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There’s a scene in “The Godfather” when Michael Corleone tells his childhood buddy Tom Hagan that he will likely be out of management through the movie’s mob battle, saying, “You’re not a wartime consigliere, Tom. Issues would possibly get tough with the strikes we try.” That line echoes what many Texas GOP voters are saying about Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn.
I met Tim for lunch at Pegasus Plaza in downtown Dallas simply three days earlier than Cornyn’s Tuesday matchup in opposition to Lawyer Normal Ken Paxton, and he instructed me, “I like Cornyn. He’s man, however Trump wants fighters in D.C.”
Tim is in his 30s, works in banking, and went on to say, “Cornyn simply appears to be from a distinct time. Possibly it was a greater time, nevertheless it’s not now.”
One other Texan backing Paxton I met was Patti, who’s retired and instructed me, “Cornyn is nice if the opposite facet is taking part in honest, however they aren’t.”
What Cornyn, who’s behind in the polls however nonetheless inside attain of victory, could also be realizing is that there’s a political worth to pay for working on electability — that when an voters is indignant, affability just isn’t an asset.
Adverts are at present working within the Lone Star State urging senators to interrupt the filibuster to cross the SAVE Act, which requires voter ID in American elections. Each individual I talked to, together with Democrats, instructed me they thought Paxton would do it and Cornyn wouldn’t.
Not simply in Texas however across the nation, I hear huge frustration from Republican voters about senators like Thom Tillis, Lisa Murkowski, John Barrasso and even Majority Chief John Thune for bringing a whack-a-mole hammer to a gunfight.
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As one man quipped to me this weekend, “Trump has sufficient Democrats who hate him to combat. He doesn’t want Republicans to combat, too.”
Cornyn seems to be ready out Trump’s time period in workplace, assured that the form of GOP he got here up in will reappear as soon as Trump is out of its orbit, now not pulled by his political gravity.
However with JD Vance holding a commanding lead within the — albeit very early — 2028 GOP presidential main polls, Cornyn’s want to return the occasion to its lovable-loser standing, wherein congressional Democrats usually roll them, appears distant at finest.
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Cornyn belongs to a political age wherein essentially the most very important job of Republicans was to carry the established order on home and even foreign policy in opposition to the rising radicalism of the Democrats. However his defensive, Maginot Line-style method just isn’t touchdown immediately.
In Trump, Republican voters discovered a chaos agent — one who would play offense in opposition to the left and, frankly, break just a few issues alongside the best way.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, walks by means of the halls of the U.S. Capitol on February 12, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photos)
Take international coverage. Trump’s view of the neoliberal world order was that the U.S. paid to guard everybody, accepted unhealthy commerce offers to take care of stability and requested others to steer — all whereas apologizing for being in cost. He’s now blowing up that mannequin.
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Paxton has proven a willingness to have the president’s again on all the things from tariffs to war to “Making America Wholesome Once more.” Might that be criticized as working as a rubber stamp for Trump? Positive. However that’s precisely what many citizens need.
As for Paxton’s scandals, which his opponents argue negatively impression his electability within the common election in opposition to both Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, or her “Beto 2.0” challenger, James Talarico, I see little proof of that.
A number of voters I spoke to weren’t even conscious of Paxton’s private life points and disregarded his alleged corruption. However what they did find out about had been his accomplishments as a tough-as-nails legal professional common.
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Even one Democrat I spoke with, a Talarico voter, praised Paxton’s work cracking down on H-1B visa “ghost workplaces” which are allegedly committing tens of millions of {dollars} of fraud in opposition to the American individuals.
One hope for John Cornyn is that reasonable voters is likely to be quieter voters, much less prone to communicate with me and even reply polls. However with some frequency, so-called silent majorities flip into electoral losses.
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Virtually no person I spoke with disliked Cornyn. There have been just a few who spoke extra like an X feed than a human being, however usually, the sense was that he’s man — however not the best man to go to the mattresses with Trump in opposition to the left.
Ultimately, in “The Godfather,” Michael made the best determination by demoting Tom. He wanted loyal fighters, not a sensible man who may determine the way to please all sides. Now it’s as much as Texas Republicans to determine who their wartime consigliere will likely be. From what I can see, it is rather prone to be Ken Paxton.
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