2026-06-03T10:03:19.144Z / 路透社
- 摘要
- 共和党对得州联邦参议院候选人塔拉里科发起聚焦文化议题的攻击
- 战略家表示，该做法呼应了共和党2024年的竞选套路
- 塔拉里科的竞选被视为民主党应对文化议题攻击的试金石
6月3日（路透社）——就在上周得州共和党联邦参议院初选的所有选票都还未清点完毕之际，共和党成员就已开始向民主党候选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科发起攻击。
5月22日，得州国会议员布兰登·吉尔在X平台上写道，塔拉里科“想要对你们的孩子进行性别过渡治疗”。几天后，白宫副幕僚长斯蒂芬·米勒 falsely声称塔拉里科本人就是“跨性别者”。网上流传的攻击广告摘引了这位州众议员兼神学院学生此前有争议的旧言论，将他斥为“觉醒怪咖”。
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随着共和党人在高油价和不受欢迎的伊朗战争问题上日益陷入守势，他们在11月的中期选举前转向了更安全的意识形态阵地——在这场将决定共和党是否能保住美国国会控制权的选举中，聚焦性别身份认同及其他分化性文化议题。
这些攻击中有一些是针对37岁的塔拉里科本人的，他是民主党政坛新星，经常谈及自己的进步政策立场植根于基督教信仰。其他攻击则是量身定制以适配得州的情况——该州自1988年以来就从未选出过民主党籍联邦参议员。
但政治幕僚表示，这一策略源自共和党更广泛的竞选套路，这套套路帮助该党在2024年选举周期中在全国范围内取得进展，而他们希望借此在2026年全美范围内的逆风环境中站稳脚跟。
stakes（注：原文此处应为Stakes） 事关重大：民主党要夺回参议院席位的道路狭窄且艰难，但如果能在得州获胜，他们将极有可能实现这一目标。而民主党战略家认为共和党候选人、州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿是一位异常弱势的候选人，背负着腐败丑闻和婚姻不忠的包袱。
得州民意研究机构周五发布的一项民调显示，两位候选人的支持率不相上下，在可能投票的选民中，塔拉里科以47%比44%领先帕克斯顿。
战略家表示，塔拉里科的竞选是对民主党人的一次早期试金石测试，考验他们如何应对一个熟悉的两难困境：在回应带有文化争议的攻击时，既不被这些攻击定义，又不会疏远关键选民群体。
“共和党需要动员选民，”得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校政治学教授、两党福克斯新闻民调团队成员达伦·肖表示。他说，将塔拉里科描绘成对得州选民完全不可接受的形象，“不仅仅是为了争取基础选民”，还将“瞄准非‘让美国再次伟大’共和党人和独立选民”。
重炒旧账
到目前为止，塔拉里科一直强调经济议题，并指责共和党试图重炒“陈旧乏味的文化战争议题”。他在接受CBS采访时承认，自己过去的一些言论“没说到点子上”，包括2021年“上帝是非二元性别的”这一表述。但他的竞选团队也顺势利用了这些批评，向支持者售卖印有“我是塔拉里科怪咖”字样的T恤。
“肯·帕克斯顿这类傀儡政客就是靠这个继续掌权的，”周五在圣安东尼奥的一场竞选活动中被问及这些攻击时，塔拉里科对路透社表示。“他们按党派、种族、性别、宗教、文化分裂我们……我认为得州人已经受够了这种分裂。”
帕克斯顿的竞选团队未回应路透社的置评请求。共和党联邦参议院竞选委员会（该党参议院竞选机构）的发言人萨曼莎·坎特雷尔表示，得州选民有必要了解塔拉里科在相关议题上的立场。
“说上帝是非二元性别的，是一种非常、非常激进的左翼观点，”她说。
民主党战略家、前总统乔·拜登顾问耶米西·埃格贝沃莱称赞塔拉里科直接反击攻击的做法。
“他直接在多个媒体镜头前表态，说自己的言论令人尴尬，还称自己有点爱挑衅，”她说。“我认为你必须立刻把这些问题摆平，对吧？”
埃格贝沃莱和其他战略家表示，随着共和党试图将讨论焦点从民生议题上转移开，其他民主党候选人也应引以为戒。民调显示，绝大多数美国人对唐纳德·特朗普总统的经济处理方式不满，而经济通常是特朗普及其政党的优势领域。
“你到底代表什么？”
呼吁文化传统主义在得州尤其能引起共鸣——这个州宗教氛围浓厚，是美国保守主义运动的发源地。“詹姆斯·塔拉里科对我们的价值观、生活方式和得州的未来构成威胁，”帕克斯顿周六在X平台上发文称。
“这场斗争关乎：塔拉里科是一位会被东德州敬畏上帝的民众接受的非传统民主党人？”肖说。“还是那种会吸引奥斯汀知识分子的左翼进步派、戴口罩、吃素的伪君子？”
共和党人——包括帕克斯顿和特朗普——反复使用的一条攻击路线是 falsely声称塔拉里科是素食者，试图将他塑造成不像得州人的形象。塔拉里科回击称，早在帕克斯顿第一次被起诉之前，他就一直在吃烧烤。
利用文化议题，尤其是围绕跨性别权利的辩论，在2024年为共和党带来了成效。其中最有效的一则攻击广告包含这样的台词：“卡玛拉支持‘他们/她们’，特朗普总统支持你”，并提及民主党候选人卡玛拉·哈里斯关于为囚犯提供由税收资助的性别确认治疗的言论。
“坦率地说，这些是最能让选民记住的东西，”埃格贝沃莱说，她表示民主党需要更好地向普通选民传达自己的价值观。“他们只是想知道：你到底代表什么？”
海伦·科斯特在纽约报道。乔尔·安吉尔·华雷斯在圣安东尼奥补充报道。杰西·梅斯纳-哈奇和迪帕·巴宾顿编辑。
我们的标准：路透社信托原则。
As US midterms near, Talarico tries to fend off culture war attacks in Texas
2026-06-03T10:03:19.144Z / Reuters
- Summary
- Republicans launch culture-focused attacks on Texas Senate candidate Talarico
- Approach reflects Republican playbook from 2024, strategists say
- Talarico’s campaign seen as test of Democrat response to culture issue attacks
June 3 (Reuters) – Even before all the votes had been counted in last week’s Republican Senate primary in Texas, party members began rolling out attacks on the Democratic candidate, James Talarico.
Talarico “wants to trans your kids,” Texas congressman Brandon Gill
wrote
on May 22 on X. Days later, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller falsely
claimed
Talarico himself was “transgender.” Attack ads
circulated online
highlighting controversial old quotes from the state representative and seminarian and dismissing him as a “woke weirdo.”
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With Republicans increasingly on the defensive over high gas prices and an unpopular war in Iran, they are returning to safer ideological terrain ahead of the November midterm elections – homing in on gender identity and other cultural wedge issues in a race that will help determine whether they retain control of the U.S. Congress.
Some of the attacks are specific to Talarico, 37, a rising star in the Democratic Party who speaks frequently about how his progressive policy positions are rooted in his Christian faith. Others are tailored to Texas, which hasn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1988.
But political operatives say the strategy comes from a broader Republican playbook that helped the party make nationwide gains in the 2024 election cycle, and which they hope will allow them to weather headwinds across the country in 2026.
The stakes are enormous: Democrats face a narrow and difficult path to reclaiming the Senate, but a win in Texas would likely give them a real shot. And Democratic strategists view the Republican candidate, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, as an unusually weak candidate saddled with the baggage of corruption scandals and marital infidelities.
A
poll
released on Friday by Texas Public Opinion Research showed the two candidates locked in a tight race, with Talarico leading Paxton 47% to 44% among likely voters.
Strategists say Talarico’s campaign is an early test for Democrats of how to navigate a familiar dilemma: responding to culturally charged attacks without being defined by them, or alienating key constituencies.
“Republicans need to mobilize voters,” said Daron Shaw, a professor of politics at the University of Texas at Austin and a member of the bipartisan Fox News polling team. “Painting Talarico as just unacceptable to Texas voters,” isn’t simply a play for the base, he said, but will be “targeted at non-MAGA Republicans and independents.”
RELITIGATING THE PAST
So far, Talarico has emphasized economic issues and accused Republicans of trying to relitigate “old, tired culture war fights.” He acknowledged in an
interview with CBS
that some past remarks “missed the mark,” including a 2021 statement that “God is nonbinary.” But his campaign has also leaned into the criticism, selling “I’m a Talafreako” T-shirts to supporters.
“This is how puppet politicians like Ken Paxton stay in power,” Talarico told Reuters, when asked about the attacks at a campaign stop in San Antonio on Friday. “They divide us by party, by race, by gender, by religion, by culture … And I think Texans are done being divided.”
The Paxton campaign did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Samantha Cantrell, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the party’s Senate campaign arm, said it was important for Texans to know Talarico’s position on issues.
“Saying that God is non-binary is a very, very radical leftist viewpoint,” she said.
Yemisi Egbewole, a Democratic strategist and former adviser to President Joe Biden, praised Talarico for his direct approach to countering the attacks.
“He just addressed straight to camera across multiple outlets that his comments were cringe, and characterized himself as being a bit provocative,” she said. “I think you’ve just got to knock it out of the way, right away.”
Other Democratic candidates should take note, Egbewole and other strategists said, as Republicans seek to shift the conversation away from pocketbook issues. Polls show a clear majority of Americans are dissatisfied with President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy, usually an area of strength for him and his party.
‘WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR?’
The appeal to cultural traditionalism is especially resonant in Texas, a deeply religious state and a cradle of the U.S. conservative movement. “James Talarico is a threat to our values, our way of life, and the future of Texas,” Paxton
posted on X
on Saturday.
“This is a fight about: Is Talarico a nontraditional Democrat who would be acceptable to God-fearing people in East Texas?” Shaw said. “Or is he the kind of left-wing, progressive, mask-wearing, vegan wannabe who appeals to Austin intellectuals?”
One repeated line of attack from Republicans – including Paxton and Trump – has been to falsely claim Talarico is vegan, in a bid to cast him as un-Texan. Talarico has hit back saying he has been eating barbecue since before Paxton’s first indictment.
Exploiting cultural issues, especially the debate over transgender rights, worked for Republicans in 2024. One of the most effective attack ads included the line: “Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you,” highlighting remarks by Democratic nominee Kamala Harris about support for tax-funded gender-affirming care for prisoners.
“Those are frankly the things that stick the most with voters,” said Egbewole, saying Democrats need to do a better job of communicating their own values to ordinary voters. “They just want to know: What do you stand for?”
Reporting by Helen Coster in New York. Additional reporting by Joel Angel Juarez in San Antonio, editing by Jesse Mesner-Hage and Deepa Babington
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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