White Settlement Has Gone Woke

Sometimes I think the election doomers are on to something when the attorney general demands voter data from a blue state government or when the feds storm elections buildings in a swing state or when the president says there really shouldn't be midterm elections when you think about it.

And sometimes I think the election doomers could not be more wrong when Democrats easily flip state-level legislative seats in deep red districts and a town called White Settlement, Texas overwhelmingly votes for a Democratic state senate candidate, as happened over the weekend with Taylor Rehmet defeating his Republican rival by an eye-watering 14 point in a county that voted for America's first tyrant by a 17-point margin just 18 months ago.

This massive red-to-blue swing was the latest proof that the 2024 electorate was impermanent, almost ghostly. In the lead up to this Texas special election, Republican officials were panicked about polling, had the president try to gin up support via insane social media ramblings, and lost handily. You'll hear the president and White House officials say he wasn't even aware of this election. That's not true, as much as they want it to be true.

My question for election doomers would be this: If Trump and his allies in Texas knew they were likely to lose these seats in deep-red districts, why did they not simply cancel the elections? Why did they not have armed agents of the state stand at the entrance of polling places on Election Day and tell Texans they had to turn around and go home or face the consequences? Isn't that what one would do if one were determined to end democratic self governance? Unless and until they're willing to take the final step into autocracy – to deploy hundreds of thousands of secret police to polling places across the US – they aren't really going to stop Americans from voting. The country's diffuse elections powers make elections nearly impossible to stop unless the regime has resolved itself to effectively end the existence of the United States. It's a big step, even for monsters like these.

As the guy who loudly proclaimed Kamala Harris would breeze to victory in 2024, I've done my best to keep my mouth shut about how I believe the 2026 midterms will go (BFT readers might say I have not been so successful). But after a year and a half of special and off-year election results that demonstrate a massive and perhaps durable shift away from the authoritarianism Americans chose in 2024, it's agonizingly clear that there is no path to Republicans defending their congressional majorities. Many of these Republicans see this quite clearly and have chosen the honorable route: Retiring rather than enduring months of being screamed at by radicalized suburbanites, getting their asses kicked in November, or being part of an exceedingly small congressional majority with no power whatsoever.

They Banned Woke And Suzy Still Can’t Read

Far-right school board officials are finding out the hard way that the political pendulum has swung

Bad Faith TimesDenny Carter

There is no amount of gerrymandering, as I wrote back in May, that can ensure Republicans survive this massive vibe shift and hang on to their majorities. The newest Republican gerrymanders are in fact evidence that there's no way forward for a party that has already rigged the system in their favor. In some cases they have created so-called dummymanders – a manifestation of bad faith politics – in their panicked response to widespread public rejection.

Last weekend's results from Tarrant County seem to have finally spooked even the hardcore MAGA chuds, including guys like Ron DeSantis and straightforwardly fascist Texas officials who appear to be disoriented by the ease with which Rehmet won his special election. They seem to understand, finally, that it's not just the shitlibs who are mad about the nation's descent into competitive authoritarianism, which was supposed to come with some lower prices on everyday stuff. Everyone is pissed. Woke 2.0 is on its way; maybe it's already here. You're hearing this more and more.

This Vibe Shift Is Not Happening By Accident

A critical alternate consciousness is manifesting in myriad ways. It’s a hopeful development in a hopeless time.

Bad Faith TimesDenny Carter

Rehmet, in case you were wondering, was laser focused on so-called kitchen table issues. “Tonight, this win goes to everyday working people," he said shortly after the race was called. Rehmet beat an especially odious Republican activist who had led the charge in elected book burners to local school boards, post-COVID madness that has since been rejected by voters across the US.

When the regime and their media allies tell you that their grip on power is permanent and that the president alone represents the will of the American people, remember they need you to believe this for it to become true. If Americans say no, that's all bullshit – something they're saying clearly in special and off-year elections – then the regime is exposed for what it is: A social media-generated hallucination with no staying power. They seem to know that. You should too.

Follow Denny Carter on BlueSky at @dennycarter.bsky.social.