Texas Senate Primary Debate: Post-debate analysis from the Capitol City

[0:09] all right thanks everybody for joining us here i'm will dupree and now for the past hour our three [0:13] guests and i have been watching the debate from moment one between jasmine crockett and james [0:18] tallarico along with all of you at home and we are here now to provide some expert analysis and [0:23] reaction to everything we just heard or just maybe a little bit of it too so we want to first [0:28] introduce all of our guests and uh have some fun this afternoon so uh joining us here is angel [0:33] carroll she is a democratic political strategist luke warford is the founder of the agave democratic [0:39] infrastructure fund and andy hogue is the communications director for the travis county [0:44] republican party angel luke and andy welcome thank you for being here thanks for having us [0:49] to be here okay we want to start broad for everybody at home uh tell us just your first [0:54] few thoughts about maybe who even emerged ahead in this particular debate go down the line we'll [0:59] start with you angel i mean look debates are really hard and i think everyone is really [1:03] excited to see both of them side by side i think this is the only time we may see that happen [1:07] um i think james did a great job of answering the questions directly and quickly but i think jasmine [1:12] gave that background that a lot of people need to know as they're making getting prepared for their [1:16] vote to see who's going to be the best person to represent their values in congress okay luke what do [1:21] you think i think one of the biggest questions in the minds of democratic primary voters is who's going [1:26] to have the best chance to win in november if they become the democratic nominee i think i would have [1:31] like to see more uh honestly out of both candidates speaking to that and more questions on electability [1:36] because i think it's so top of mind for um for texas democratic primary voters but i think from an [1:41] electability standpoint i think james spoke more directly to his plan to win uh we saw that earlier [1:46] on in the debate uh and then they got more into policy and issues later on we'll get into electability [1:51] coming up in just a moment uh but andy for um being the lone republican here on our panel today [1:57] i'm wondering uh what stood out to you is there something from the debate that you think republicans [2:01] will jump on and use in campaign ads potentially against one of them yeah well i think it's just [2:06] the same old tax and spend strategy to talk about affordability equity and all that when it gets [2:10] right down to it their um solutions was get rid of donald trump's tariff increases which is actually [2:16] saving us money in this country or let's increase taxes on billionaires you know as if the billionaires [2:20] aren't bankrolling democrat candidates too so i think those things will um shine to the republican voters [2:26] okay let's focus on that electability question there have been so many conversations so many [2:31] articles interviews and the like talking about that issue specifically um what did you think angel about [2:37] jasmine crockett's arguments particularly about um how she might be able to appeal to a broader [2:43] selection of voters because she really has said at some points that maybe the trump voters who [2:47] supported the president during 2024 are not really needed to push a democrat over the finish line [2:53] what do you what do you say to that um i'd say she's not wrong i think texas is actually more [2:58] more blue than we think we just need folks to get excited and come out to vote and i think that is [3:02] her um i really do fear long term though what we're telling voters who don't traditionally come out and [3:09] vote when we're saying a woman of color can't win an election like this i don't think that that's true [3:13] and i think it's quite frankly um offensive and hypocritical uh when it comes to again as we mentioned earlier [3:19] electability you know both of these candidates talked about people want a fighter they both [3:25] agreed on that um and jasmine spoke to how she's already doing the work and how she is fighting [3:30] um you know we've also seen james here locally fight for the community as well so again it's who's [3:36] going to be the best person to do that and who do we trust one thing that pointed out those point out [3:41] to me was james talked about going up against paxton there are two republicans well more than two [3:46] republicans in that primary we don't know who's going to come out of it right so my [3:49] biggest question is is he prepared to go against a wesley hunt or a john cornyn yeah that was notable [3:55] to me that he specifically name checked ken paxton luke what did you think of that um so i didn't read [4:01] too much into that i think i think uh ken paxton's probably the most prominent person uh in the [4:06] republican primary like he's uh obviously incredibly well known and a really good boogeyman so i think [4:13] from that perspective it makes sense for whoever the democratic nominee is to be talking about ken [4:17] paxton i also think uh you know he's he's sort of this cartoonishly corrupt figure that is a really [4:24] good uh uh juxtaposition or foil for uh representative talarico or for congresswoman crockett and andy [4:32] because you're the lone republican on our panel here today um i want to ask you about what you think [4:36] because what we didn't see play out today was a debate among the republicans who are running for [4:41] this particular primary two uh john cornyn ken paxton wesley hunt those are the main three players [4:47] in that race john cornyn has said that he believes that this is ultimately going to go to a runoff [4:52] which would prolong the primary process for republicans where do you see that state of play at [4:57] the moment who do you think is ahead um separately from what the democrats are doing yeah well going [5:01] back to your previous question i think it's part of the calculus too i'll go ahead and give paxton a [5:05] little more of the spotlight to increase the likelihood of a extended primary season for republicans and [5:10] drain our finances just a little bit but uh to your question i think there's a a lot of strategy [5:15] that goes into this things behind the board room and things that deal with uh you know current events [5:19] and the federal scene that um we've been hearing about during today's debate we saw a lot of current [5:23] events even um events that happen today come into that so there's a lot that goes into it and we just [5:28] have to really keep our eyes open and look for the uh look for the trends as they show up yeah okay so andy's [5:34] i think you're touching on the some of the um upheaval we've seen in minneapolis regarding ice [5:39] enforcement and we want to play a moment from the debate i believe we had that clip um to talk about [5:44] that particular portion of the debate so if we can let's toss to that and then we'll get your [5:48] reactions afterward right very good if elected senator you will represent all texans many of whom [5:55] support deporting undocumented immigrants how do you balance your feelings toward ice versus the texans you [6:02] will represent who support the enforcement we're seeing right now miss crockett we start with you you [6:09] have 30 seconds yeah as it relates to the enforcement that we see right now let me be clear they are [6:13] supposed to do immigration and customs enforcement not going after u.s citizens not going after people [6:20] that are documented that is not what they are supposed to do but that is what they are doing [6:23] they are turning us into nazi germany by saying they're going to go door to door they are going [6:28] after people because of their accent or the color of their skin because this supreme court gave them [6:32] carte blanche ability to do so so all we want ice to do is to do what ice was created to do and [6:38] unfortunately that's not what they are doing all right thank you mr tallarico same question how do [6:44] you balance your feelings toward ice versus the people you would represent who support deporting [6:50] undocumented immigrants you have 30 seconds so my family is from the border my mom grew up in laredo [6:56] texas i feel like texans understand this issue of immigration more so than people in other states [7:03] because we live with it both the benefits and the challenges so what i've said is that [7:08] our southern border should be like our front porch there should be a giant welcome mat out front and [7:14] a lock on the door we can welcome immigrants who want to live the american dream we can build a pathway [7:19] to citizenship for those neighbors who have been here making making us richer and stronger and we can [7:25] keep out people who mean to do us harm so there we have it um angel what sticks out to you about their [7:31] approach to that and why do you think um based on the polls we've seen affordability health care cost of [7:38] goods but why does this factor into that calculus that some of the democratic primary voters are [7:43] thinking about right now yeah i mean i definitely we all watch i think they're passionate about both i [7:48] think jasmine was a little bit more fiery in that answer and i think that's she expressed what everyone [7:53] is feeling right now um i did notice that neither of them really said abolish ice which i think that [7:59] matters to some folks and so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out and luke what about you i mean [8:04] i i think uh obviously affordability is uh top of the list for many texas voters but immigration is [8:12] um right up there as well i think uh this the immigration issue more broadly speaks to what any [8:17] candidate is going to have to do in the general election i think they're going to need a plan and [8:21] they're going to need to make a case about why they will do better for texas on immigration in particular [8:28] i do think obviously the the behavior of ice and the raids and um recent violence is incredibly [8:34] unpopular i think it's having a huge impact and on um texas voters but latino voters in particular [8:41] uh with relation regards to how they feel about uh their current elected officials but i do think what [8:48] we want to see is we want to see somebody who has a real plan on immigration and andy i want to ask you [8:53] about something that angel brought up too that slogan um phrase abolish ice they were even asked [8:58] that specifically if they would support perhaps abolishing ice or defunding it neither one of them [9:04] took that and went that far to say that particular thing what do you think that as a republican as [9:09] you're listening to that is that perhaps to walk a fine line and avoid potential attacks from your [9:15] party during the campaign moving forward i don't know if it's that but more of a pragmatism that we need [9:19] some entity to deport the terrorists and the people that really shouldn't be here those that were [9:25] brought in our false pretenses or snuck into the country under joe biden we had a record number of [9:30] illegal border crossings and we saw him right there on network television just coming across the [9:34] break in the fence we saw that with our own eyes so i think that if you look at the republican platform [9:39] you see that we want to abolish these federal agencies we want to bring the power back to congress but [9:44] in the meantime we have a federal problem that was brought to us by the biden administration [9:48] and we're using ice to roll that thing back go to wow.dhs.gov worst of the worst and you'll see [9:55] rapists you'll see people on terrorist watch list you'll see human traffickers that have been [10:00] rounded up and kicked out of this country probably a lot more bad that was taken out of this country [10:05] thanks to ice raids than bad that has happened to our own citizens i want to zoom out a little bit [10:10] and talk about the convention that was happening the debate was playing in front of the texas afl cio's [10:17] membership the members are going to vote tomorrow on who to endorse and so many different races [10:22] including the u.s senate primary both james tallarico and jasmine crockett have gotten endorsements from [10:29] that union throughout their entire political career and now they're going against each other so [10:34] angel whenever you're thinking about that context i mean how meaningful would an endorsement from the [10:40] afl cio be for one of them i mean it's everything right really yeah i mean these are the unions right [10:45] these are the folks that are going to come out and block walk excuse me they also again they show up [10:52] right they help run our country when we think about postal workers teachers federal employees it means [10:57] a lot again as i mentioned earlier both of these candidates have similar policies i think how they [11:03] get there and their personal experiences differ a little bit um i really look forward to seeing what [11:08] that decision comes yeah it'll be so interesting to see what happens especially because those same people [11:13] have voted for both of them in different perspectives and um luke can you talk about too what does a [11:19] candidate do without that endorsement should they move forward um does that hobble their chances you [11:24] think with democratic voters i mean i think there's a world where the afl cio uh endorses both candidates [11:31] i think they yeah i i think there's uh um you know it'll be interesting to see i'm sure there's [11:36] conversation happening in the room right now as we speak about who to endorse and um you know both [11:42] candidates have strong records on uh fighting for the working class and i think what we've seen is that [11:47] one of the biggest uh you know stories coming out of 2024 and one of the biggest questions for 2026 is [11:53] can democrats uh advocate to the working class and and we help win back some of the working class voters that [12:00] we've uh that we've lost in 2024 and so i think the the endorsement process does really matter it's um [12:06] are really significant and uh it's going to be interesting to see what they decide and andy what [12:11] are you looking for with uh that union vote i mean does that carry much weight uh for the republicans [12:16] on your side well the working class vote definitely carries i mean not so much the union um um gatekeepers [12:22] decisions but i want to go back just a little bit to maybe something that's more of our constituency [12:26] that's the people of faith and uh someone with a lot in common with james talarico you know lay [12:30] ministry i've studied a little bit and i'm also involved in politics they asked hey that whole [12:35] love thy neighbor thing is that enough are you going to fight well i won't say that you know meekness [12:39] isn't weakness and the average voter that is probably a person of faith or at least um has a background [12:44] in that maybe their families they're going to look at that and go what is this of course christians are [12:48] in this country and so i think that's going to be a big constituency too the unions are important uh the [12:53] working people definitely but the people of faith can't be ignored either so yeah and angel and look [12:58] if you would want to jump in on that too and about how that constituents constituency might play into [13:02] the 2026 election um i you know our country was built on the theory of separation of church and state [13:09] as a woman of faith um i strongly believe in that and unfortunately we are living in a country where [13:15] that line is it's really blurred right now and so one of the things that i think james is going to have to [13:20] um navigate right is not everyone is a christian identifies as a christian and i think he's been [13:26] done a really good job uh of speaking about his faith uh but also um just talking to others who [13:33] may have different faiths but i think we just i i'm hearing from a lot of voters that that's a turn [13:37] off for them so okay i don't know it's if we're being honest i'm hearing different sides of the coin [13:43] there yeah very interesting yeah well and and i think the question a little bit comes down to are we [13:47] talking about the impact of that in the the primary versus the general and in the general i think [13:53] clearly either candidate is going to if they want to have a chance to win try to differentiate [13:58] themselves that from the national democratic party and from your typical democrat because [14:03] neither party republicans or democrats are popular right now and so i think really they're going to [14:08] want to say i'm a different type of democrat and for james tallarico his his faith his christian [14:14] identity is clearly a big part of that and i think when you look at him not just in texas but across [14:19] the country i think he's speaking to some of those values and some of those principles maybe more [14:24] effectively than anyone else in the democratic party across the country so i think that's a clear [14:28] uh way in which james is is different than your typical democrat and it'll be interesting to [14:33] see if if congresswoman crockett becomes the nominee how she goes out and uh is able to to show [14:39] that she's a different type of democrat also and if i can i think that's james's [14:43] strongest strength also when we're thinking about in a in a general election pulling moderate [14:49] republicans over who are looking at the republican party and saying this is not the party that i have [14:55] historically supported and this is not the the version of christianity that i support and and [15:00] live my life by the values and and if you wanted to address that too i mean do you feel that there are [15:05] republicans that you're worried about losing some of those potentially softer trump voters that maybe [15:11] flipped from joe biden to president trump in 2024 i mean what are you looking at i mean fair point [15:16] you know it is a midterm uh president trump does have his enemies we do have the tom massey the tom [15:20] tillises and uh chip roy to some degree i think trump has rubbed everybody the wrong way but you know like [15:25] with uh you know ted cruz he was once lying dead so allegiances change but uh i will have to say in regard [15:31] to that um uh yeah trump got to where he was because he was an outside the box thinker you know he was [15:37] almost like the ron paul phenomenon no one saw him coming out of nowhere and becoming a major [15:42] player in the debates back in 2012 and 2008 so i think americans like come from behind stories [15:47] i think they like the ross perot's they like uh jasmine crockett especially who's shown tonight i [15:52] think she really came out swinging she gets a lot of the sound bites people think she's a radical or [15:56] but she came out tonight with some sound policy so i think she's really going to look a little [16:00] different tonight but um i think people like these outside the box thinkers i think for themselves [16:04] aren't married to a party and i'm saying that as a party guy myself but think for themselves and [16:08] apply some um you know we're electing a person not a party and they like that they like to see that [16:13] strength they like to see hey this person's out for me and not just the machine and andy i've been [16:17] wanting to ask a republican this particularly so uh bear with me a little bit whenever you're talking to [16:24] you know your friends your fellow party leaders here in travis county is there a particular democrat [16:29] that you would prefer to see end up winning the primary and going on to november to face whoever the [16:34] republicans nominated oh we were talking earlier about colin alderette i kind of liked his style [16:38] okay and of course there's not on the picture not an option well you know there have been like the [16:43] zell millers back in the day dating myself a little bit we're having the march for life today there's a [16:47] lot of uh just a thousand or more pro-lifers standing out in the sleet and yeah governor avid spoke at [16:51] that as well absolutely big deal for today but uh yeah so unless the democrats uh you know change their [16:56] tone on some of those key issues i don't see things shifting too much but as far as i'm concerned i [17:00] select some of the old school southern democrats i think if i were born maybe two years earlier i [17:04] would have been a democrat for a couple of years before my home county shifted you know but that's [17:08] the way it happened the southern democrats all went republican in the mid 90s and we've been there ever [17:12] since but i kind of miss the old um practical democrats uh but right now we're the republicans and hey [17:18] i missed maybe that's why i'm a republican okay so you're not giving me a choice though uh well i can't [17:22] think of any democrats i really would vote for like i haven't voted for a democrat in over 30 years so [17:26] um maybe that's that's the reason why our parties have become so divergent there used to be a lot [17:31] of more of a venn diagram agreement there used to be a sarah davis over here you know in a moderate [17:36] democrat way over here they would cross sometimes we used to have a eddie lucio um junior anyway who [17:42] would vote pro-life and vote for um governor abbott's agenda but things have changed a whole lot the [17:47] parties have become more polarized and we'll see if um the voters of the future will appreciate that [17:51] polarity or if they're going more toward a moderate um pragmatic direction yeah and luke and [17:56] angel i want to ask you too about the republican primary since i got um andy's thoughts about [18:00] that as well um we heard james tallarico specifically name check ken paxton all the polls show that ken [18:07] paxton and john cornyn in particular are so close maybe even just a point of each other and not enough [18:12] to avoid a runoff so when you're looking down the line to november is there a particular candidate that [18:18] you think this might be a better way to defeat a democrat and elect a defeat a republican and elect a [18:24] democrat statewide for the first time in more than 30 years how would you go first well i think there's [18:29] this uh general assumption that ken paxton uh is a weaker general election candidate than john cornyn [18:36] and and for sure that makes sense he's cartoonishly corrupt you know uh twice indicted once impeached [18:42] by his own party um it would certainly be an opportunity for texas democrats to be running against [18:47] ken paxton but i think people underestimate just how unpopular john cornyn is right his unfavorability [18:53] when you look at polling is actually even worse than uh ken paxton's which i think is really [18:58] meaningful uh and i don't think uh republican voters in particular are going to be as excited [19:03] to vote for somebody who's kind of wavered on their support for trump and wavered on their uh their [19:08] commitment to the the basic ideals of the party so i i you know i'm i actually do think that they're [19:14] both really weak candidates and in the context of an election year when you've got donald trump in [19:18] the white house people are frustrated at the economy they're frustrated at the at the republicans [19:23] i do think that is the the foundation of okay if the democrats can put up a really strong general [19:28] election candidate then maybe they have a chance this year yeah angel what are your thoughts about [19:32] who the republicans might end up nominating are you hoping to see somebody else over another i mean [19:37] they're both terrible as luke said um i think you know if i had to pick someone i'm going to be that [19:42] one person that gives you a name um i'd say paxton but i mean to be honest when i look at the last [19:48] couple elections republican voters have proven time and time again that polarizing topics that [19:53] i think cause concern for most people they don't care about um and so i'm really not sure i think [20:00] at the end of the day democratic voters though once we get past this primary we need to have our feelings [20:05] and then get it together and make sure that we all show up for who our nominee is because we can flip [20:10] this seat but we all have to rally together and make sure it happens i wanted to bring the three of [20:15] you into this con conversation today because all three of you have run for office very recently and [20:20] look and look um you ran statewide uh for railroad commission back in 2022 yeah um to be able to do [20:28] that to ask for the entire state to vote for you i mean you need a lot of name recognition so that people [20:33] feel familiar with you uh can you talk about what these candidates are having to face both jasmine [20:39] crockett and james tallarico in that regard so i think two of the most important things uh in order [20:45] to be able to run an effective statewide campaign especially in 2026 are your ability to get attention [20:51] and your ability to fundraise and the thing that we have with both congressman crockett and representative [20:57] tallarico is we've got two of the best people in the democratic party not just in texas but across the [21:03] country at getting attention online especially with younger voters and at fundraising and so i think [21:08] from that perspective both could be really strong general election candidates i think the question [21:13] is a little bit more about and and for democratic primary voters about their respective theories about [21:18] how they're going to win and i think you know we've talked about democrats have not won statewide in 30 [21:23] years and so the question is if you have get all of that attention and you raise all that money [21:29] what kind of strategy are you implementing there and i think really clearly we need to excite the base and [21:34] also be persuading and convincing independents disaffected republicans to come over and vote for [21:40] democrats i think uh given how long it's been since a democratic victory it's just uh very clear that [21:46] the democratic nominee is going to have to do that yeah angel what do you think is different particularly [21:50] about this year compared to years past when democrats have lost statewide yeah i mean i think what's [21:57] different is people are democrats are tired of losing and we're seeing it hitting our pocketbooks we're [22:02] seeing it hitting our schools and i think folks are really tired of being tired and the base is [22:08] coming out look the there are 45 i think of recent study 45 percent of voters are independent but they [22:14] leave more democratic and so our party is going to have to excite those people and i think we're getting [22:18] there um it doesn't hurt unfortunately that we have the murdering of citizens at the hands of ice [22:26] and we're filling it when we go to the grocery store and see how much it costs to fill up our tanks [22:30] um the republicans are going to have to fight are going to have to answer for this and i think the [22:35] midterms this is the time yeah andy what are your thoughts about all of that so if you wanted to add [22:40] them the gas up in god's country in leander was a dollar 98 we're doing pretty good but uh on top of [22:46] that i would have to say that uh the majority of voters especially in leander and some of the suburbs [22:51] are good government voters they're not so much conservative liberal progressive or populist they just want [22:57] good government and uh leander uh it's hard to beat an incumbent because the city's being run well [23:02] if the city's not being run well it's hard to be an incumbent so i think the democrats have a [23:06] disadvantage by having not been in power for a long time republicans have a disadvantage is yeah [23:10] we're in charge what have we done you know but again you have to raise the funds you've got to please [23:15] the base you've got to have people knocking the doors and being excited for you you don't want to [23:18] bore your base right but at the same time there's a great majority of voters who really they'll go one way [23:23] or the other they'll vote for a democrat republican they'll swing back and forth and [23:26] you've got to convince them you have good government in mind you've got their best interests in mind [23:30] and that's where a good communications program comes in and man we all fight that battle on a daily [23:34] basis so thank you for reminding me how important that is for both our parties do you do you think [23:38] those good government voters will vote for ken paxton i don't know essentially they have before [23:43] and you know the republican voters i've spoken to they like ken paxton not they're not voting for [23:48] homecoming king they're not voting for mr congeniality they're voting for attorney general now they're [23:53] going to be voting for senator they want somebody that's going to represent their values he's going [23:55] to fight for us you know not just fight for the republican party not fight for the democrats but [23:59] he's going to fight for me and ken has proven that time and time again well i want to play another [24:04] moment from the debate if you all are just joining us we appreciate you sticking with us for this post [24:09] show from the democratic primary debate for u.s senate we want to play a moment though them talking about [24:14] health care and the affordable care act so if we have that queue up let's play it now well i believe [24:20] health care is a human right that shouldn't depend on how much money you make or what zip code you're [24:26] born into this is personal for me i was 28 when i was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes my first 30 day [24:34] supply of insulin cost me 684 dollars i couldn't afford that so i put it on a credit card that's because [24:43] big pharma has a choke hold on the health care system in this country they have a monopoly on the [24:49] insulin market so when i got elected i took on big pharma and their lobbyists and we passed a 25 [24:57] insulin copay cap and then i passed a bernie sanders idea through the texas legislature to import cheaper [25:04] prescription drugs from canada right here into texas that's the kind of bold leadership we need at [25:09] the federal level we have to reverse all the cuts made to the affordable care act and we have to allow [25:14] every texan and every american the chance to join medicare i think universal coverage should be a [25:20] non-negotiable in the wealthiest country in human history mr crockett same question what do you see [25:27] as a fix or alternative to the affordable care act you have 60 seconds yeah so i am a proud sponsor of [25:33] medicare for all i signed on to medicare for all my first term i'm currently a sponsor of it i also signed [25:39] on to a bill that lloyd doggett has it's called the care now act and what this would do is force a [25:46] state like texas to end up uh expanding medicaid we know that in the state of texas we lead an [25:52] uninsured in this country with over 5 million uninsured what we've not talked about enough is [25:57] how many texans are actually on the affordable care act and how they are impacted by these tax [26:03] subsidies that were rolled back or allowed to expire in january i was proud to say that while the [26:08] democrats are in the minority we were able to go ahead and force through a vote in the house on [26:13] extending those tax subsidies for three years but that's basically a band-aid and frankly we were [26:19] able to get that out of the house but we are still waiting on the senate to act i think that this is [26:24] about making sure that people understand that they want us to be pitted against one another they [26:29] want us to believe that there's not enough money to do it all but the reality is that our budget is [26:33] about our priorities we have a multi-trillion dollar budget and so if we truly believe that [26:39] everyone should have access to health care we can make that a reality with bold leadership and that [26:46] again was from the debate that just happened about 30 minutes ago for all of you i want you to answer [26:51] this so how important do you think it will be for any candidate democratic or republican to talk about [26:58] the cost of health care the cost of goods housing those kinds of issues because we saw that play out [27:03] during the debate tonight among all the different things that were discussed but what about those [27:07] particular things what do you expect that to look like moving forward you mean the issues that matter [27:11] to working class texas i think it's going to fare very well for them and i love that james talked [27:17] about health care is a human right we need folks that are going to be able to talk to that and speak to [27:22] that um now more than ever people are feeling that if you can't afford your medication and life or death [27:29] that matters how critical is that luke i mean i think affordability we've seen it obviously [27:34] across the country and here in texas is the top issue for voters and i really appreciated uh [27:41] seeing uh both congresswoman crockett and representative talarico get specific on what [27:46] they mean by affordability right i think we we talk about affordability as this sort of broad amorphous [27:51] term sometimes but what are we really talking about right we're talking about the price of eggs we're [27:55] talking about the price of milk we're talking about the price of health care um you you see [28:00] health care premiums going up for people who are on the affordable care act uh and who across the [28:06] country and i think that is going to be an incredibly salient issue for democrats uh in texas that uh this [28:12] election cycle health care um unlike immigration is an issue that voters actually trust democrats more [28:18] on and so i think it's an opportunity for whoever becomes the democratic nominee to lay out a clear [28:23] vision of what they want to do to reform uh reform the aca and and move the uh the country in our health [28:29] care system forward and andy what about the republican approach to talking about those kinds [28:33] of issues lowering costs of things well first of all it was the republican party that lowered the [28:37] cost of insulin we saw this this stuff with a talarico's uh last um campaign ad where he said i [28:44] you know reduced the cost when he corrected himself today and he said we's i was glad to see [28:48] that he corrected himself but republicans can take a stand on the free market before the government [28:52] got involved in our health care hospitals were not for-profit institutions they were non-profits [28:57] they were charitable institutions doctors made house calls and somehow we went from that 50 years [29:03] ago to later mortgaging our own bodies how did that happen how did the cost of my family's health care [29:09] go above my home mortgage i don't know all the answers it's a very complicated tapestry but if you [29:14] look at health care places that do not take insurance now that's going to be out of pocket even for a [29:19] lot of people but we're looking at a one-tenth of the cost the volume cost of health care as it is is [29:25] so abnormally huge the average person couldn't afford it out of pocket so we've got to get back [29:29] to something more market focused republicans can take the lead on that but we just haven't [29:33] communicated that well because frankly you start seeing free market and you know everybody starts [29:37] crystallizing i don't understand the market right but i think that's the answer to get the [29:41] government out start over from square one and build something better maybe get out of this notion of [29:45] a system and go back to a health care market you know i think congressman crockett mentioned [29:50] something that's really important right we have the budget to do this and so two legislative sessions [29:57] ago representative talrico did introduce a a bill right talking about lowering the cost of insulin [30:03] and that did get passed through it did and i think it's also important to mention that texas could [30:08] have afford uh sorry texas could have accepted the funds to expand medicare but we chose not to [30:15] and that was because of republican leadership and so i think voters need to think about that [30:19] when going into the general as well which party has consistently shown up to ensure that all texans [30:26] have affordable health care and can afford their medication well uh we are coming up on 30 minutes [30:32] uh doing this and i appreciate you all sticking around especially on this cold day i know you've got [30:36] other things to worry about with your houses and everything so um we want to say thank you for [30:40] joining us to talk about this there are of course many more conversations to come including [30:45] tomorrow when the afl cio will vote on an endorsement between james talarico and jasmine crockett so [30:50] we'll be watching that closely and you can see all of our coverage of the ongoing debate on our [30:55] website kxan.com but um angel carol luke warford andy hoag thank you so much for being here and [31:01] making the time to talk about this thanks for having us it was worthwhile thank you we are going to send [31:06] you all on your way uh thank you again so much for being here with us for ongoing coverage of the [31:11] democratic primary debate for u.s senate i'm will dupree thanks again for watching and stay safe and [31:17] warm and informed out there