oil companies that are making [15:06] money through no hard work of their own. This is just because of Mr. Trump's war. [15:10] Take that money, plow it back to consumers. That's something Democrats can do to cut the cost. [15:14] So I think there's a lot. But they better come with that agenda, Caitlin. If they come in there [15:19] wanting to impeach Trump on day one, it will blow up in their face. And I mean, I can't stand Trump. [15:23] He commits three impeachable offenses before his second bucket of KFC. But they shouldn't do that. [15:29] They should move on people's cost of living first and leave impeachment alone, elect a new president in two years.