It’s difficult to remember the last time both major party presidential candidates appeared in Texas so close to an election.
There’s an old adage in politics, that campaigns have only three resources: time, money, and people. You can always find one more volunteer. You can always raise one more dollar. But you can never get more time. It’s the most valuable asset in any campaign for public office, and no single political candidate’s time is ever more valuable than a nominee for president of the United States, who maintain grueling schedules filled with rallies, fundraisers, press, and inter-swing-state travel. This makes it all the more remarkable that both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump traveled to Texas on Friday, 11 days out from Election Day.
To be clear, neither the Harris nor the Trump campaign should seriously believe that Texas is in play. Public polling has shown Trump consistently in the low 50s and Harris in the mid 40s in the Lone Star State.
It’s notable that the United States Senate race in Texas is competitive, with 12-year incumbent Ted Cruz hovering below 50% in most public polling and Democratic challenger Colin Allred within a single point in multiple surveys. But the primary goal of the presidential campaigns is not to influence the outcome of the U.S. Senate election, or even to try and tip the balance of the presidential race here.
Harris and Trump are in Texas because Texas is where American culture happens. As has been said time and time again: “As goes Texas, so goes the nation.”
Harris and Trump’s contrasting versions of a Texas day trip are a perfect microcosm of the political and cultural divide in Texas and in America.
In an Austin studio, Trump joined a long list of Texas transplant dipshits, conspiracy theorists, and hustlers who’ve appeared on UFC analyst and “comedian” Joe Rogan’s podcast. He’s not the most stellar interviewer, mostly peddling anti-vaccine misinformation, using the n-word, and offering deep insights like, “whoa, that’s crazy.”
Meanwhile, hours later in Houston — America’s fourth largest city and the seat of a county more populous than most swing states — Harris will make the case for access to abortion and reproductive health care, joined by the king of country, Willie Nelson, and the queen bee herself, Beyoncé. Unlike Trump’s guests, Nelson and Beyoncé are native Texans.
One candidate, a convicted felon and adjudicated sexual assailant, is likely to spend his precious time attacking immigrants. He may or may not contain his bloodlust for violence against Americans who do not support him while imagining how a 1000% tariff plan would somehow make the economy better? The other, the sitting vice president, will welcome Democrats, Republicans, and independents into a pro-democracy, pro-freedom coalition of strange bedfellows, articulating a new way forward for the American experiment.
For undecided or undermotivated presidential voters, October 25, 2024 in Texas could be the single most emblematic and consequential performance of patriotism and politics. The culture war is rarely as overtly on display, and Texas was the front lines.
Texas is forever the distillation of American hopes, fears, challenges, and beliefs. Our food, our music, and our movies are consumed far and wide. What happens in our state legislature ends up in others — and in Washington, D.C. From immigration and brisket to country music and third coast hip hop. From breakfast tacos and Richard Linklater to Lizzo and the Dallas Cowboys. Selena. The Kennedy Assassination. Elon-fucking-Musk. Pedro Pascal. America happens in Texas.
Both the Trump and Harris campaigns know that, or they wouldn’t be here. Soon enough, the rest of the country will too.
It may not be long before Texans find themselves living in an honest-to-God presidential swing state. When that happens, the path to political power in America will run through Texas. While Friday’s spotlight today is novel and exciting, it’s also a glimpse into our future, four years down the road.
