I Was A Republican Mayor Of Dallas—Here's Why I'm Voting For Talarico Over Paxton: Steve Bartlett

0:00I hope I don't have to cancel again tonight. Chronic migraine means 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting four hours or more. Botox, on a botulinum toxin A, prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine. It is not approved for those with 14 or fewer headache days a month. Botox, the number one prescribed branded chronic migraine preventive treatment, prevents, on average, eight to nine headache days a month versus six to seven for placebo. Prescription Botox is injected by your doctor. Effects of Botox may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. Alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition.

0:32Patients with these conditions before injection are at highest risk. Side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. Allergic reactions can include rash, welts, asthma symptoms, and dizziness. Don't receive Botox if there's a skin infection. Tell your doctor your medical history, muscle, or nerve conditions, including ALS Lou Gehrig's disease, myasthenia gravis, or Lambert-Eaton syndrome, and medications including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. Ask your doctor. Visit BotoxChronicMigraine.com or call 1-800-44-BOTOX to learn more.

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1:33Steve Bartlett: Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis, a breaking news reporter here at Forbes. Joining me now is Steve Bartlett. He's a former congressman, former mayor of Dallas, and the founding member of our Republican legacy. Congressman, thank you so much for joining me. Brittany, thank you. It's a great time to be here. And this is such an amazing and sort of fraught with peril kind of times that it's time to talk about it. Let's talk about the time that we're in, because as we sit here, we're about a week and a half from Election Day and things are heating up in Texas, to say the least. All eyes are on the Lone Star State, especially at that really tight Senate race between State Representative James Tallarico and the state's Attorney General Ken Paxton.

2:17Steve Bartlett: And depending on what poll you're looking at, either Tallarico is ahead by a few points or they are neck and neck and tied. So to start off the conversation, how are Texans feeling about this race right now? What's the mood down there? Well, I believe that James Tellarico will win and should win for a whole lot of reasons, but I think it is really close and really tight. The Paxton campaign has come out with just the I've been in politics all my life and it's the most negative and false and lying ads that I've ever seen in my life. So that's what's tightening it up a little bit is these really aggressive negative, negative advertising.

2:57Because nevertheless, I think Tallarico will win. And Brittany, I should tell you one reason that I think you will win is related to the Republican legacy. And that is a significant number of Republicans will vote for James Tallarico, understanding he's a Democrat, disagreeing with some of his stands on issues, but agreeing with most of his stands. and also as a vote against Ken Paxton.

3:21Steve Bartlett: I do want to talk about some Republican defectors because some members of the Bush family, arguably Texas's most prominent Republican dynasty, are throwing their support behind Tallarico. And when you look at other polling when it comes to the governor's race in Texas, the incumbent governor, Greg Abbott, he has more breathing room. He's a few points ahead of his Democratic challenger. And then depending on the poll you look at when it comes to the Senate race, Paxton is either neck and neck and tied with Tallarico or trailing him by a few points. So why do you think Tallarico is able to attract some Texas Republicans?

3:56Well, one of the ironies of all of this is that the Ken Paxton nomination and Tallarico doing so well is actually affecting Greg Abbott's campaign. I think Greg Abbott will be reelected. But I think what's holding him down is the Senate race and trying to carry Paxton. And so therefore, I think that the Republican support for Tallarico, which is considerable, it'll be double digit or higher support, not just the Bush family, but a lot of former elected officials, Republican officials, some current elected officials are publicly out there campaigning for Tallarico. So that changes the equation a lot.

4:41Steve Bartlett: in texas we've seen time and time again these really nationally recognized senate races they get so much attention right the democrat has a lot of hype i'm thinking of you beto overwork i'm thinking of you colin alred so much money gets poured into these races but the republican always wins now you think that james talarrico the democrat can win a democrat hasn't won statewide Biden, Texas in over 30 years. What makes this moment different, do you think? Do you think it's because Paxton, you believe, isn't a good candidate? Do you think Tallarico is different than those other Democrats? What makes this moment different?

5:18Well, this is entirely different. So I've been in Texas politics and Republican politics all my life, and I've never seen anything quite like this, where the Republican candidate for the Senate is just incredibly awful. I mean, the most, I believe he's the most corrupt public official in the entire country. So that's what makes this better. And then on the Democratic side, James Tallarico is a decent human being. He's honest. He will fight against corruption when he goes to the Senate. He actually will do more to reduce the deficit than any of the other candidates that are talking around the country.

5:55He's the, Tallarico is the real deal. So it's the negative on Paxton and the positive on Tallarico that's changing this race dramatically. I'd also comment, Brittany, this, if James Tallarico wins, it will help the Republican Party as much as it helps the country. Because not only do we get a better Senate with Tallarico than we would with Paxton, But we also it also causes the Republican Party to kind of wake up and cleanse itself to say, wait a minute, we don't we don't want to be represented by corruption. So I think it will help the Republican Party to sort of get a grip and get our get our feet on the ground.

6:34Steve Bartlett: I do want to talk a little more about what this race says about the future of the GOP. But before we do, I want to zoom out just a little bit. And nationally right now, it's not that good of a time to be a Republican running for office. right? President Trump's approval rating is underwater. Democrats have the edge when it comes to generic, the generic congressional ballot. Most people think that the country's headed in the wrong direction. How much of an impact do you think President Trump has on the Texas race? Well, it's significant. I think there are two dominant figures that are dominating this race in Texas.

7:09And one is Donald Trump. You know, make no mistake, all over the country, the election is really about Donald Trump and his abject failures. It's not just his unfavorable rating, although that's considerable. It's the highest unfavorable rating, I think, since Harry Truman. But not only is it unfavorable rating, but it's also what he's done, his sense of incompetence and corruption and doing the wrong thing and causing inflation and deficit spending and the war in Iran. So I think all of those things, Donald Trump is a burden on the Republican Party and that he has earned. And his sidekick, Ken Paxton, is an equal burden in Texas.

7:48That's not the case in other states. In other states, it's, you know, the Republican is fine. But in Texas, the Republican in Ken Paxton is not fine at all. So I think it's a double burden for the Republican Party to carry both Trump and Paxton. And I think that will be enough for Tallarico. We'll see. Texas is still a Republican state and will remain so, but I think, I think Cala Rico will help change that and cause Republicans to say, wait, let's get our own act together. I hope I don't have to cancel again tonight. Chronic migraine means 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting four hours or more.

8:30Botox, on a botulinum toxin A, prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine. It is not approved for those with 14 or fewer headache days a month. Botox, the number one prescribed branded chronic migraine preventive treatment, prevents, on average, 8 to 9 headache days a month versus 6 to 7 for placebo. Prescription Botox is injected by your doctor. Effects of Botox may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. Alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition. Patients with these conditions before injection are at highest risk.

8:58Side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. Allergic reactions can include rash, welts, asthma symptoms, and dizziness. Don't receive Botox if there's a skin infection. Tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, including ALS Lou Gehrig's disease, myasthenia gravis or Lambert-Eaton syndrome, and medications including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. Ask your doctor. Visit BotoxChronicMigraine.com or call 1-800-44-BOTOX to learn more. The secret society of semi-homemade? Listen up.

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9:38Steve Bartlett: I don't want to put words in your mouth, so correct me if I'm wrong in characterizing, I think, what you're saying. But you're saying this isn't going to make Texas a purple state. Texas will still be a red state if James Tallarico wins. But desperate times call for desperate measures. And you think that there will be a Democratic senator in Texas? I think there will be. And I think that it will cause a cleansing of the Republican Party. When I joined the Republican Party, the Republican Party has always been, until now, the force against corruption and for honesty and decency and good ethics.

10:20And it just pains me and other Republicans to realize that now the Republicans are leading the corruption party. And it's quite painful. I'll give you one example of one of the endorsements that Tallarico has is the former chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, who is perhaps the most honored Republican lawyer in the entire state, Tom Phillips. And he just stepped right up and endorsed Tallarico, understanding that there's a lot at stake here and a lot of it is corruption.

10:49Steve Bartlett: How do you think the Republican Party has changed in the last couple of decades, especially in Texas then? And is this the first time you're voting for a Democrat? No, I voted because of Donald Trump. I voted for other Democrats. I was still a Republican, and I want to cleanse the Republican Party. But, you know, we had in prior elections, we had Donald Trump, which was a burden to carry. And now we have Donald Trump and Ken Paxton. The support even among Texas Republicans for Donald Trump is thin at best. you know, a lot of lip service, but the majority of Republicans don't like what they see with the deficit, what they see with immigration, with the rule of law, what they see with the corruption of Trump himself, and what they see with the deficit, and inflation.

11:41So there are a lot of Republicans that want a new party. It really goes back to the legacy party, to the legacy of the Republican Party of Ronald Reagan and George Bush and Phil Graham and John Tower and others. one way one of the old philosophers said absolute power corrupt power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely so one of the things that's happened in texas is the republican party has achieved something like absolute power and that's quite unhealthy for anyone so we have to bring it

12:13Steve Bartlett: back to a balance we've seen in the past that when some republicans have stepped out of line with President Trump. President Trump has either supported their challenger or really spoke negatively about them. And that's impacted some politicians right now. They no longer have a career in politics. And after that point, we've seen those politicians, some of them, speak out against President Trump a little more freely. Do you think after this election, because President Trump, he's a lame duck president, he cannot run for another term, Do you think that the Republican Party will move away towards President Trump?

12:52Steve Bartlett: And if so, who do you think the new leader of the party would be? Well, I think the new leader of the party will be Republicans in general, Republicans of good heart and good minds and good ethics. So I think the leader has to come from the grassroots. There are a lot of opportunities for who can actually be one titular leader. But Donald Trump, I think Donald Trump is really standing in the way of moving our country forward and our party forward. And so that's what men and women of good hearts have to deal with that. And that's where we are. And it starts with an election. This election with James Tallarico will mean a lot towards cleansing the party and moving forward.

13:33But, you know, it is, I mean, I think all over the country this election is about Trump. It's just about Trump because of both the corruption and the ineptness of what he's done and what he's done to the economy and affordability. So I think the election is about Trump. In Texas, it's also about Paxton, who is kind of his running buddy. So Texas gets a twofer. I do think that the Republican Party in Texas and elsewhere, we will right ourselves. We'll get back to our roots of good ethics and good government and honesty. But it has to start with an election.

14:12Steve Bartlett: And the election is just a week and a half away. What specifically are you looking out for between now and then? Well, there will still be some, you know, it's interesting. People sometimes, you know, I've been in politics as a Republican all my life. And sometimes people think, well, it's all a bunch of negative campaigning. James Tallarico has not gone negative at all. He's kept it on the issues. He's pointed out that Ken Paxton is quite corrupt, but it's the issues of the deficit and immigration and the rule of law and inflation and the war in Iran. And the corrupt, it's not really negative campaigning to talk about the corruption of your opponent when your opponent is actually corrupt.

14:52So I think between now and then, the extreme negative lies will continue. I have a saying, and that is to quote the old saying about statistics. There are lies, damn lies and statistics. In this case, there are lies, damn lies and Paxton TV ads.

15:08Steve Bartlett: And Paxton has a host of scandals just dragging him down, right? Personal and professional alike. And some Republicans have said before, especially in the primary season, that Corden, Senator John Corden, who's the incumbent right now, he would have been the better choice because he would have had an easier time defeating Tallarico than Paxton will. But let's say, hypothetically speaking, we're sitting here two weeks from now and Paxton ends up winning. What do you think that says for the future of the Republican Party? Well, it's quite the the somebody told me one time, you know, the old saying of if you're in a hole, stop digging.

15:48Well, in this case, we're arguing in. So if we continue to auger in as deep and as bad as we can go, things will get bad. All my life I've heard somebody, every election, somebody say, this is the most important election of your life. And I've never really bought into that because all elections are important for various reasons. Ronald Reagan in 1980 was kind of one of the top ones. But I think this one really is a turning point for Texas and for the country and for the Republican Party. If all that Donald Trump and Ken Paxton has done is not enough to cause the Republican Party and the voters to take another turn, then I think we're in for a world of hurt.

16:34People tell me things can't get any worse, but they can get worse if we continue on the current course. So the stakes are pretty darn high.

16:43Steve Bartlett: Congressman Bartlett, I really appreciate your conversation today, your insight. Thank you so much for joining me. You're welcome back anytime. I hope to catch up about this race as we see more developments out of Texas. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it, Brittany. Keep bringing the truth to your viewers.

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