Wow, what a ride last night was. Going into the night, I had hopes and not just for president. Texas has been on a blue slide for some time now and there was a very real possibility we’d go further down that slippery hill. I worried that Sen. Ted Cruz (R) once again waited too long before really hitting back at his opponent, Collin Allred. There were other races, from the state house and senate to their U.S. counterparts that worried me as well. Because of that, like so many of you, I was glued to the TV, watching the results role in and considering exactly why the races went they way they did.

The Cruz-Allred race is a perfect example of what went wrong, not only here but across the nation, for the Democrats. Allred and his supporters spent thousands and thousands on ads targeting Cruz’s stance on abortion. We saw parents who blamed Cruz because they couldn’t get an abortion when needed. There were doctors saying how they couldn’t vote for Cruz because he made it impossible for them to do their jobs.

But where did he stand on the other issues that are of importance to the state? What about the border? What about defense spending? What about lower gas prices, grocery prices, etc? We saw little about that from Allred, just as we saw little of it from other Democrats running down here.

Rep. Kay Granger (R) from Fort Worth did not run for re-election, leaving open a very important seat in the House. First elected in 1997, she served her district and the state with an eye on what was needed here as well as what was needed for the country. When looking at the two major candidates to replace her, Craig Goldman (R) promised to pretty much follow her example. His three top priorities are border security, improving the economy, and continued support for the development of the F-35 fighter jet (and national defense). His opponent, Trey Hunt (D), said his top three priorities are “expanding housing opportunities, expanding healthcare coverage, and redirecting the military-industrial complex into the builders of renewable energy tech.” No one explained to him–or to the DNC–about how they need to read the room–a common problem with the Democratic Party these days.

Texas can’t be bought.

He hopes the Republicans gained even more seats in the Senate because of all the money the DNC spent down here in an attempt to get Allred elected. I think he’s getting his wish.

As of 0800 Central this morning, the Senate numbers showed a Republican majority. Republicans hold 52 seats to 42 for the Democrats. There are five states where the races have not been called. Of those five, at least two are trending Republican right now. Either way, the Dems cannot take the majority. The Republicans, at the time of this writing, are ahead by 20 seats in the House.

So what went wrong for the Dems, in Texas and across the nation?

Part of it, as one of the local commentators said this morning, is that the bait and switch by the Dems by going through with their convention and they switching in Harris for Biden hurt much more than it helped. Harris did not get to prove her political chops on a national stage. Another part is that they focused on only one issue: abortion. That really is the only issue where she let the voters know where she stood. She was a weak candidate, both on paper and in actuality.

In 2012, Mitt Romney took the state with 4,555,799 votes (57.2%) over Obama. Trump beat Hillary Clinton in 2016 by almost 10%. Trump went on to beat Biden in 2020 by almost 6%. Last night he defeated Harris by almost 12%. Why have Republican candidates won here time and again? Speaking as a Texan, it’s not because we are all Bible-thumping ultra-conservatives who want to take rights away from anyone. It is because we are tired of having the Federal government tell us we have to fall into lock step with the more liberal states that have little to nothing in common with the folks down here.

As Sen. Cruz said, “Texas isn’t for sale. And Texans can’t be bought.”

It doesn’t matter how many Hollywood stars you bring out to tell us how much better we’ll be with a certain candidate. It doesn’t matter who many so-called celebrities talk about the challenges of living under Trump. We look at these multi-millionaires who fly in their private jets and have their personal security and live in mansions and shake our heads. They haven’t got a clue what our lives are about. Give us substance over glitz any day.

Instead of parading out the star-power, Harris should have given us policies we could sink out teeth into. She failed because she focused on one issue. As important as abortion is, no matter which side of the issue you’re on, it isn’t the only issue facing this nation. But, to listen to Harris, you’d think it was.

Harris and her handlers underestimated the American public. Look at the reactions from the liberals today and you’ll see post after post about how we, as a nation, failed. We let women down. How dare we.

Well, let me let them in on a little secret. Women voted in this election too. Their husbands, partners, brothers, or fathers weren’t allowed in the voting booths with them. They weren’t forced to vote the way they did. And one heck of a lot of them voted for Donald Trump. I won’t post them here, but you can find out how those “involved” celebrities, Cardi B, Quentin Tarrantino, and Alec “I didn’t pull the trigger” Baldwin are all convinced last night’s the night our republic died.

All of which is yet another indication that the Dems are disconnected in Texas and they are disconnected nationwide.

Read the room. We aren’t for sale and the glitz of celebrity isn’t enough to convince us to go against our own instincts when it comes to what is best for the country.

Featured image: Ted Cruz Official Portrait. This United States Congress image is in the public domain. This may be because it was taken by an employee of the Congress as part of that person’s official duties, or because it has been released into the public domain and posted on the official websites of a member of Congress. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.