Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has only himself to blame for the end of his political career. The Texas Republican was seen as the heir apparent to Mitch McConnell when left public life. He was seen as a reliable Republican, a backbone of the conservative base. And then he decided to put his support behind gun control measures following the shooting in Uvalde. That was the sign that this guy was fool’s gold, and Texas Republicans knew it.
Cornyn is probably feeling pretty good: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton lost. That’s sad. Cornyn didn’t campaign with Ken Paxton, who, for all his faults, won the primary. That’s what kills me about those who claim that Paxton was an albatross on the GOP ticket in Texas. Maybe, but he lost two elections. There was a primary and a runoff — John lost both. This guy wasn't anointed or appointed. Texas Republican voters elected Paxton.
After that, Cornyn sat on the sidelines, with some of his staffers leaving to work with Democrat James Talarico. Who vets people in your office, John? His whole demeanor was ‘if I can’t win, no one will.’
Paxton had issues, but even his soon-to-be-divorced wife — Ken had infidelity issues — cut an ad supporting him. That’s true teamwork. Sorry, John, Paxton’s future ex-wife truly had beef and a reason to screw him. She didn’t. You had two chances to beat him and failed. After that, read the tea leaves and help the party win. That’s what an honorable person would do. Cornyn’s primary defeats showed he had a base issue; I’m not convinced Cornyn would’ve won if he had won the primary. No Republican won statewide on Tuesday.
Yet, maybe things could’ve been interesting if Cornyn put his ego aside and helped Paxton, as any real Republican would. The game passed you by, John. Deal with it.
It sucks that we got beat like a drum last Tuesday. It happens. It won’t be the last time the GOP gets shellacked, but Cornyn gone is a good thing. Now it’s time to rebuild.
