Every Friday morning, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk 1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. Here’s hoping you don’t have Winners & Losers fatigue after our first Winners & Losers LIVE show on stage last night at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Click here if you missed it and want to watch:
There are still a few winners and losers who need to be acknowledged. Here’s who made the list:
WINNER: Donald Trump’s State of the Union
Most people agree that President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech was mostly a win for him. He was disciplined and stayed on script, employing one of the most important political messaging strategies—show it, don’t say it. He did this by repeatedly introducing guests who demonstrated what is great about America. He clearly hoped his confidence and reminders of his impressive accomplishment list would help reverse his very low polling numbers. Trump is at his best when he’s connecting with real people and tying policy outcomes to their successes.
Despite what many feared going in, the President refrained from chastising the Supreme Court following its ruling against his tariffs. His statements immediately after the ruling were pretty mean, but by the time he got to the speech, he brushed it off as no big deal, since he’s going to keep imposing tariffs. Trump’s relatively respectful treatment of the Court was in stark contrast to former President Barack Obama, who lambasted the justices for the “Citizens United” ruling in 2010.
The best moment of the night came when the President brought in the U.S. men’s hockey team, which had just defeated the Canadians (who had booed Team USA at the last Olympics). Trump also said the gold medal winning women’s hockey players would soon be feted at the White House. The hockey team story has turned into another battle in the culture effort to prove that President Trump is a sexist (because the women weren’t there) but most Americans will just remember those guys in the House Chamber and the chants of “USA! USA!”
LOSER: Democrats Failing to Stand for Protecting Americans
Most Democrats did not stand when Trump asked if they agreed that prioritizing the protection of American citizens, rather than illegal aliens, should be the government’s first duty. Trump used that moment and several other points in his speech where they sat on their hands to show Americans that even if they are disappointed in him on some issues, the Democrat alternative is not really an option.
Rep. Ilhan Omar couldn’t stop screaming that Trump was a murderer. Texas Rep. Al Greene, D-Houston, got thrown out again and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts stood a few times and not at other times, at one point shrugging as if to say “what are you going to do?” Nobody remembers what Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said in her Democrat response, although she did support school children protesting against ICE. Add it all up and the Democrats didn’t seem to have a message.
WINNER: California Gov. Gavin Newsom
Speaking of no message, California Gov. Gavin Newsom nailed that point when he went on CNN and urged Democrats to become “culturally normal,” and forget about pronouns and free transgender operations for illegal aliens. His comments were immediately labeled “political suicide” by a high-profile progressive influencer, who also chided him for failing to support a tax on billionaires.
WINNER: Houston Chronicle Nails Democrat Lt. Governor Candidate
Another unexpected name on the winner’s list is the Houston Chronicle, which pointed out that one of the Democrat candidates for Lieutenant Governor revealed in an interview with them that he does not know who represents him in the Texas House, or even the Texas Senate, which he would be leading should he somehow manage to be elected. Marcos Velez, the Democrat candidate running against the better known State Rep. Vickie Goodwin, is a labor organizer and negotiator for the Steelworkers Union. He has gotten the endorsement of the AFL-CIO, which is not nothing. Recall that the recent Democrat upset in the Special Jan. 31 election in Senate District 9 in Tarrant County also was a labor union representative, and reports are coming in that the Texas Majority PAC, which is supposed to be neutral, is secretly pushing Velez. The Texas Majority PAC, of course, is funded by the far-left moneybags guy—George Soros.
LOSER: National Trans Bill of Rights is Back
Like the monster that doesn’t die no matter what kind of weapon you use, a congressional resolution for a so-called “Transgender Bill of Rights” surfaced this week based on the pretense that (1) People can be born in the wrong bodies and (2) There is such a thing as non-binary and (3) Those people are being discriminated against.
Gay rights advocates including Andrew Sullivan, who spearheaded the gay marriage movement, insist that discrimination against trans people is already against the law, but this week’s Democrat loser move is a swipe at the dozen or more states, including Texas, that have restored privacy rights to women in public restrooms, dressing rooms, locker rooms and showers—actions that have the support of the majority of Americans.
New ground is breaking on this all the time. This week, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled against allowing a civilian male employee who works for the U.S. Army who thinks he is a woman from using the women’s bathroom. He was working at Ft. Riley in Kansas.
WINNER: Sweet Tea on Women Leading the Left
I was a recently a guest on the Sweet Tea podcast, hosted by TPPF’s Ariana Guajardo, where we discussed the predominant role women play on the left, first organizing Black Lives Matter protests, then the pro-Hamas protests and now the No Kings Marches. A post script to that discussion is that the early vote tallies coming out of the Texas primary election show that 57% of the Democrats who have cast ballots are women, compared to 46% of Republicans. Today is the last day of Early Voting and so far, Democrats are outvoting Republicans by about a hundred thousand ballots.
LOSER: Charley Crockett’s Bad Karma
Country star Charley Crockett made a lot of fans mad earlier this month when he went off on President Trump and Elon Musk, who he accused of being grifters. He praised Bad Bunny for, among many things, his anti-Trump, anti-American messages. You’d think the Canadians would eat that up but this week, the Texas-born star was denied entry at the Canadian border because his record included a 2016 felony possession of marijuana charge with an intent to sell. Crockett was forced to cancel his entire Canadian tour.
WINNER: Team USA
When they finally turned out the lights in Milan, Team USA ended up with 33 medals including 12 golds, second only to Norway. It wasn’t just the hockey team bringing home the gold, so if you missed any of it, go to YouTube for the clips.
WINNERS: Texas Round Ball
Here in Texas, the University of Texas Women are ranked No. 4 in the nation, TCU is No. 11, Baylor is No. 18 and Texas Tech is No. 20. On the men’s side, the University of Houston is ranked No. 5 and Texas Tech is No. 16.
In the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs just completed an undefeated month of February and are riding an 11-game winning streak.
Have a great weekend.
Sherry Sylvester is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and the former Senior Advisor to Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.