This episode, with Democratic congressional candidate Caitlin Rourk, has an interesting backstory. Back in May my wife wrote an op-ed for the Austin American Statesman criticizing Republic congressman John Carter, whose district is adjacent to the one we live in. Carter isn’t particularly noxious, as these people go, but nor is he at all in possession of actual principles. He’s just a stooge for Trump and MAGA.
My wife was frustrated and feeling powerless, as many of us were and are, and this was a small way to feel like she’s doing something, putting Carter on notice, to whatever extent he pays attention to the local news, that people are seeing what he’s doing and more importantly not doing, which is actually exercising independent judgement about what’s good for the country.
Here’s a bit of it, to give you a sense:
Republican Congressman John Carter, whose 31st district covers North Austin up to northwest of Waco, has long styled himself an old school defender of the U.S. Constitution. He invokes the founding document frequently — to oppose hate crime legislation, advocate for gun rights, criticize the Affordable Care Act, and decry executive actions by Democratic presidents. He presents himself as a public servant guided by deep constitutional principles.
When it comes to Donald Trump, however, those principles disappear.
In recent months, Trump has been openly contemptuous of the Constitution and its embedded system of checks and balances. He has willfully ignored bipartisan legislation requiring him to force a divestment of TikTok from its Chinese parent company, a direct challenge to the separation of powers and the legislative process. He has deported lawful U.S. residents without due process, in some cases sending them to countries where their lives are in grave danger. He has targeted activists and institutions for exercising their rights to free speech and academic freedom.
These are not small matters. They are bright red constitutional lines that no president, regardless of party, should be permitted to cross.
Congressman Carter has had nothing to say on the subject. One searches in vain—on his website and social media feeds, in his public appearances and newsletters—for a word of dissent or even disquiet. When he speaks at all, which seems increasingly rare, he focuses elsewhere. On April 14, for example, Carter said nothing about President Trump’s suggestion, in a joint press conference with El Salvador president Nayib Bukele, that perhaps American citizens should be sent off to prison in El Salvador. That same day, Carter issued a press release touting proposed legislation to address … a shortage of bus drivers in America.
…If he truly cared about the rule of law and the balance of powers, he would speak out when anyone — Republican or Democrat — undermines them. Instead, he reserves his outrage for moments of partisan opportunity. He cries constitutional foul when it suits him and shrugs when the violations come from within his own political tribe.
As Thomas Jefferson once put in, in a line that Carter quotes on his own website, “When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When people fear the government, there is tyranny.” Carter may wrap himself in the Constitution, but he cannot claim to honor it while turning a blind eye to the fear that the administration is instilling in the people.
After that ran, Jess got an email from Rourk, who—at the time of our interview—was planning to run as a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Congress in Carter’s district. She has now shifted her candidacy to Texas’s 10th congressional district, I’m pretty sure because of court rulings on redistricting in Texas. It’s an open seat left by the retirement of Michael McCaul, and like Carter’s seat, a pretty safely red one, which in a normal election year would safely go to the Republican by 10 or 12 points. So, she’s no longer challenging John Carter, but the issues we discuss are all entirely germane.
I asked Caitlin to talk I think out of the same motive that drove Jess to write the op-ed. I wanted to do something, or at least think about how one would do something. Winning the open 10th district seat as a Democrat is a long shot, but even if she (or whoever wins the Democratic primary, if it’s not her) loses, the fact of running a vigorous challenge is meaningful. A smaller loss than what would occur in a typical election year, e.g., would be a signal to Republicans that Trump is dragging them down. An energetic campaign is also an end in itself. It gets people involved, brings them into the process. It provides information about what kinds of attacks or policies work or don’t. It pushes the opposition to defend itself. And, and I think this is important too, it wards off despair.
Caitlin and I talk about that. We also talk about her military service, why she chose to run, the realities of running in a district without national party backing, and the challenges—and opportunities—of building a campaign from the ground up. We talk about what it means to be authentic as a candidate, how to connect with voters who feel alienated or overlooked, and the importance of taking risks and trying new approaches in districts where the traditional playbook hasn’t worked.
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