Audience (00:00):
[inaudible 00:00:53].
(00:00)
Talarico. Talarico. Talarico. Talarico. Talarico. Talarico. Talarico. Talarico. Talarico. Talarico. Talarico. Talarico.
MUSIC (05:42):
[foreign language 00:01:24].
(05:42)
In the day we sweat it out on the streets.
(05:42)
Of a runaway American dream.
(05:42)
At night we ride through the mansions of glory.
(05:42)
In suicide machines.
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Sprung from cages on Highway 9.
(05:42)
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected, and steppin' out over the line.
(05:43)
Oh, baby this town rips the bones from your back.
(05:43)
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap.
(05:43)
We gotta get out while we're young.
(05:43)
'Cause tramps like us, baby, we were born to run.
(05:43)
Yes, girl, we were.
(05:43)
Wendy, let me in, I wanna be your friend.
(05:43)
I wanna guard your dreams and visions.
(05:43)
Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims.
(05:43)
And strap your hands 'cross my engines.
(05:43)
Together we could break this trap.
(05:43)
We'll run 'til we drop, baby, we'll never go back.
(05:43)
Oh, will you walk with me out on the wire?
(05:43)
'Cause, baby, I'm just a scared and lonely rider.
(05:43)
But I gotta know how it feels.
(05:43)
I want to know if love is wild.
(05:43)
Babe, I want to know if love is real.
(05:43)
Oh, can you show me.
(05:43)
Beyond the Palace, hemi-powered drones.
(05:43)
Scream down the boulevard.
(05:43)
Girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors.
(05:43)
And the boys try to look so hard.
(05:43)
The amusement park rises bold and stark.
(05:43)
Kids are huddled on the beach in the mist.
(05:43)
I wanna die with you, Wendy, on the street tonight.
(05:43)
In an everlasting kiss.
Crew (05:47):
Say we're still letting people in.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Hello [inaudible 00:05:48]. So, we are still letting people in. I literally ran from the outside. My friends live outside. Hi. Everyone say hi to our friends outside.
Audience (05:54):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
The line is crazy, but what's even crazier is that we're really going to do this and we're really going to take back Texas y'all. This is the most amazing crowd I have ever seen. We appreciate your patience so, so much. And we're just, we're ready. We're ready. I think you're ready too. We need all of you to sign up to volunteer. Please, please do that. Can you promise me that, Lubbock, because that's really how we're going to take back Texas? Can I get a big yes?
Audience (06:57):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Let me hear you roar, Lubbock. I need you all to squeeze in as closely as possible so we can let in as many of our friends in here, letting as many of our community in here. Beautiful. Don't hurt each other. Don't hurt each other, but...
Audience (07:15):
We love you [inaudible 00:07:16].
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Okay, okay. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, my friends over here. We need y'all scoot a little bit this way. Keep this side. You see that curtain right there? I need y'all this way. But I appreciate the excitement. Okay, just kidding. You're good right there. Yay.
Audience (07:34):
[inaudible 00:07:40].
Speaker 1 (08:04):
I've got one more thing for y'all to do. It's my favorite thing to do with volunteers and I think this is the crowd to really, really do this. So I'm going to yell for y'all. Show me what community looks like. And I want everybody to yell back, "This is what community looks like." Ready? Show me what community looks like.
Audience (08:18):
This is what community looks like.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Show me what a community looks like.
Audience (08:18):
This is what community looks like.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Show me how winning looks like.
Audience (08:18):
This is how winning looks like.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
All righty, y'all. Are y'all ready to get this thing started? We are letting in as many folks as possible. So again, please, please, please make some space for people. This is your community. And now, I am excited to introduce you all to our first speaker of the night. Please, please, please, please give it up for Mayor Leal. Give it up louder, y'all.
Victor Leal (09:21):
How's everybody doing? [inaudible 00:09:21] Lubbock Texas? We're here, baby. Has anybody ever danced the Cumbia here before? That's what I'm talking about. I love it. I love it. I'm so excited to be here. Is anybody tired of paying too much for gas? Anybody here?
Audience (09:40):
Yeah.
Victor Leal (09:42):
Anybody tired of paying too much for groceries?
Audience (09:45):
Yeah.
Victor Leal (09:45):
Anybody tired of this corrupt BS we got going on in Washington in Texas? Y'all ready to change it?
Audience (09:54):
Yeah.
Victor Leal (09:56):
The times are changing, baby. The times are changing. Y'all are feeling it tonight. All right. So let me straight with you. I kind of feel like I'm at an AA meeting, okay? I want to say I'm Victor Leal and I'm a recovering Republican. Okay?
(10:17)
It's true. It's true. Back in 2018, I ran for the State Senate on the Republican side.
Audience (10:27):
Oh.
Victor Leal (10:27):
Hey, hey, hey. I mean, we all make our mistakes, right? But here's the crazy thing. My poor mom, God bless her soul, she passed away in April. She was a founders of Leal's Mexican Restaurant that started in 1957. She was also a lifelong Democrat. She wore this and she would ride with me and she would say, "[foreign language 00:10:54], you're going to do great." But I never had the heart to ask her, "Mom, did you vote for me?" Because I don't really think she did. So anyway, she wore the button, but I don't know that she voted. But I'm proud to say now, I'm on Team Talarico, baby.
(11:11)
Matter of fact, I'm a Talafrico. Are there any Talafricos out there? I heard there's a couple of guys on the other side of town.
Audience (11:28):
Boo. Boo.
Victor Leal (11:28):
Yeah. Oh, I know. I feel you. I feel you. Ken Paxton brought his best buddy, Donald Trump, who's in town. I hope everybody locked their cars with those guys. So, I want to say a warrior goes into battle, not because he hates what's in front of him, but because he loves what's behind. Let me tell you about my friend James Talarico. That brother is a fighter. He's a warrior. You've seen it in the state legislature. For fun, I pull up YouTube videos and watch him debate on the back mic, people that are on the front mic and ask him about their bills and the way he just absolutely destroys them is fun to watch. It's amazing. It's absolutely amazing.
(12:35)
He's shown that he loves the people of Texas by serving us. He's humble. He's a leader, a servant leader. He has a deep faith, and his deep faith guides him, causes him to act with integrity and honesty. Isn't that something new that we need in DC and Texas?
(12:51)
You know what he's going to do? I don't have a doubt in my mind, and I know these guys, I know the donors to the other side. Believe me, I've campaigned. I know the inside scoop, right? But he's going to stand up to these billionaire donors and he's going to defend the working class, all of us, all of you, the working class that suffers these high prizes.
Audience (13:17):
Yeah.
Victor Leal (13:22):
Yeah. Y'all ever heard of a guy named Elon Musk?
Audience (13:22):
Boo.
Victor Leal (13:36):
[foreign language 00:13:33] jumping around with a chainsaw on the stage and stuff like that. Elon Musk has spent $200 million to buy Ken Paxton a seat in the Senate.
Audience (13:47):
Fuck him. Boo.
Victor Leal (13:49):
That's right. $200 million.
Audience (13:52):
[inaudible 00:13:53].
Victor Leal (13:54):
But let me tell you something, Elon Musk, that seat ain't for sale, baby. That seat belongs to us-
Victor Leal (14:01):
That seat belongs to us, the people of Texas. It is not for sale. It can't be bought. And it's going to my friend, James Talarico. I'm a pro-life Catholic former Republican and I'm here to hardly endorse my friend, James Talarico. James knows our system is broken. Corruption is the norm. Big corporations and mega donors, they make the rules, they bend the rules. They leave us little people behind, right? Think about this. Think about James' opponent for a second. Ken Paxton.
Audience (14:41):
Boo.
Victor Leal (14:49):
Like my mom would say [foreign language 00:14:50]. I mean, this guy was impeached by his own party. His own party. Republicans told him, "Get out of here, man. You're too crooked." We have a saying for that in Spanish. [foreign language 00:15:06] He's a little crooked. [foreign language 00:15:13] is what we say.
(15:14)
So he has done some really bad stuff and he's got 15 houses, I think. He's amassed over $27 million, all at the taxpayer expense. So the guy's morally challenged, obviously. So in contrast, let's talk about James because that's who we're here to talk about. My friend, James Talarico, school teacher. How many of y'all are school teachers here? School teachers are heroic. Thank y'all for what you do. Taking money out of your own pockets to buy school supplies, making sure those kids are taken care of.
(15:57)
How many of you school teachers, just like James, have looked in the eyes of a hungry child and known this kid can't learn? He's hungry. She's hungry. You know what the Republicans are doing right now while they're giving billions of dollars to their Coney friends? They're cutting SNAP benefits, cutting free lunches, taking away healthcare.
Audience (16:22):
Boo.
Victor Leal (16:26):
Did you know that Texas, and we're in rural Texas, I'm from Muleshoe, right? Used to be the mayor of Muleshoe. Used to serve on the hospital board there. Texas is closing rural hospitals at the fastest pace in all the country.
Audience (16:42):
Boo.
Victor Leal (16:46):
We had a medical emergency in our family on Sunday. I was home watching the Cowboys and I got a phone call. And this is a serious thing. A family member was rushed to the hospital emergency room in Muleshoe, got there with 60 over 40 blood pressure. Had we not had our great Muleshoe rural hospital and the great people that worked there, there's a good chance we would've lost her. So we got to keep those rural hospitals open. James is going to do that.
(17:25)
Folks, we have a once in a generation chance to elect a man who has the heart of a warrior and the tongue of a poet. In the old days, they call those guys warrior poets. The Celts would paint their faces blue. Anybody ever seen Braveheart?
Audience (17:46):
Yeah.
Victor Leal (17:48):
And they'd be ready for battle. They'd yell, they go into battle. That's what we're in for right now going, "Don't think for a minute that this isn't a battle to the very end." It's getting ugly. It's getting dirty on their side, but we're going to win because we have people power. James is going to restore dignity, honor, respect for everyone, regardless of race, color, creed. I want to finish with this. The choice is clear, isn't it? I mean, it's a clear choice.
Audience (18:29):
Yeah.
Victor Leal (18:29):
We can have a status quo politician like Ken Paxton who plays by the quid pro quo.
Audience (18:35):
Boo.
Victor Leal (18:39):
Or we can elect. We have the chance to elect James Talarico who will lead with compassion, humility, and most importantly, integrity and honesty. So I finish by saying I'm inviting all of you, my newfound friends, to join me as we go vote. Take all your friends, families, call people, knock on doors. We have seven days. Go vote. Make sure you make it. And let's get James Talarico elected. Clear eyes, full hearts. Can't lose, baby.
(19:23)
I want to hand over the mic to Jon Rosenthal, state representative who's running for the railroad commission. Believe it or not, he's a guy that actually knows a little something about oil and gas. And not only that, he's running against the most bigoted candidate that's ever run for office in the state of Texas. Give it up for Jon Rosenthal.
Jon Rosenthal (19:57):
Oh my word, y'all are beautiful. Give yourselves a hand, Lubbock. I'm Texas State Representative Jon Rosenthal from Houston. I'm your Democratic nominee for the Railroad Commission of Texas. I am not obsessed with trains. No, the Railroad Commission of Texas is the most important agency. Most people have never even heard of this agency because it has nothing to do with trains. It regulates our oil and gas industry, which makes it a good job for me because I have worked in that industry for 25 years. I'm a mechanical engineer.
(20:48)
Y'all, I'm literally oil field trash. I drink and smoke and swear. I have worked on drilling rigs, production platforms, pipelines, everything in between. I know this industry in and out. And then I left my comfy job and my beautiful wife. I didn't leave my wife. We are very happily married in Northwest Houston, but I took a break from my job to run for office in 2018 because I'm an anti-Trumper, y'all, and I saw injustice happening.
(21:22)
And at a time like then when James Talarico and I both flipped house seats in this state, when people said, "You're running as a Democrat in Cyprus? Are you feeling okay?" And then I beat a 24-year incumbent with a volunteer driven campaign. Any volunteers in the house? Are there any volunteers in this house? Y'all are the ones that win elections. I'm polling dead even with my opponent. This is a guy named Bo French from Tarrant County. Do you know who he is?
Audience (22:05):
Boo.
Jon Rosenthal (22:10):
Before he made our race famous by tweeting about college kids at a historic football game, right when all of us are feeling our unity, our pride, I'm a proud Longhorn. I know I'm standing in Lubbock. But when a Texas team beats Ohio State, the number one team in the country, we're all together rooting for our Texas kids.
(22:41)
Bo French saw a picture of students in that stadium and they were brown students and all he saw was a problem. I got news for Mr. French, his racism is the problem. Before that, he got a little famous last summer when, this was the chairman of the Republican Party of Tarrant County, Dallas-Fort Worth, and he posted an online poll asking who's a bigger threat to America? And the only two choices were Muslims or Jews.
Audience (23:20):
Boo.
Jon Rosenthal (23:22):
Dan Patrick called for his resignation. How bad do you have to be when our lieutenant governor says, "You went too far"? And how sweet is it going to be when this Jewish engineer kicks his ass in November?
(23:46)
Y'all are amazing. Okay. Enough of me. I am here to introduce my colleague, my classmate, somebody that I have served with proudly in the Texas House of Representatives for four terms. One of the things I like best about James Talarico is he is driven by his faith to serve the people of Texas.
(24:14)
I have watched him pass over 60 bills, bipartisan bills to lower the price of insulin, to reduce costs for working families. And incidentally, the biggest tax break in the history of the state of Texas. This is a man... This is who we need, y'all. The goal here is to take Texas back from the billionaires and return your government to the working people of our state.
(24:58)
We need a man of deep faith and moral conviction that will do that work for the people of Texas. And I am beyond proud and honored to introduce the man of the evening, my colleague, my friend, James Talarico, the next United States Senator for the state of Texas.
James Talarico (25:34):
Lubbock, it is so good to see you. Lubbock. Give it up for our next railroad commissioner, Jon Rosenthal. It is so good to see you, Lubbock. Thank you to the volunteers in the vests who made this event possible. Thank you to all of you for showing up here on short notice. It is so good to be back in Lubbock.
(25:54)
Listen, listen, I know that we're not the only show in town tonight and I appreciate all 4,000 of you that showed up here this evening. That's a lot of Talafreakos in one room. So thank y'all for bearing with us as we changed venues to make room for all the Texans who want to join this movement. Tonight, Lubbock showed up for change. What we're seeing in West Texas is what we're seeing all over this state. Texans are ready for change, change that will roll back these corrupt tariffs that are raising grocery prices, change that will end this corrupt war in the Middle East driving up gas prices. We are done with the extremism and the corruption. We're done with the politics of division and we are ready for something new. We are welcoming everybody, Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike into this movement to take back power for working people.
(27:13)
We are on our Clear Eyes, Full Hearts tour. At this time of year in Texas, there is no better place to be than a high school football game. The band, the roar of the crowd, the chill in the air, no matter who you are or what you look like, everyone in town is there for the same reason, to root for the same team. There's that moment in every game, the last play, the last drive, when you have to leave it all on the field. Lubbock, we are in that moment.
(27:52)
In the final days of this election, they are coming at us with everything they've got. Those billionaire mega donors, those super PACs are spending more than $200 million-
James Talarico (28:00):
... Those super PACs are spending more than $200 million to try to stop us. That is the most of any Senate race in American history and more is on the way. They are scared, they are terrified, they see what we see, that we're about to win this election.
(28:29)
We have got more than 60,000 people signed up to volunteer, signed up to knock doors and make phone calls and send text messages. And if you haven't signed up to volunteer on our website, I hope you'll do that when you go home this evening. We have also shattered every grassroots fundraising record in American history. And we've done it without taking a dime from corporate PACs. This is a people power campaign. And on November 3rd, we are going to do something extraordinary. We are going to do something historic. We're going to shock the nation, shock the world when we beat the billionaires and take back Texas.
(29:20)
When I was in high school, north of Austin, they were filming a TV show in our area. It was called Friday Night Lights. It's a show about the Dillon Panthers, an underdog high school football team and their coach, Eric Taylor. In the very first episode before the big game, Coach Taylor gives a locker room speech and he says, "They're going to come at you with everything they've got. I expect you boys to execute. I expect you boys to play football." And then he ends with those six immortal words, "Clear eyes, full hearts can't lose."
(30:05)
Lubbock, we have seven days to win this election. We have to execute. We have to leave it all on the field. We have to win. Our fellow Texans are counting on us. Over the past year, I have had the privilege of traveling to every corner of this state, from Beaumont to El Paso, from Brownsville to right here in Lubbock, Texas. Everywhere, everywhere I go, I hear from Texans who are drowning. In Houston, I met a grandmother who is working 10-hour shifts at the airport to care for her 5-year-old grandson, but her wages don't cover her basic living expenses, including rent for her small apartment, which is $1,500 a month. Now she and her grandson are facing eviction.
(31:08)
I met a mother in Abilene who built her dream home with her husband, but then a data center popped up across the street. Now her little boy wakes up in the middle of the night and thinks it's day because of the lights shining through his bedroom window.
(31:28)
I met a small business owner in Port Arthur who's struggling to keep his family restaurant open. Hamilton's is a Port Arthur institution, best Southern cooking around. His dad ran it before him. His dad used to raise prices every six years to keep up with inflation. Now he's having to raise his prices every six months. He's now choosing between closing his doors and raising prices higher than his customers can afford.
(31:58)
In the last election, Texans voted to lower costs. Texans voted to lower grocery prices, but corrupt tariffs are raising prices in the checkout line. Texans voted to end the wars, but now we have a new corrupt war in the Middle East that is driving up gas and diesel prices. Texans voted to lower healthcare costs, but corrupt political deals have gutted our healthcare and sent premiums skyrocketing all to give tax cuts to billionaires. We have an affordability crisis because we have a corruption crisis, but we can change that in this election, in this state, in this race.
(32:52)
We are running, we are running against the embodiment of this corrupt system. We are running against the most corrupt politician in Texas. Ken Paxton is everything that's wrong with our politics. He doesn't serve us. He serves himself. Since taking office, Ken Paxton has increased his net worth by $27 million, all while our pay has remained stagnant. He now owns 15 homes while most Texans struggle to afford 1. It's hard to get 15 homes in a game of monopoly. I don't know how Ken Paxton got 15 homes. He was impeached by his own party for taking bribes from wealthy donors all while he blocks our overtime pay and guts our healthcare. He used taxpayer dollars, your money, to pay for lavish trips to places like Aruba, South Africa and Iceland. That's why earlier today I called on Ken Paxton to return every penny of the $3 million in taxpayer funds he used for these international vacations.
(34:11)
This is the rot at the core of this broken system. It's why so many Texans can't get ahead no matter how hard they work. It's why we can't afford the basics in this economy, gas, groceries, healthcare. It's because the system has been rigged by billionaires and crooked politicians like Ken Paxton. Ken has spent his entire career enriching himself and his donors. I've spent my career working with both parties to cut your property taxes, lower your housing costs and capping your insulin copays.
(34:49)
I have a legislative record. Ken Paxton has a criminal record. This election is about whether you want a senator who puts money in your pocket or who puts money in their own. This election is about whether you want a senator who is for Texas or for himself. This election is about whether you want a senator who serves you or who serves billionaire mega-donors. And Ken Paxton has the biggest mega-donor. Elon Musk is trying to buy this Senate seat in Texas. We just found out that the richest man in the world is almost single-handedly bankrolling this effort to install Ken Paxton in the U.S. Senate and stop this movement we're building in Texas.
(35:43)
In all likelihood, if you've seen an attack ad on your TV, that was Elon. If you've gotten lies in your mailbox, that was Elon. If you've received a text message saying scary things about me with scary black and white photos, that was Elon too. Our movement is funded by 1.3 million individuals who have donated their hard-earned money to this campaign. Ken Paxton is funded by one dude. Elon Musk wants our land. He wants our water. He wants our tax dollars. He wants his very own personal United States senator. He is trying to buy Texas, but on November 3rd, we're going to deliver a crystal clear message to the world's first trillionaire. Texas is not for sale.
(36:51)
Ken Paxton is not one of us. He's not even from here. He moved here from California just like Elon Musk. Why is it always the Californians saying, "Don't California my Texas." Just look in the mirror. But the problem with Ken Paxton is not that he didn't grow up in Texas. The problem is that he doesn't understand Texas. I believe anyone can be a Texan. It doesn't matter if you are an eighth generation Texan like me or if you just got here yesterday. What makes a Texan is not in the boots or in the truck. It is deep in the heart.
(37:40)
Texas used to be known as the Friendly State. Friendship is our official state motto. The word Texas comes from the Caddo Native American word for friend. And what's interesting is that they didn't use that word to describe a friend in their own tribe. They used that word to describe a friend in a different tribe, friendship across tribes, friendship across divides. That's what makes Texas so great. We're this big mashup of all these different people, all these different cultures, all these different friends. I want you to think about Tejano music. If you're listening to a Bobby Pulido song, you are hearing Spanish vocal styles from Northern Mexico. You're also hearing polka dance rhythms from Czech and German immigrants.
(38:44)
This uniquely Texan ability to welcome new friends, welcome new ideas has made us one of the most exciting and innovative states in the country. We're the state that put a man on the moon. We're the state that pioneered ranching and energy and computers. We're the state that gave this country Barbara Jordan, Ann Richards, LBJ and the Grey Society. We're the state that put breakfast in a taco. I mean, my mom is a seventh generation Texan and when I was growing up, she would tell me how lucky I am to live in this state. She would always say, "Why would you want to live anywhere else? Texas has everything. Beaches and mountains, plains and piney woods, big cities and small towns." She taught me that Texas is beautiful, Texas is bold, and most importantly, Texas is big.
(39:57)
Big hair, big hearts and big dreams. Our athletes are beloved across the globe, Cowboys, Spurs, Red Raiders. Our musicians are so iconic, they only need one name, Willie, Beyonce, Selena. This election shouldn't be about the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. It's bigger than that. This election should be about chasing a vision of what this state could be. Texas public schools that are the envy of the nation, a Texas economy that is second to none and Texas families that are stronger and healthier than they've ever been before. This won't happen overnight, but a giant state deserves giant dreams.
(41:14)
Another great Texan, Lyle Lovett, has a song called That's Right (You're Not From Texas). Come to think of it, he might have written it for Ken Paxton. There's a line in that song that I love. He says, "At a dance hall down in Texas, that's the finest place to be. The women, they all look beautiful and their men will buy your beer for free." Every Texas bar has those regulars, the ones who pick up a round, the ones who check on the guy who's drinking alone, the ones who share a laugh or a story or their fried pickles. And every bar also has that one guy. He's loud.
James Talarico (42:00):
Who has that one guy? He's loud, he's obnoxious, he makes everybody feel uncomfortable. He hears you say your name to the bartender and then adds his drink to your tab when you're not looking. That's Ken Paxton. And I don't know about y'all, but I am done picking up his tab. This isn't a partisan thing. Republicans know just as well as Democrats that there is no place for guys like Ken Paxton in Texas. That's why these two parties that don't seem to agree on anything these days came together to impeach the most corrupt politician in our state. I was there. Those Republicans who put Texas before their party were my colleagues. Many of them were my friends. Many of them represented the small towns across this state where those Friday night lights burned the brightest. And some of them paid the ultimate political price. Because when you go after the puppet, you have to deal with the masters who pull his strings.
(43:15)
You've heard of Elon Musk, but you might not have heard of Ken Paxton's original billionaire mega donors. Two billionaire pastors from West Texas. I didn't know you could be a billionaire and a pastor, but that's new. Their names are Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks. After Ken Paxton's impeachment, Dunn & Wilks spent millions of dollars on attack ads against those brave Republican lawmakers who attempted to hold one of their own accountable. And Dunn and Wilks succeeded. Many of my Republican colleagues lost their seats because they dared to hold one of their own accountable. Now those same billionaire pastors are attempting to help Elon Musk install their puppet in the US Senate. But this Senate seat doesn't belong to Tim Dunn. This Senate seat doesn't belong to Ferris Wilks. This Senate seat doesn't belong to Elon Musk. This Senate seat belongs to you. It belongs to the people of Texas. This Senate seat has been held by some of the finest Texans. Ken Paxton should be nowhere near Lyndon Johnson's Senate seat. Ken Paxton should be nowhere near Sam Houston's Senate seat. As our state seceded from the union on the eve of the Civil War, the Texas legislature removed Sam Houston from office after he refused to swear an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy. Upon his removal, Sam Houston rested under Austin's treaty oak, a 500-year old live oak tree and sacred meeting spot for the Comanche and Tenawa peace parties. As he rested, Sam Houston wrote the words to a speech he would never deliver. It included these words, "Do right and risk the consequences." Like my brave Republican colleagues, Sam Houston is a Texas hero because he did right and risked the consequences. He didn't do it for himself. He did it for Texas.
(45:51)
What would Sam Houston say to all of us at this critical moment in Texas history? What would Sam Houston say to those Republican voters across our state who are thinking about breaking with their party in this election? I think he would say, "Do right and risk the consequences." In Friday Night Lights, when the Dylan Panthers are down at the half in the state championship game, Coach Taylor tells his Panthers every man at some point in his life is going to lose a battle. But what makes him a man is that in the midst of that battle, he doesn't lose himself. After Coach Taylor's speech, the Dylan Panthers retook the field. They played the game of their lives for a crowd that had given up hope, for a crowd that wanted to believe but had forgotten how. The Panthers won that game by one point. They won despite being the underdogs.
(46:54)
They won despite everyone telling them it was impossible. They risked it all. They left it all on the field and they won with clear eyes and full hearts. We are the underdogs in this race. We are literally going up against the most corrupt politician in Texas backed by both the most powerful man in the world and the richest man in the world. This election is a battle between the powers that be and the powers that ought to be. The powers that be have chosen their candidate. They've already bought and paid for Ken Paxton, but we are standing with the powers that ought to be, the teachers and the nurses, the farmers and the ranchers, the grandmother who is facing eviction, the little boy who's waken up in the middle of the night from the lights of the data center, the small business owner who is struggling to keep his family restaurant open. Those Texans are my team. They are why I'm in this race. I want to be a senator for every Texan who can't afford one.
(48:07)
You want to know why they are spending $200 million against me? Because I don't take their corporate PAC money and I never will. I don't work for them. I work for you. They know that when we win this race in Texas, I'm going to vote to ban corporate PACs and super PACs so billionaires can't buy our elections. They know that I'll vote to ban members of Congress in both political parties from trading stocks and enriching themselves while they're in public office. They know that I'm going to vote to pass term limits so we can show these puppet politicians the door and they know that I'll vote to ban gerrymandering nationwide in red states and blue states alike. They may have the money, but we have the majority. Big money is powerful, but it is nothing, nothing compared to people power.
(49:22)
This election reminds me of that story from scripture of a shepherd boy who goes up against a giant. For 40 days Goliath taunts and teases. On the day of the fight, he shows up in full armor. He's carrying so many weapons, he needs someone else to carry his shield. We are going up against our own Goliaths. Those billionaire mega donors, those corporate special interests, the entire Washington DC establishment, their power is real, but so is ours. David wasn't as big or as strong as Goliath. He didn't have as many weapons, but he had hope. He had faith and he had a slingshot. Lubbock, you are my slingshot. The people of Texas are my slingshot. And on November 3rd, those Goliaths aren't going to know what hit them. I want to leave you with this. My granddad was a Baptist preacher, not the billionaire kind, just the regular kind. And when I was little, he told me that we follow a barefoot rabbi who gave us two commandments, love God and love neighborhood because there is no love of God without love of neighborhood.
(50:59)
2, 000 years ago when the powers that be hurt his neighbors, that barefoot rabbi didn't stay in his room and pray. He walked into the seat of power and he flipped over the tables of injustice. That brave act of civil disobedience led to his execution. Do right and risk the consequences. Every man at some point in his life is going to lose a battle, but what makes a man is that in the midst of that battle, he doesn't lose himself. This is the last play of the last drive, Lubbock. This is the moment we leave it all on the field. We are the underdogs. It's David versus Goliath. It's the powers that be versus the powers that ought to be. And it's time for us to start flipping over some tables because as every Texan knows, clear eyes, full hearts can't lose. Thank you for being here, Lubbock. God bless you. Let's go win this thing.
MUSIC (52:19):
She's from Texas, I can tell by the way.
(52:19)
He's two stepping around the room.
(52:19)
[inaudible 00:52:34]