A Sermon For The Democratic Party

James Talarico calls his healthcare plan “Medicare for Y’all”. Four words that tell you everything about how he just won the Democratic Senate primary in Texas – his party hasn't won statewide here since 1994. Whilst his opponent campaigned against Trump, Talarico, the seminarian state legislator and former public school teacher, ran for something: popular progressive policies rebranded to the voters he will need to win over. Whether he manages that in November is another question, but his playbook deserves attention as Democrats look to build a new voting coalition to reshape congress and the country.

Without the injection of partisanship, many policies championed by progressive Democrats such as Talarico enjoy huge popularity throughout the country. From drug pricing to a congressional stock trading ban, his signature campaign issues attract majority support in both parties. These policies are universally popular and an integral part of his campaign; running on these issues would seem to be a fast-track lane to federal office. The association with the Democratic Party is another matter entirely. Texas will be competitive despite the Democratic party's unpopularity – just over a third of the country view them favourably. A combination of Talarico’s economic populism and Trump's dire approval ratings will make Texas a battleground in the midterm.

Talarico's genius is not ideological moderation; many commentators have incorrectly labelled this as a triumph for the centre of the party, but instead it's his linguistic translation. While Democrats have spent a decade running against Trump, Talarico is running on a distinctively progressive agenda of universal healthcare, campaign finance reform and anti-gerrymandering: the kind of policy program that would be dismissed as a coastal elite’s fantasy spoken out of the wrong mouth, in the wrong accent.

He’s not the first Democrat to understand this. By speaking about class, corruption, and power, Bernie Sanders built a coalition that wasn’t solely confined to his progressive base. His arguments were framed centred around the grievances of both progressive Democrats as well as those of more conservative voters. Such a translation worked in the Midwest and rural Vermont, where Sanders was able to engage industrial and post-industrial communities with progressive politics – something the Democrats have been unable to do since 2016. Likewise, Talarico’s approach works because it adds in the language of faith and scripture to progressive politics. Authentically Texan, making both his policies and politics appealing to more voters than just the Democratic base.

Christian nationalism has been one of the most powerful forces driving the modern American right. Since Nixon’s Southern Strategy, the G.O.P. has been fused with Evangelical Christian values, exemplified by the ‘Moral Majority’ strategy used to oppose abortion policy and promote ‘family values’. The new American right is far more ambitious and aggressive than its former iterations. At Turning Point USA’s convention in Arizona last December, Vice President JD Vance declared amid enthusiastic applause that America “always will be a Christian nation”. Kevin Roberts, the architect of Project 2025 and the current administration's policy direction, says it is time to eradicate the liberal ideology that has corrupted a fundamentally Christian nation. Unlike the former Christian right, he believes that America’s institutions need to be burnt down or face spiritual oblivion. 

Talarico denounces this as a cancer on his religion. He claims Jesus has been twisted into a “gun-toting, gay-bashing, science-denying, money-loving, fear mongering fascist”. That is a more devastating attack on Christian nationalism than anything produced by the secular left, precisely because it comes from within. The Republicans can’t credibly accuse a Presbyterian seminarian of waging a war against Christianity. Over the last 50 years the religious right focussed on abortion and gay marriage. Instead he talks about healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and welcoming the stranger. A direct challenge voiced from within the faith, rather than against it.

With two-thirds of Texans identifying as Christian, Talarico is directly competing for that  majority in a way few Democrats have been able to do with comparable credentials. The Democratic party's style cannot be homogenous in a heterogeneous nation. His campaign slogan of ‘flipping tables’ is simultaneously theological and political: a reference to the Biblical story of Jesus driving money changers from the temple in opposition to their corruption and hypocrisy. He links his voters' economic anxiety and their faith identity, and for many voters these have never been separate issues. He’s simply one of few Democrats willing to speak to both at once.

However, this specific vocabulary only works for his Texan audience, since translating a message requires correctly diagnosing the needs of your audience. Zohran Mamdani won in New York without mentioning scripture. In a diverse and multiracial city facing crushing rents, he campaigned relentlessly on affordability, whilst his opponent, former New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo, ran on the same establishment Democratic messaging New York’s working class had already turned away from. Former Congresswoman and presumptive Democratic Senate nominee for Alaska, Mary Peltola, outperforms her party by focusing on salmon and resource sovereignty. All three are speaking the language of their constituents, rather than catering to a swing-state focus group.

The environment in which you are running must shape how you present your policies, and in Texas, translating progressive economics into the language of faith is a necessity. Take, for example,Texas Republicans' attempt to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Yes, this violates the separation of Church and State. But how strong is this argument in a state where 67% of adults are Christian? To many, Democrats' objection sounds like liberals waging a war on faith. Talarico’s response was different. Voting against the bill as un-American and un-Christian, he asked a fellow Republican legislator to name the Fourth Commandment. After checking her notes, she responded that it was to keep the Sabbath holy; at which point, Talarico pointed out that it was currently a Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, and voting for the bill on Sunday, the Christian Sabbath. This is the technique at work in a humorous context, and it shows how fighting Christian nationalism from inside the faith is far more damning than opposing it from outside.

Talarico will go into November as the underdog. It will take a huge swing towards him from many voters that have previously backed Trump and the Republican party. Part of breaking down hyper-partisanship is offering an alternative that doesn’t conflict with the beliefs of a majority of voters. James Talarico is certainly a unique figure. Most Democrats do not possess the skillset to replicate this – nor should they try to. His example should serve as a lesson, a sermon perhaps, on how to speak to those that have drifted away from your politics. As a young boy, Talarico was told by his mother that they were Democrats because the party fought for the people. If Democrats want to win, they need more than need policies – they need to sound like they’re fighting too.

Image: Flickr/Joe Catron

Licence.

No image changes made.