U.S. Rep. Colin Allred preparing to challenge Ted Cruz in 2024, sources say

[Daily Kos Morning Roundup]( A morning roundup of worthy pundit and news reads, brought to you by Daily Kos. [Click here to read the full web version.]( - [U.S. Rep. Colin Allred preparing to challenge Ted Cruz in 2024, sources say]( U.S. Rep. Colin Allred preparing to challenge Ted Cruz in 2024, sources say, Patrick Svitek, The Texas Tribune Politico first reported Monday that Allred could launch a bid against Cruz as soon as this week. The two sources who spoke to The Texas Tribune were not authorized to publicly discuss Allred’s plans, and aides to the representative did not respond to requests for comment Monday. Allred would begin the campaign as a major underdog in a state that has not elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994. Beto O’Rourke ran a surprisingly tight race against Cruz in 2018 — losing by less than 3 percentage points — but Democrats have not come as close since then. The race is not without risk for Allred. He would have to give up his newly safe seat in Congress, where he has been rising within the Democratic caucus. Allred also is likely to have credible primary competition. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio is poised to run, though he is unlikely to make any announcements until after the current legislative session, which ends May 29. - [Musings: Cruz Can Lose]( Musings: Cruz Can Lose, Joe Bowen, The Texas Signal There is one aspect to a potential Allred candidacy that shouldn’t go overlooked. Texas Democrats have developed a track record over the past twenty years for running white candidates at the top of the statewide ticket, filling out the ballot with a more diverse slate of candidates in down-ballot offices. While the Texas Democratic Party has done a great job recruiting diverse slates of candidates in recent cycles, there hasn’t been a major Black candidate at or near the top of the ballot in Texas since Ron Kirk’s 2002 Senate race. Democrats consistently bemoan low turnout in Black communities across the state after subpar election results, while neglecting the hard work of recruiting strong Black candidates and giving them the support network they need to lead our tickets to success. Allred could turn that tired formula on its head, and give Black voters throughout Texas a reason to be excited to cast a ballot in 2024. That could be a tremendous asset for a Democratic candidate, and to be frank, Texas Democrats won’t win in 2024 without dramatically increasing their investment in Black and Brown communities. - [Bad news: Daily Kos is facing tough financial times. Grassroots donors like you help us make ends meet. Can you chip in $5 to help us keep fighting?]( - [Vanquishing Malarkey]( Vanquishing Malarkey, Claire Potter, Political Junkie, Substack Vanquishing malarkey is a big part of what Biden has done as president. It's a big part of what many of us independent writers have been laser-focused on since Donald Trump announced his presidential candidacy in 2015. The lies and conspiracy theories the GOP has wedded itself to have caused much damage. Still, it is the malarkey that has disabled one of our two major political parties and fatally undermined our political culture. [...] But it is crucial to have a working definition of our keyword. "Malarkey" describes a communication dynamic rather than false speech. As Trump's 2016 strategist Steve Bannon would say, malarkey is a way to "flood the zone with shit." According to Merriam-Webster, it emerged in the United States around 1923 and best translates as exaggerated, foolish, insincere, or nonsense talk designed to deceive by obscuring the truth with word salad. Malarkey, in other words, may contain facts or individual assertions that are true but conveyed in such a way as to conceal the truth. Although malarkey sounds Irish (indeed, there are apparently Irish people with the surname Malarkey and Mullarkey), the word was likely invented by an Irish-American boxing writer and political cartoonist named Thomas Aloysius ("Tad") Dorgan. Dorgan began his career at the San Francisco Chronicle in 1902 and moved to the New York Journal in 1905. Repurposing words and phrases to describe modern phenomena was one of his talents. According to H.L. Menken, Dorgan was one of the top inventors of slang after 1900: he is said to be responsible for popularizing "applesauce" as a synonym for nonsense, "dumbbell" as slang for a stupid person ("Dumb Dora" for a stupid woman), and "hard-boiled" as a way for describing a tough guy. - [Formal dinners and the affordability of news]( Formal dinners and the affordability of news, Kyle Pope, Columbia Journalism Review ...The complaint most leveled against the national press is that it doesn’t understand—and so doesn’t cover—the issues that matter most to Americans, in particular kitchen-table issues like the cost of housing and education. The relatability gap is only reinforced by the images of reporters in black ties and gowns in a DC ballroom. (The New York Times rightly decided a few years ago not to participate in the event, though that didn’t stop the paper from running a best-dressed list from the party over the weekend.) And yet, occasionally, an important truth manages to break through. This year, that moment came when The Daily Show’s Roy Wood Jr., who was hosting the event, noted that the dinner contrasted with one of the most intractable problems in the news business. “The issue with good media is that most people can’t afford that,” said Wood, whose father, Roy Wood Sr., was a trailblazing journalist who cofounded the nation’s first Black radio network. “All the essential, fair, and nuanced reporting is stuck behind a paywall. People can’t afford rent. People can’t afford food. They can’t afford an education. They damn sure can’t afford to pay for the truth.” - [Daily Kos hats are here just in time for spring. Click here to get yours.]( - [Netanyahu Should Challenge McCarthy About Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Antisemitism. Of Course, He Won’t]( Netanyahu Should Challenge McCarthy About Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Antisemitism. Of Course, He Won’t, David Isaacharoff, Haaretz From embracing QAnon's theory of Satanic cults that run the world and are bankrolled by Hungarian-born Jewish billionaire George Soros, to the idea that Rothschild family-funded lasers in outer space cause wildfires, Greene’s long list of conspiracy theories offer an underlying theme of antisemitic blood libels against Jews who run a ‘deep state’ for a ‘globalist order' which is a threat on white society. Greene equated Covid-19 mask mandates to restrictions on Jews during the Holocaust, and likened proof of vaccination to the gold star badges that Nazis forced Jews to wear. Last year, she spoke at a conference hosted by white supremacist Nick Fuentes, who the Anti-Defamation League has called, “among the most prominent and unapologetic antisemites" in the U.S., a “vicious bigot and known Holocaust denier.” [...] ...Israel has a dangerous flirtation with the radical Right, especially in Europe, whose anti-Islamic stances compensate for antisemitic views and ties to neo-Nazism. While Israel officially boycotts the German far-right AfD, Yair Netanyahu, Israel’s unofficial ambassador to the European far-right, seems to court it. This elder son and whisperer of the prime minister was featured on a campaign poster asserting that “Christianity is the cure for the evils of the globalist EU.” - [Supreme Court will consider major case on power of federal regulatory agencies]( Supreme Court will consider major case on power of federal regulatory agencies, Amy Howe, SCOTUSblog Nearly 40 years ago, in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, the Supreme Court ruled that courts should defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous statute as long as that interpretation is reasonable. On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to reconsider its ruling in Chevron. The question comes to the court in a case brought by a group of commercial fishing companies. They challenged a rule issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service that requires the fishing industry to pay for the costs of observers who monitor compliance with fishery management plans. [...] The fishing companies came to the Supreme Court in November, asking the justices both to weigh in on their challenge to the rule and to overrule Chevron (or, the petition suggested, clarify that when a law does not address “controversial powers expressly but narrowly granted elsewhere in the statute,” there is no ambiguity in the statute, and therefore no deference is required). After considering the case at five consecutive conferences, the justices agreed to take up only the second question, on the Chevron doctrine. ICYMI: Popular stories from the past week you won't want to miss: - [Once again, rural conservatives want government to bail them out]( - [Dark Brandon shows up at White House Correspondents Dinner, steals show]( - [Wagner mercenary chief Prigozhin: 'Russia is on the brink of catastrophe']( Want even more Daily Kos? Check out our podcasts: - [The Brief: A one-hour weekly political conversation hosted by Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld]( - [The Downballot: Daily Kos' podcast devoted to downballot elections. New episodes every Thursday]( Want to write your own stories? [Log in]( or [sign up]( to post articles and comments on Daily Kos, the nation's largest progressive community. Follow Daily Kos on [Facebook](, [Twitter](, and [Instagram](. Thanks for all you do, The Daily Kos team Daily Kos Relies on Readers Like You We don't have billionaire backers like some right-wing media outlets. Half our revenue comes from readers like you, meaning we literally couldn't do this work without you. Can you chip in $5 right now to help Daily Kos keep fighting? [Chip in $5]( If you wish to donate by mail instead, please send a check to Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612. Contributions to Daily Kos are not tax deductible. Sent via [ActionNetwork.org](. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Daily Kos, please [click here](.