(Todd A. Smith)
Some Democrats have finally received the memo that President Donald Trump sent out in 2015 and 2016.
The days of respectability are over (hopefully not permanently).
And President Trump, like him or not, capitalized on an American public that wanted their leaders to fight for them.
And although Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) gets stereotyped as fake or ghetto, her straightforward and unapologetic voice is something that Democrats desperately need.
And she is the sort of leader that can possibly turn Texas on its head, after years of political pundits predicting that the “Lone Star State” would one day become a purple state, instead of a consistently red one.
However, Texas has not elected a Democrat to a statewide office since 1994.
John C Moritz of the Houston Chronicle reported, “U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett on Monday jumped into the race for Senate, upending a high-stakes Democratic primary that now pits two of the fastest-rising stars in the Texas Democratic Party against each other.
“In a high-energy speech (at a) south Dallas community center, Crockett told more than 200 supporters that the race is a choice between a continuation of the policies of President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans and a new path into an uncharted future.”
Rep. Crockett’s entrance into the Senate race comes on the heels of the United States Supreme Court allowing Texas to keep its new racially gerrymandered congressional districts, which will cut directly into Crockett’s current district.
Fox 4 News reported, “A Texas Democrat hasn’t been in the United States Senate since 1993 when Robert Krueger was appointed to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Lloyd Millard Bentsen. Krueger’s tenure in the Senate would last just five months when he lost a special election to Kay Bailey Hutchison for the remainder of Bentsen’s term.”
Although it is still a longshot that Texas will elect a Democrat to the Senate, on Monday Crockett told her supporters that people also thought that former President Barack Obama had no chance in 2008 as an African-American man with a funny-sounding name.
Crockett told her supporters, “When he was told, ‘No you can’t,’ he looked them in the eye and said, ‘Yes, I can.’”
Another person who defied logic to win a high-profile office was President Trump.
No one thought the crazy-talking, weird and immature behaving Trump would beat former Secretary Hillary Clinton.
In fact, Trump thought he would lose to Secretary Clinton too.
But his longshot candidacy was successful because he tapped into a movement and moment that many Americans, especially political pundits and talking heads, did not understand.
There is a movement brewing amongst young people now.
Many believe that the old guard of politicians like Trump and former President Joe Biden do not understand the needs of the younger generation.
Many believe that the old heads are out of touch.
Many believe that it is time to turn over the keys to the car to much younger drivers.
And they want younger politicians who are not afraid to go against the grain.
Crockett, along with Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsome, are the perfect Democratic politicians for the modern era.
They finally figured out something that Trump figured a long time ago.
Younger and newer voters spend more time consuming social media than traditional news media.
They may even pay more attention to style over substance at times.
And on social media, having a big personality and bombastic hot takes is what goes viral, not necessarily policy discussions.
Crockett has even taken that hot take strategy to the House floor like when she used alliteration and several “B” words to describe Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.).
Although Republicans like Rep. Greene have called her out for alleged code-switching, Many African-Americans know what it is like to have to talk differently in different settings.
That’s not being fake.
That’s being realistic.
And although many might think it is unrealistic that Texas would elect Crockett, sometimes more can be won from a political race than the actual office that one seeks.
In 2016, Trump’s chances at winning the Republican nomination for president skyrocketed when many of his GOP opponents had inadequate responses to his insults.
Many probably believed that old school politics would win out at the end, and most voters would see past Trump’s loudmouth antics.
However, they did not.
If a Republican had responded to Trump by going into the gutter, Trump’s political career might have stayed in the gutter, where it belongs.
Trump is a bully.
Furthermore, the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement consists of bullies who want to dominate the airwaves and the algorithms by saying any and everything that furthers their cause, even if they spread fake news and misinformation.
Unfortunately, hate and ignorance does well in the algorithms of social media and search engines because people seem compelled to respond to stupidity online, which drives up the visibility of their posts.
Crockett has mastered saying things that are provocative, but also intelligent and thought-provoking and that too leads to responses, whether in favor of her views or not.
That mastery of the new age technology makes sure her message is heard loud and clear in the social media space.
And if her message is heard by larger audience, a larger number of people might soon work themselves out of the MAGA/Trump cult and echo chamber.
While she might not win the senatorial race in Texas, her message during the midterm could put more dents into the MAGA armor, making it easier for politics to return to normal in 2028 and for a Democrat to return to the White House in January 2029.
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