Types of campaign messaging that will not contribute to a successful Democratic campaign against Ted Cruz.

1. Calling Ted Cruz "Cancun Cruz" and complaining that he left the state during winter storm Uri. Not enough people care about that. Greg Abbott's leadership is partially responsible for the severity of our grid failure and he still won reelection in 2022 by over 8 points. That messaging will not work in 2024.

2. Calling Ted Cruz a podcaster and saying that podcasting is what he does more than actually legislating for Texas. Not enough people actually care about this either. He is also campaigning on the fact that he stops "bad" legislation, not writes or votes for "good" legislation. The people who vote for him are not voting because they want something, they are voting for him to stop progress.

3. Campaigning on the hope that there are enough people who want change, or want something better. There isn't enough, and that may be a hard pill to swallow for a lot of Democrats. Most people in Texas don't want change or are afraid of it. We have to put in the hard work of getting Texans to actually want change and not fear it. To want something better for themselves and their families. Campaigning on there actually being enough people who are embarrassed of, sick of, or tired of Ted Cruz is a losing campaign message that is trying to go the easy route. Most people don't even know what better could be, so how could they want better if they don't actually know what it is or looks like. We must show them what better looks like in order for them to want it.

4. Making Uvalde and guns a central platform to a campaign. As much as I hate saying that and don't want it to be true, it is the truth. If Beto couldn't win on it, especially with the election being so close in time to when the tragedy occurred, what makes anyone think that now it is going to be any different? We must learn from past campaigns, and not run the exact same strategy and messaging as a campaign that lost by 9 points. Voters who care about gun violence already vote Democratic and there isn't enough to get to a statewide win.

5. Campaigning on how you were raised, who raised you, and the hardships you experienced while you were growing up. Nonvoters and potential "swing" voters don't care about that stuff, nor a candidate's baby pictures. We must focus messaging on things they do care about.

6. Campaigning on Jan 6th, what Ted Cruz had to do with it, and what he did during it. People who care about Jan. 6th are already voting Democratic. Nonvoters and potential "swing" voters do not care or have no opinion on it. It is a wasted message.