For at least a decade the progressive movement has been obsessed with infiltrating every aspect of American life and culture, even going so far as co-opting Christian churches in an attempt to claim them as "safe spaces" for woke ideology. This might sound odd to those who grew up in the devoutly atheist era of liberalism, but those days are long gone and seem quaint in comparison to today's cavalcade of circus freaks.
Well, despite their crushing defeat in 2024 the parade of unhinged woke Democrats has not abated. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. Numerous democratic socialists are running for office in blue states and cities and some are unseating more centrist Democrat incumbents. The party is being overrun with far-left fanatics, a predictable outcome when one accepts the fact that leftists never admit they are wrong and always double down.
A prime example, maybe the most egregious example, is James Talarico - A Democrat candidates for US Senate in Texas. Talarico is a former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian who has served in the Texas House of Representatives since 2018. Talarico has ties to an NGO called Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE), which coaches potential civic leaders in far-left ideology.
Though, the candidate is best know as the aspiring woke pastor who argued that God is "non-binary" in defense of trans athletes (men pretending to be women) stealing trophies and scholarships from real women.
It's important to remember that 2021 was the pinnacle of the woke movement in US politics. The Biden Administration opened the floodgates to DEI cultism in politics and ideologues in the Democratic party were rushing to signal their virtue. In other words, politicians operating in this time period where showing their true Marxist colors for the world to see. They believed they had won.
Talarico's hot takes ran the gamut, showcasing an unhinged zealotry and a disturbing attempt to blend LGBT and Equity talking points into Christian doctrine. He has since attempted to distance himself from some of his more meme-worthy claims, but the internet is forever. His run is against Republican candidate Ken Paxton, who is now famous for unseating GOP incumbent John Cornyn in a landslide and sending a message that Trump owns the party.
Talarico opposed Voter ID in 2021, which is noteworthy today because around 80% of American voters say they support the requirement in order to protect the integrity of elections from foreign influence.
He refers to women as "neighbors with a uterus" in order to avoid offending trans women.
He referred to the American flag as a 'complicated symbol' that had been 'co-opted and betrayed', which was a common narrative pushed by leftists during the Biden Administration as a means to capture "patriotism" away from conservatives and paint them as a "threat to democracy."
Talarico then argued that the Bible 'is silent' when it comes to abortion. He has apparently never heard of the 6th Commandment.
And, maybe the most embarrassing sin of all for a Texan, Talarico promotes veganism (of course he does). He justifies his crusade against meat in the name of fighting man-made climate change (which does not exist).
The Senate candidate, as a Democrat project, represents an interesting beta test. Can the party bleach the history of a woke cultist and present him as a down-home country loving BBQ eating Christian patriot who just happens to be running on the blue side of the aisle? It's highly unlikely, but this strategy is popping up all over the country.
Democrats are elevating many white-male prospects who present as vaguely populist (and vaguely straight), and they are turning away from overt DEI and BLM. The DNC has dumped tens of millions of dollars into Talarico's campaign so far. But the organization is so saturated with woke that it's impossible for them to find any candidates without a long list of absurd leftist positions in their past.
So, like Talarico, these campaigns have to hide or gloss over their uncomfortable histories in order to ever have a chance of competing in a red state.
One cannot separate Talarico from his far-left rhetoric. He said those things because he believed them, and no doubt he believes them to this day. Leftists always double down. They might lie in order to win an election, but they'll double down after they get what they want. Talarico is not so much a "Trojan Horse" as he is the candidate Democrats had to settle for.