Repped not necessarily because I agree with everything you said but because it's an insightful post and it captures a broader strategic misstep that Democrats continue to make.
I can't quite give a name to this broader strategic misstep, but the gist of it is treating the electorate like better people than they truly are, accepting certain premises at their face value and placing a strong emphasis on appealing to those premises. A naïve belief that voters have some kind of deeper convictions that will get them to switch parties.
In the W era, the Dems accepted the premise that the electorate just LOVES the troops, so we're gonna TOTALLY WIN OVER those troop-lovers by running a candidate WHO SERVED AND WAS WOUNDED IN VIETNAM instead of that effete Texas national guard and didn't see any action! How many Republicans switched party lines due to their affinity for "real" veterans?
In 2024, Joe Biden's campaign accepted the premise that the electorate just LOVES tough border policies, so we're gonna TOTALLY WIN OVER those border-hawks by trying to pass a "tough" border bill and forcing Trump to accept political responsibility when republicans refuse to vote for it!
Then Kamala Harris took over, and her team (which was just Biden's team) accepted the premise that the electorate just LOVES Liz Cheney, so we're gonna TOTALLY WIN OVER those "classic" conservatives who miss Dick Cheney. How did that work out for them?
We've seen this tried here in Texas at the state level, too, with MJ Hegar (the "real deal" servicemember) and Colin Allred (the "real deal" Texas football player). How many "real deal" farmers and "real deal" cops do we need to churn through before party leadership finally gives up on this idiotic way of thinking?
And that brings me to Talarico. I don't dispute his religious bona fides. He is a "real deal" pastor. And if that's gonna be the campaign strategy, then his donors might as well light their money on fire for all the good it'll do.