WASHINGTON – The most significant development Tuesday night in the race for Sen. John Cornyn’s seat may not have been the Democratic primary runoff.
Rather, it might well have been the rambling hour-long campaign speech in the Rose Garden, 1,100 miles from the nearest Texas polling station.
Because the general election will be unavoidably a referendum on President Donald Trump, and Cornyn has ardently defended the president even while distancing himself from his most caustic tweets and erratic behavior.
It was hard-fought battle between combat veteran M.J. Hegar and state Sen. Royce West. Cornyn had lots of fun poking at both – softening up Hegar, the winner, with allegations that party elites helped her swat aside West and generally stirring the pot in hopes of leaving Democrats bitter and divided.
But with the runoff done, the spotlight will shift.
Trump’s Rose Garden appearance provided an outlet after his campaign scrapped a rally in New Hampshire last weekend that was shaping up to be as disappointing a draw as the June 20 fiasco in Tulsa.
The grievances and non sequiturs came fast and furious.
He accused Joe Biden of pushing to “abolish police” and “abolish prisons,” and devoting his career to serving the Chinese Communist Party’s interests – laughably unsupportable allegations.
Tangents covered the border wall and coronavirus.
Trump lamented that immigrants get work permits while “people who live here” don’t, an odd complaint since U.S. citizens don’t need permits and by definition, lawful residents already have them.
When Cornyn won the seat in 2002, he beat former Dallas mayor and future Obama trade ambassador Ron Kirk 55-43. He topped state Rep. Rick Noriega of Houston by the same margin six years later, and trounced Dallas dentist and investor David Alameel 62-34 to win a third term.
In none of those years did he face a headwind like this.
Trump lags Biden by 5 points in the latest Dallas Morning News/University of Texas at Tyler poll.
In Texas, a state Republicans haven’t lost since 1976 and without which they have no path to the White House.
Even if Texas is more like a tie at the moment, as other polls suggest, Trump represents a bigger threat to fellow Republicans than any GOP nominee in 44 years.
Trump will have no coattails. The end of straight-ticket voting might be good for Cornyn, though it’s hard to imagine the Biden-Cornyn voter.
Still, his fate and the president’s are deeply entwined. And that’s not a helpful thing.
