If a man suffered from multiple personality disorder, should he be entrusted with decisions for millions of other people?
The question arises because there appear to be two James Talaricos, and they do not always agree with each other.
One of them claims to be concerned about pedophilia, the other is funded by an Epstein-island-visitor.
One of them says he’s against Big Tech, the other voted to give subsidies to data centers and takes money from Silicon Valley billionaires.
One of them says fossil fuels are destroying the planet and the Texas oil-and-gas industry is like cassette tapes that aren’t going to last, the other says he’ll protect oil-and-gas jobs and stand up to his own party if they mess with the industry.
One of them called capitalism an oppressive system that needed to be dismantled, the other is a proud capitalist.
One of them voted against putting a ban on a state income tax into the Texas constitution, the other says he’s concerned about the affordability crisis.
One of them said there are six biological sexes and that God is nonbinary, the other says there are two sexes and he missed the mark.
One of them opposed restrictions on biological males in girls’ sports and called the problem manufactured, the other says he’ll oppose trans athletes in girls’ sports if it endangers safety or fairness.
One of them voted against the bill banning puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries for minors, the other says he opposes gender-reassignment surgeries for minors and would support a national ban.
One of them favored red-flag laws and accused Republicans of loving guns more than children, the other is a Second Amendment believer who just wants background checks and safe storage.
One of them talked about the border as a welcome mat and tearing down ICE as a secret police force, the other is a border-security Democrat who never supported abolishing ICE.
About those data center subsidies: in 2023, Jimmy voted for House Bill 3104. The bill expanded Texas’s sales-tax exemptions so that a group of fiber-connected buildings could be counted as a single data-center project and thereby qualify more readily for the breaks. It was a technical, pro-business vote of the kind a legislator makes when he is not yet obliged to campaign against the industry he has just assisted. The other Talarico has since learned that a certain portion of the left has decided data centers are objectionable—too much power, too much water, too many advantages, too little opportunity for moral scolding. He now campaigns against the “sweetheart tax deals” his earlier self helped enlarge. He is surprised, in the way a man is surprised who has distributed coupons and then discovered that people used them.
This second Talarico is also the recipient of considerable outside support from Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn founder who spent years in Jeffrey Epstein’s circle, traveled on the airplane, and even visited the island.
If one spent years hanging out with a professional basketball player, it’s safe to assume they’d eventually shoot hoops together. A friend of a famous musician will likely attend the occasional concert. And someone who socializes with famous chefs is probably going to sample the occasional gourmet frittata.
What is Epstein famous for again?
Oh yeah… child sex trafficking. And Reid Hoffman was friends with him. For years. Gosh, I wonder what they did when they hung out together.
And now Reid is backing James Talarico.
The man is one of the largest donors behind the super PAC aiding Talarico’s Senate effort. Never mind the fact that Reid Hoffman, a tech billionaire, is obviously pro data center. That isn’t even the most complicated aspect of Talarico and Hoffman’s relationship.
Now let’s talk about oil and gas jobs: the lifeblood of the Texas economy. Talarico spent years mocking them. He said they were as irrelevant as cassette tapes. The old Talarico viewed the Texas oil and gas industry as an environmental offense and a technology on its way out. He said the fossil fuel industry was “destroying the planet,” and regarded capitalism as an oppressive arrangement requiring dismantlement. He said there’s a direct link between white supremacy, capitalism, and climate change.
But now he’s “evolved.”
The new Talarico has observed that the industry continues to underwrite a large share of Texas and that describing it as obsolete is an efficient way to lose every county outside Austin. He is now for an “all-of-the-above” policy. He will defend the industry against his own party. He is a proud capitalist. The cassette tapes, it turns out, found better counsel.
Suuuure.
On the question of a state income tax, Jimmy voted against placing a prohibition in the Texas constitution. This was not an abstention. It was a no. The version now seeking higher office is presently offering himself as the responsible party in the discussion of affordability. What changed?
In my humble opinion, critics of Talarico tend to overfocus on his social positions. Let’s face it, the trans argument is less concerning to the average person who can’t afford gas or groceries, but the cultural positions follow the same calendar. He stated that modern science recognizes six biological sexes. He opposed measures that would have required athletes to compete according to biological sex and called the concern manufactured. He voted against the legislation that banned puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for minors. On the House floor he remarked that God is nonbinary.
But that was the old Talarico.
The new Talarico now running statewide maintains that there are two sexes, that he would support a national ban on surgeries for minors, and that he opposes transgender athletes in girls’ sports when safety or fairness is endangered. He missed the mark on earlier remarks. He has been consistent so long as one counts only the statements made after the electoral map grew larger.
In Texas we believe in the right to self defense. And so does the new Talarico. But not the old Talarico. He supported red-flag laws and charged Republicans with loving guns more than children. He is now a defender of the Second Amendment who merely wishes background checks and safe storage. On the border he once spoke in the language of a welcome mat. He is now a “border security Democrat” who has noticed that disorder does not travel well outside Travis County.
If you’re keeping score at home, Talarico has pulled off more flip flops than a Russian gymnastics team.
If he had said any of this during the primary, the progressive wing would have treated him like a guy who showed up to a cocktail party with pamphlets for Alcoholics Anonymous. The sentence about opposing biological males in girls’ sports when it risks safety or fairness used to get you called a bigot before it got you called electable. Supporting a ban on sex-change surgeries for minors and walking back “six sexes” to the radical position that there are, in fact, two would have ended the conversation. Promising to protect Texas oil and gas jobs and stand up to his own party—the same industry he once compared to cassette tapes—would have been disqualifying. Calling himself a border-security Democrat who criticizes Biden’s chaos and a Second Amendment believer would have gotten him booed out of the room. In other words, the man who spent years sounding like he might be a little too radical for a Marxist book club meeting is now borrowing lines from average people who actually acknowledge life outside of Austin.
Liberals hate data centers and they claim to hate anyone connected to Epstein, but they also hate losing. So the old positions get memory-holed and the new ones get a fresh coat of “I was always consistent.”
The reversals are not the record of a man revising his opinions after additional thought. They are the record of a man discovering that the earlier edition of himself could not win. Ken Paxton has not found it necessary to maintain two versions of himself, nor to account for a major outside supporter who once moved in Jeffrey Epstein’s world. Texas has not yet expressed a desire for a senator who treats his voting history as a draft that may be revised once the polls move.
