Op-ed: All that anti-trans money, and Republicans still got shellacked in Texas & everywhere else

I spent seven years on Capitol Hill and more than 25 years in public relations, so I think I know a thing or two about campaigns that fail miserably, messaging that falls flat and leaders who lose touch with constituents and consumers.Failure can be epic, entirely avoidable and wildly expensive. On Tuesday night in Texas, Ken Paxton gave us one of the most visible lessons in that kind of failure that I have ever seen.The man I’ve started to call “my man,” James Talarico, defeated Paxton to win a U.S. Senate seat in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988. That was when the beloved Sen. Lloyd Bentsen ran for vice president and the Senate at the same time. Texas law allowed him to run for both. He lost the vice presidency to Dan Quayle — the lite version of JD Vance — and remained in the Senate until 1993, when he resigned to become President Bill Clinton’s treasury secretary.Related: James Talarico wins Texas Senate seat in race focused on masculinity and anti-trans attacksAs a side note, I met Bentsen twice. He was one of the most respected senators in history. I think he’s quite happy this morning, and I think Talarico will make him proud.Also in Texas, Gina Hinojosa defeated Gov. Greg Abbott that same night. Republicans threw everything they had at these Democrats, including a lot of Elon Musk’s money. Gee, for a guy who claims to be frugal, he sure threw away a helluva lot of money in Texas.His money, and that of others, went toward trying to scare the electorate about transgender people.The scale of the failure and the amount of money spent are staggering. AdImpact called this the most expensive nonpresidential race in American history, with more than $573 million in ad spending and reservations across the primary and general elections, from both parties and their supporters. That total covered all issues, not just anti-trans attacks. The Associated Press reported that Republican-backed TV ads on transgender issues alone