I attended an Austin-based fundraiser a couple of years ago for a local political candidate. She was running for the Austin City Council. It was held in an Indian-American household. Most of the attendees looked just like me. I ran into a couple of old friends at that party. Only a couple of the attendees looked different.

I walked up with one of them who had parked next to me. It was James Talarico, the State Rep for the North Austin area. The Rep was down to earth and asked me more questions than I had answers for them. We both had a middle class upbringing in the same neighborhood and a love for UT sports. The Rep also liked Indian food.

I don’t remember much more than this. However, I can say that James Talarico was humble and genuinely supporting his fellow schoolteacher friend Ashika running for office. I barely knew either of them, but wanted to support young people making a difference.

The field of education is hardly recognized in the State of Texas. Brilliant people like James Talarico choose this low wage path and eventually change careers after burning out. What I did see in Talarico was a fierce desire to change the machine that runs this winner-take-all-society. Texas was not just becoming California. It was competing against it, while becoming just as unaffordable. Many young people seemed to be losing hope for a normal life. Texas is good for retirees, but increasingly, a difficult place to grow professionally without industry connections.

I think what triggered the political tsunami in this election year is the pervasive desire to bridge the wealth gap and make Texas affordable again. It makes perfect sense that a pious seminarian like James Talarico would bring hope towards a more egalitarian future. Talarico reminds me of the guy (Clinton) from Hope, Arkansas, and the other fellow (Obama) who also became US President (from Hawaii). And yes, JFK, too.