TX-SEN: A (Lone) Star Is Born
Were exactly one day into early voting in the hottest primary contest of 2026, and already temperatures in Texas are sky-high. The decision to pull Dem Senate hopeful James Talaricos Late Show interview with Stephen Colbert on Monday night put rocket boosters under his campaign at a critical moment.
The numbers are still soaring: As of this morning, the canned segment has more than 5 million YouTube views numbers Colbert can only dream of on his actual TV show. You probably saw the graph yesterday showing Google searches of Talaricos name spiking dramatically.
Key takeaway: In years past, a broadcast network ditching your big interview on the night voting starts would have been a body blow for a state senator still trying to get national recognition. But not in this era. As Donald Trump knows better than anyone, nothing grabs eyeballs and motivates voter bases these days like a sense of grievance, of being under attack from powerful forces, of leaning into the fight.
https://politicalwire.com/2026/02/18/a-lone-star-is-born/