2018       Genera Election        Lost 51 – 48

A good offense….. 

If the Democrats are going to gain a Senate majority, they will have to win three seats currently held by Republicans and hold all of their current seats.  Texas is improbable.  Commentators say the demographics of Texas will turn it blue sooner or later .  The emphasis, however, has been on later.  Those who have thought it might be sooner have been disappointed.

Will Beto O’Rourke’s http://www.betofortexas.com/ run for Senate be another disappointment?  He has no primary opponent.  His campaign urges term limits, ending gerrymandering, reducing dependence on big money while increasing accountability through town hall meetings.  He is similar to the incumbent, Ted Cruz, only in that they both went to Ivy League colleges (Columbia in O’Rourke’s case) and both come from Texas.  Wait — Cruz was actually born in Canada.

Let us count the ways that they are different. 1)  Beto O’Rourke is a Congressman from El Paso.  Ted Cruz is the incumbent Senator.  2)  Beto O’Rourke is known for being likeable.  Ted Cruz is not.

3)  Beto O’Rourke went to local public schools.  Ted Cruz went to private Christian schools.

4)  Beto O’Rourke was a singer and guitarist for a punk rock group that toured internationally.  Ted Cruz won national debate awards while in college. 

5)  Beto O’Rourke joined a technology start-up in New York after college which continues in El Paso.  Ted Cruz went to Harvard Law School after college and worked in high level federal and state political jobs after his high level clerkships. 

6)  Beto O’Rourke was arrested for attempted burglary after jumping over a University of Texas fence and for DUI, though, he wasn’t prosecuted in either case.  Ted Cruz has not been arrested or prosecuted and probably does not know what it feels like to be arrested.

7)  Beto O’Rourke speaks fluent Spanish. Ted Cruz does not.

8)  Beto O’Rourke, named Robert Francis, has a Spanish nicknameBetoTed Cruz, named Rafael Edward uses the nickname Ted.

9)  Beto O’Rourke speaks for his El Paso district in Congress and, he says, for Ciudad Juarez across the Rio Grande. Ted Cruz renounced his Canadian citizenship.

10) Beto O’Rourke, after a snowstorm prevented them from flying out of DC,  drove for 36 hours across country with Texas Republican Congressman and neighbor Will Hurd, live streaming their conversation and the music they listened to. Ted Cruz asked Stephen Colbert to “humanize” him.  11Beto O’Rourke has $400,000 in his campaign war chest. He insists he will do without major campaign consultants and will seek small donors in the fashion of Bernie Sanders. Ted Cruz has millions in his campaign war chest and connections to donors who will give more.

Beto O’Rourke is just plain interesting.  He’s not a liberal Democrat or a conservative one. He favors infrastructure, supported rebuilding downtown El Paso, and was accused of ties to his father-in-law’s construction plans.  In Congress, he has urged reconsideration of the War on Drugs and supports the legalization of marijuana.  He has proposed legislation supporting children in foster care and education for veterans.  Flamboyant as he may be, he not only pressed for a vote on modest gun control legislation, but joined the Democratic sit-in to attempt to force a vote.  When the Republican leadership turned off C-SPAN’s coverage of the sit in, BetoO’Rourke was one of two congressmen to transmit cellphone videos to C-SPAN so it could continue coverage.

Beto O’Rourkehttp://www.betofortexas.com/is not easy to stopHelp him.  He hopes to raise funds primarily through small donors.  Be one of those.  Remember — commitments to monthly donations, even very small ones are enormously helpful to candidates, especially to candidates who need to demonstrate that they will be around for the entire campaign.