The Bulwark's piece notes how much of a Pander Bear he had become, complete with Shit from Shitter, on Big John's own account, with the photo. And, that's a full year ago!
Why didn't Trump endorse earlier? Beyond the Bulwark talking about him having bigger fish to fry, I think maybe he thought Paxton didn't need an endorsement.
There's also a third reason. And a fourth reason.
Third? Trump's a frontrunner; he probably read the March primary tea leaves, or had it done for him.
Fourth? Trump likes to see people grovel. And, this runoff election was perfectly teed up for him to make both Cornyn and Paxton "twist slowly in the wind" like Pat Gray at Nixon's hands.
As for Cornyn, and that Pander Bear photo? Call it "The Art of the No Deal."
The Times has more. Beyond Cornyn's race, it notes the Super PAC backing nutter Democrat Congressional candidate Maureen Galindo had GOP ties. If you're a super PAC, you're supposed to cover your tracks better than that.
Just about everybody is talking about how lame-duck GOP senators may stand up more to Trump. Except around the margins, don't hold your breath. It may not even happen that much with the likes of Thomas Massie in the House.
Don't believe me? Believe this piece linked off the Bulwark, titled "Weep Not for Cornyn":
Maybe a grudging, strange new respect will form for Cornyn over the coming months as he joins Senators Cassidy and Tillis in offering the most modest pushback imaginable against our Nero-in-Chief. And then John Cornyn will be forgotten, and to the extent that he is remembered he will vaguely be thought of as that one Texas senator who wasn’t as bad as the other one: not as sleazy as Cruz, not as corrupt as Paxton, etc.
But I don’t think he should get away that easily.
No, it is as important to call out our gutless elected officials as it is to celebrate the brave ones. I hope John Cornyn is remembered for what he is: an incompetent and cowardly senator who put himself before his country.
I texted a politico friend about Cornyn’s coming defeat, and the friend replied that, yes, Cornyn is a victim of the disease that has infected one of our country’s two major parties.
Victim? Oh no. John Cornyn is not and never was a victim. Actually, he has had more agency in our country’s existential fight against Trumpism than roughly 99.999% of Americans. In 2021 there were exactly 100 people who could have put this sad and sorry chapter of American history behind us for good, and in that moment John Cornyn hid behind Mitch McConnell’s skirt, who was himself hiding behind a completely contrived constitutional justification for letting Trump get away with an attempted coup—as if McConnell himself wasn’t the reason the Senate trial was delayed until after January 20.
Fifty-seven United States senators were able to do the right and obvious thing and voted to convict and bar that evil man from ever holding public office again, including seven Republican senators. John Cornyn, however, could not do what his oath of office required.
That's about right. (Added emphasis mine.)
As for James Talarico? I'll give you 94 percent odds, right now, that he doesn't win. That's even with him doing his own Pander Bear to the degree of trying to normalize Cornyn. Anybody who claims the Magnificat in Luke supports reproductive choice will pander about anything.
The only other questions I have are, first, will Talarico lean into, or run away from, already clearly being standard neolib Democrat, and second, will he actually say something on Gaza? I'm pretty sure I already know the answers, and that he'll lose to Paxton in Cornyn style rather than with principles.
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