A (Lone) Star Is Born

Playbook: “We’re exactly one day into early voting in the hottest primary contest of 2026, and already temperatures in Texas are sky-high. The decision to pull Dem Senate hopeful James Talarico’s Late Show interview with Stephen Colbert on Monday night put rocket boosters under his campaign at a critical moment.”

“The numbers are still soaring: As of this morning, the canned segment has more than 5 million YouTube views — numbers Colbert can only dream of on his actual TV show. You probably saw the graph yesterday showing Google searches of Talarico’s name spiking dramatically.”

Key takeaway: “In years past, a broadcast network ditching your big interview on the night voting starts would have been a body blow for a state senator still trying to get national recognition. But not in this era. As Donald Trump knows better than anyone, nothing grabs eyeballs and motivates voter bases these days like a sense of grievance, of being under attack from powerful forces, of leaning into the fight.”