Dem
47
GOP
53
Sometimes political candidates can rake in a lot of donations by appearing on some top-rated television show. Yesterday, we noted that Stephen Colbert wanted Texas Senate candidate James Talarico on his show but CBS' top brass (with urging from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr) vetoed it. Poor Talarico. He missed his 15 minutes of network TV fame. However, as a consolation prize, he raked in $2.5 million after appearing in the YouTube video of the show, where he was not censored. That is a lot of money to spend in the 12 days before the primary. The YouTube video has now been viewed 5 million times, almost double Colbert's regular audience.
Talarico criticized CBS management. He said, "I don't think it did anything to assuage the concerns that they were pressured by the most powerful man in the country to change their broadcast. And that should be alarming to all of us, whether we're Democrats, Independents or Republicans." Talarico also called CBS' decision "the most dangerous kind of cancel culture."
The timing was good for Talarico. Early voting began in Texas on Tuesday and will run until Feb. 27. Then it stops. Primary Day is March 3. (V)