Texans Must Elect Beto O’Rourke

It’s easy to be cynical about politics.  That’s because politicians make it easy for us to be cynical.

However, on rare occasions, a politician comes along who’s different.

Beto O’Rourke is different.

Beto O’Rourke is running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by the creepy Texas senator and failed 2016 presidential candidate, Ted Cruz.  O’Rourke is a popular West Texas congressman who is currently locked in a statistical dead heat with the incumbent serpent senator.  The race once thought to be a lock for Republicans is currently too close to call, which must be shocking to conservative activists.  After all, a Democrat hasn’t won a Senate seat in Texas since the late Lloyd Bentson retired 25 years ago.  For O’Rourke, to even be competitive in this ruby Red State race reveals just what an appealing candidate he is, especially among Democrats and Independents.

Indeed, O’Rourke is a fresh face and a bold new voice in a Democratic Party that desperately needs fresh faces and bold new voices.  He embodies the rare combination of courage and conviction, not to mention charisma.  He’s also on the front lines of a monumental political struggle for the future direction of the country.  Sure, it’s easy to run openly as a liberal in California or Massachusetts.  But try standing up for issues like reproductive rights, women’s rights, civil rights, marriage equality, racial justice, immigration reform, and workers’ rights in small towns in Bible-thumping, gun-toting Texas.  Now, that’s what I call political courage.

Right now, O’Rourke is in the midst of crisscrossing Texas in an effort to pull off what would certainly be one of the most astounding upsets in modern political history.  He’s vowed (and nearly succeeded, so far) in visiting every single one of Texas’ 254 counties, which is no small feat if you’ve ever visited some of the vast wide-open spaces of the giant state.  While O’Rourke could be going the easy route and concentrating his efforts campaigning in safe liberal urban enclaves — such as Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio — he’s made a promise to sweat it out in the summer heat and meet as many Texans as he could face-to-face, and he’s now keeping that promise.

To get a better sense of who Beto O’Rourke is exactly, consider this brilliant unrehearsed answer to a very tough question posed to him at a town hall for candidates in a small Texas town.  From the video, the crowd looks to be very white and conservative.  Watch carefully how O’Rourke doesn’t run from the question nor evade his position for the sake of political expediency.  He’s asked about the NFL’s ongoing National Anthem controversy, which is certainly a divisive issue everywhere, and especially in football-crazy Texas.

Whatever your position on the flag and anthem debate, one has to admire O’Rourke’s clear response.  The video runs about 4 minutes long and is well worth viewing.

Let’s elect Beto O’Rourke.  I can’t fathom how any Texan could be proud of being represented by Ted Cruz.  Cruz is an embarrassment.

Let’s win in November.

Vote Beto!