'Office' star says James Talarico's religious beliefs 'achingly close' to Jesus Christ

Rainn Wilson calling James Talarico's politics "achingly close" to Jesus Christ is the kind of line that plays great at a fundraiser and falls apart the moment you ask a follow-up question. Which Jesus? The one who told the rich young man to sell everything, or the one Democratic candidates invoke every cycle right before rolling out a tax plan that leaves the donor class untouched? Faith gets treated as a costume in these races, something to put on for a Texas audience and take off everywhere else.

Talarico has leaned into the preacher's-kid, seminary-student image hard, and it's worked on plenty of people who assume sincerity and theology are the same thing. Maybe it's genuine. But an actor from a network sitcom vouching for someone's closeness to Christ isn't theology, it's a celebrity endorsement wearing a collar. Nobody elected Dwight Schrute to referee scripture.

What actually matters in a Texas Senate race is whether the guy supports policies that most Texans, churchgoing or not, would recognize as sane: border enforcement, energy jobs, not defunding police departments. Wrapping progressive positions in Bible verses doesn't make them more Christian, it just makes them harder to argue with honestly. If Talarico wants to run on his record, let him. Skip the celebrity halo.

Voters in Texas aren't going to pick a senator based on whether Rainn Wilson thinks he sounds like Jesus. They're going to look at what he'd actually vote for once he's in Washington, and that's the part this whole story conveniently skips past.