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The Success in Beto's Failure
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/opinion/swartz-beto-cruz-texas.htmlThe Success in Betos Failure
ORourke gave Texans who have long felt disenfranchised a glimpse of what could be.
By Mimi Swartz
Nov. 7, 2018
Beto ORourke giving his concession speech in El Paso. Todd Heisler/The New York Times
HOUSTON The condolence emails are already coming in, from New York, and California, and from my neighbors down the street, who are mostly limiting themselves to unprintable but predictable four-letter words. Yes, Beto ORourke lost to Ted Cruz, 51-48 percent, an outcome that surprised almost no seasoned politicos around these parts theyve been predicting it for months, some since the congressman from El Paso first announced his candidacy last year. Rest assured that the Monday-morning quarterbacking will proceed apace starting now.
In fact, it kind of started last Sunday, Nov. 4, with a lengthy critique in Politico that quoted mostly Republican operatives Karl Rove, back from the dead who cited Mr. ORourkes failure to tack toward the middle, instead doing crazy things (in Texas, at least) like supporting the N.F.L. players who took a knee to protest police brutality. Did Beto Blow It? was the pre-emptory headline.
There will be a lot more reasons given for why Mr. ORourke lost: Some experts will suggest old ideas, stressing the power of the incumbency, and others newer ideas, as in, Mr. ORourke spent too much time on social media encouraging the same like-minded folks to keep talking to one another. People will say that the campaign was disorganized, more focused on the candidates winning personality than real issues. That Mr. ORourke let Mr. Cruz define him, instead of the opposite and Mr. Cruz did just that, painting Mr. ORourke as a far-left-wing nut who would let terrorists cross the Rio Grande and endanger the lives of God-fearing Texans. Whenever I heard Mr. Cruz opine that Mr. ORourke was just wrong for Texas, my stomach would lurch a little.
But before all of Mr. ORourkes errors are carved in stone in the next few hours, maybe its worth taking a minute to say that, whatever his flaws, Mr. ORourke came very close to defeating a powerful incumbent O.K., not one who was exactly beloved and he did it pretty much as he promised, without going negative and by raising a whole bunch of money without the help of PACs or fancy political consultants. (The early fears that Mr. ORourke would be eclipsed by Mr. Cruzs millions in dark money never materialized; Mr. Cruz raised $40 million to Mr. ORourkes $70 million.)
He was the first Democratic candidate in a very long time to engage new voters in Texas women, young people, people of color many of whom who had given up on the political process. Yesterday, my 52-year-old Uber driver showed me his first-ever voter registration, and asked me what he had to do to cast his vote.
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The Success in Beto's Failure (Original Post)
dalton99a
Nov 2018
OP
Cha
(297,196 posts)1. And, Texas gets
ugly ted cruz.
Beto's smart.. he'll find someway to help people.