Republicans are running scared. They can run. But they can’t hide. My post today for SETX Impact.

Running on empty.

Isn’t that how America is feeling right now about its gas tank?

Running blind.

Did our president see what he looked like before endorsing?

Running into the sun.

Maybe that explains the blindness? (In late June 2026, when a noted adulterer American politician visited, there were 20 to 22 hours of direct daylight per day in Reykjavík.)

But I’m running behind.

No, you don’t have to be Oedipus to solve this riddle.

Trump may be unpredictable. He may be impossible to pin down. He’s an ever-evolving political chameleon. But there’s one thing about the man that everyone knows and can count on: nothing pains him more than being branded a loser. And that’s what’s going to happen when his blue-ribbon hog Paxton gets his ass whoopin’ in early November 2026.

Poll after poll is showing Talarico leading his Republican opponent (by up to six points).

Trump is running so scared (and he’s not even running) that he’s been to Texas twice in recent weeks.

As Susan Glasser reports in the New Yorker, he’s been telling his supporters that Talarico is a vegan larping as a carnivore. According to the President of the United States, the seminary student feigns pleasure while eating meat dishes. He does so to appeal to red-blooded, meat-eatin’ Texans. But then he excuses himself and discreetly regurgitates his meal where no one can discover his dark secret.

“What they don’t show you,” says the Donald, “is that, after every barbecue, he walks to the back of a tent and he throws up all over the place… He’s a vegan, and you can’t get elected as a vegan in Oklahoma or in Texas.”

Is that the best the prez can come up with?

As Glasser notes, “the Dumocrats are coming for Trump, and all he can do is call them names.”

And there’s no place where the Blue Wave — no, Tsunami! — is coming for Trump like Texas.

There are currently 13 U.S. Senate battleground states. Four of those are Democrat. Nine are Republican. And it’s not just Ruby Red Texas that might be changing its colors. That’s astonishing by nearly any measure. Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio…. Did you ever dream that the Republicans would be running on fumes in historic Republican strongholds?

Locally, I can report that our household was block-walked by paid canvassers for both Paxton and Abbott. In the 12 years I’ve lived in my southwest Houston neighborhood, I’ve never been canvassed by a Republican agent.

Even more incredible are the reports of paid canvassers in Houston’s historically Black Third Ward. As the locally based activist and influencer Black Girls Who Brunch recently noted, that’s practically unheard of (unless, perhaps, in the multiverse).

Trump and Paxon can certainly take a run for their money. Their PACs, unfortunately, have opened the taps.

But right now, it seems that they are running for cover. Even Abbott was too scared of complicity to show up in San Antonio last week for the latest save-Paxton’s-ship rally.

Unfortunately for them, when it comes to the Dumocrats chasing ‘em down, they can run. But they can’t hide.

My post this week for Southeast Texas Impact Initiative.

I love Bo French!

Yes, I actually did write that. And it’s true. I am thankful for Bo French.

Here’s the reason why. His idiotic and infamously fetid racist rants on social media have forced the Republican Party to own up to its racism problem. Racism and race-driven strategies and attitudes have become so pervasive and common in the GOP that now, even politicians like John Cornyn, no progressive flower, feel compelled to condemn overt racism.

There are myriad examples of how it’s become increasingly accepted in Republican circles that you can make racist statements, even wildly mendacious proclamations, with no serious consequences. On the contrary, “welcome to the party” is what most Republicans seem to be saying. Maybe we’re still in the wink-wink, if-you-know-you-know phase of this absorbing trend in conservative circles. But with Bo French, it feels like we’ve finally reached a threshold where decency might actually prevail — for a change.

Here’s a social media post from Paul Ingrassia, who currently serves as a U.S. government attorney: “I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time, I will admit it.”

Here’s a text he sent to fellow Republican operatives: “We need competent white men in positions of leadership. The founding fathers were wrong that all men are created equal… We need to reject that part of our heritage.”

Ron DeSantis fired his aide Nate Hochman after the latter posted an image of the Florida politician with a bold Nazi symbol as backdrop. Hochman is currently writing speeches for Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

In January of this year, the U.S. Department of Labor posted a Nazi slogan on its social media: “One Homeland. One People. One Heritage,” an echo of the German “Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer” (“one people, one realm, one leader”). “Remember who you are, American,” wrote the government employee who shared the video that included the authoritarian motto.

(Thank you to Times opinion writer Jamelle Bouie and the Nation for the above examples of blatant racism expressed by government workers.)

And let’s not forget Elon Musk, the world’s favorite antisemite (he recently took over Mel Gibson’s role as the world’s most loved Jew hater). When a user posted that Jews advance “dialectical hatred against whites,” Musk responded by writing: “You have said the actual truth.” And that’s just one of the overtly racist posts he’s shared on X, the platform he owns and controls.

As Bouie asked plaintively, why does Musk get a pass? Why do any of them get a pass, for that matter?

It’s because of the GOP’s deep-seated racism. Remember the infamous 1981 quote from prolific Republican strategist Lee Atwater (who later repented for the racist tactics his office used to help get Ronald Reagan elected): “Y’all don’t quote me on this. You start out in 1954 by saying, ‘n—– n—–, n—–.’ By 1968, you can’t say ‘n—–’ — that hurts you. Backfires. So, you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff.”

I’m not making this up. Just Google it.

Atwater was explaining how he had modified and improved Nixon’s shameful “Southern Strategy,” a race-driven approach to politics that helped to get Nixon elected.

Bo French (who are bigger threat to America, he asked on social media, Muslims or Jews?) is forcing GOP leaders to take sides in the race-baiting race to the bottom. Whether this will help them get elected is another question. But at least, even the GOP is learning to call a fig a fig.

Thanks for reading my post this week for Southeast Texas Impact Initiative (click here to read and support), a grassroots group advocating for progressive issues in one of the most conservative corners of our country. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber.