The Midterms Begin With a Texas-Size Showdown

From the New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. In Texas today, amid the president's sinking popularity and his widening war with Iran, Democrats and Republicans will head to the polls for an election that will send both parties a message about what voters want and don't want in Trump's America. Fighting or healing? Loyalty or defiance? I spoke with my colleague, national political correspondent Shane Goldmacher, about the senate primary that everyone in US politics is watching. It's Tuesday, March 3. Shane? Michael, good to see you. Nice to see you in person. So the midterm elections, which we promised were really around the corner, are actually now. They are starting. Starting. Starting on Tuesday, and of all places, Texas, state known for very big political personalities and political dramas. Are you ready for it? I'm ready for it. Yeah. Texas is the big kickoff of the midterm season. Literally the first. Yep. Yeah. There's three states, but this is the the central one. And we're not actually interested in it just because it's the first, although that's plenty of reason to be interested in it. We're interested in the Texas midterm primary on Tuesday because it looks to be a race on both sides, The selection of a Democratic nominee and a Republican nominee for US senate that is really capturing the big soul searching battle for the identity of both parties in this era of Trump's America. Yeah. On the question of, like, what is the direction of the Democratic party at this moment, and what is the direction of the Republican party in this moment? The midterm fight there in this primary is one of the most interesting ones. This Texas race has a little bit of everything. It's a fight over race. It's a fight over religion. It's a fight over ideology. It's a fight over Donald Trump. It's a fight over electability. Mhmm. It is, in short, a fight over almost everything that we fight about in American politics. And it is a race for Republicans between a sort of a fixture of the old guard of the Republican party To the degree there is an old guard still. To agree there's an old guard, a guy who's been around for twenty years, and a challenger who is really made in the image of Donald Trump, controversial and popular with the right wing base of the Republican party. And for Democrats, it's a choice between two candidates who really offer the paths for the party forward. Do you wanna pick someone who is a fighter, who is gonna just throw haymakers all day -JEN: Fight fire with fire. -JEN: Fight fire with fire. Or do you wanna pick somebody who is more of a healer type? Someone who says, yes, there's fights we need to be have, but, ultimately, it's about bridging our divides. And this is the first measurement for both parties this year of where they stand on those …