I generally agree with you. But you gotta show TX voters you ain’t a lefty loon. Whether fair or not. That’s what I mean by having to do “ridiculous and distasteful stuff” - you shouldn’t have to fend off FNC propaganda, *but the propaganda works,* so unfortunately you gotta deal with it.

You don't deal with it by signaling to voters you're a fickle coward by who'll shove your own supporters under the bus at the first sign of pushback.