Texas Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s fiery bid for a U.S. Senate seat was an exercise in self-immolation, according to a new report citing comments from various black Democrats.
The report from Politico said the shaky underpinnings of Crockett’s campaign were evident long before she lost the Democratic primary to state Rep. James Talarico.
The report also noted that Crockett’s defeat exposed fault lines within the Democratic Party shaped by the culture of identity politics.
In summing up the criticisms, Politico wrote, “Her campaign was unfocused; she had an insufficient campaign infrastructure to challenge Talarico, even though she earned the backing of former Vice President Kamala Harris.”
“They also said her media strategy relied too heavily on social media rather than television ad buys — typically seen as critical in a sprawling state like Texas and its nearly two dozen media markets,” the report continued.
“People who don’t understand politics will be upset because Jasmine was their hero,” Democratic Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones said. “But for people who understand politics, [Crockett] literally had no ground game.”
“This L is on her,” she added.
“She ran a f***ing terrible campaign that many will question if she’s running a campaign at all,” an unnamed black national Democratic operative told Politico.
But others said black women who support Democratic candidates deserved to have one of their own win.
“A lot of black women who work in the Democratic Party, vote for Democrats, organize for Democrats, have always had a sense of this,” political strategist Tayhlor Coleman said. “It is a lot more apparent now: A lot of people in the Democratic Party want our labor, they do not want our leadership.”
“The way that we have seen people rally around new, more untested white male candidates” is troubling, Maya Rupert, another Democratic strategist, said.
“There are a lot of people who see this and see a very qualified, very popular black woman — that, once again — feels like people fail to appreciate the strength of,” Rupert said. “And that is a very dangerous position for the party to be in.”
Crockett spent much of her campaign making race a central issue, according to Fox News.
In January, Crockett was irked by two podcasters who told listeners not to waste money supporting her.
“I really do think that the host said the quiet part out loud, which basically was: If a white man couldn’t do it, then why would a black woman even have the audacity to think that she could?” Crockett complained.
She said attack ads against her were racist, claiming, “I see when they’re sending out ads and they’re darkening my skin. And I’m just like, I know what this is, right?”
Others said she was her own worst enemy.
Black author Al Robinson noted, “When your campaign message is built on hatred… division… and mocking entire groups of people… eventually voters get tired of it.”
“Rep. Jasmine Crockett tried to build a brand on insults… calling people ‘white tears,’ throwing around Nazi comparisons, and making politics nothing more than a circus of outrage. But here is the uncomfortable reality. Leadership requires stability. Leadership requires responsibility. Leadership requires building something… not just tearing people down,” he said.
“When your entire political strategy is built on insults instead of solutions… the result is predictable. You lose,” he said.
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