# Does Beto O'Rourke have a chance to oust Ted Cruz? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 2, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987 "2018-02-02T00:12:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 29
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/561 "2018-09-22T01:57:37Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Apology accepted. The rest of the country tends to see Texas monolithically. It’s hard, even for us, to grasp how big the state is. From El Paso to Orange (on the Louisiana border) across the middle is 762 miles. On another message board far away, a Republican is desperately trying to convince his fellow posters that California has conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/562 "2018-09-22T02:13:20Z")
Texas hippies: “Peace and love, or I’ll kick your ass and _then_ it will be peace and love!” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/563 "2018-09-22T02:28:21Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Apology accepted. The rest of the country tends to see Texas monolithically. It’s hard, even for us, to grasp how big the state is. From El Paso to Orange (on the Louisiana border) across the middle is 762 miles. I can’t stop myself from hijacking every time the size of Texas is mentioned: Texas’s clean car program is called or was at one point “Drive Clean Across Texas”. Whenever I saw that on a sign upon entering the state in a drive out West, my morale plummeted and it felt like the state was officially trying to tell me “yeah, you have to drive all 700 something miles through us, because fuck you!” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/564 "2018-09-22T02:41:54Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > Native Texan here so don’t take this the wrong way but [no, all the counties from Austin southward did not go for Hillary.](https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/texas) In fact, none of the suburban counties around Austin went for Hillary. Harris and Fort Bend counties did and most of the counties south of San Antonio went for Hillary, but even there, not all of them did… I stand corrected. Here is the [map](https://www.texastribune.org/2016/11/09/see-which-counties-texas-trump-and-clinton-won/). The counties southwest of San Antonio went for Hillary. I was also born in Texas. > [@](#): > > But, the Texas Democratic Party is very weak and in a great deal of disarray. As much as I would be delighted to see Beto prevail over Grandpa Munster, I seriously doubt it will happen. In fact, if Beto loses by 9% or less of the vote on Election Day I will be surprised. > > Turning Texas blue will require a lot of community organizing and grassroots effort. I truly believe one of the most profitable things the national party could do heading toward 2020 is to pump millions into the state party for just this purpose. But it isn’t going to happen in the seven weeks remaining before Election Day. All true. I was responding to this statement by \*\*Aspenglow \*\*(whom I really like!): " I thought Beto was very strong, but it’s hard to gauge how Texans viewed it – which may be quite different from my liberal take," which sounded like “Texans” and “liberals” were essentially mutually exclusive. I guess I’m sensitive the way people in “flyover country” are sensitive about all being lumped in one general, convenient category. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/565 "2018-09-22T02:42:56Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I can’t stop myself from hijacking every time the size of Texas is mentioned: Texas’s clean car program is called or was at one point “Drive Clean Across Texas”. Whenever I saw that on a sign upon entering the state in a drive out West, my morale plummeted and it felt like the state was officially trying to tell me “yeah, you have to drive all 700 something miles through us, because fuck you!” You mean the state is really big just to piss you off? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/566 "2018-09-22T02:55:08Z")
If they want to be that big that’s they’re right but they don’t have to flaunt it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/567 "2018-09-22T02:57:10Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > …I was responding to this statement by \*\*Aspenglow \*\*(whom I really like!): " I thought Beto was very strong, but it’s hard to gauge how Texans viewed it – which may be quite different from my liberal take," which sounded like “Texans” and “liberals” were essentially mutually exclusive. I guess I’m sensitive the way people in “flyover country” are sensitive about all being lumped in one general, convenient category. I get it. There are many more liberals and people on the left than most folks realize. Sadly, in my experience, many of them are deflated and have all but given up. But, there is without doubt a younger generation under 30 who are persuadable. A lot of them. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/568 "2018-09-22T03:01:32Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I stand corrected. Here is the [map](https://www.texastribune.org/2016/11/09/see-which-counties-texas-trump-and-clinton-won/). The counties southwest of San Antonio went for Hillary. > > I was also born in Texas. > > All true. > > I was responding to this statement by \*\*Aspenglow \*\*(whom I really like!): " I thought Beto was very strong, but it’s hard to gauge how Texans viewed it – which may be quite different from my liberal take," which sounded like “Texans” and “liberals” were essentially mutually exclusive. I guess I’m sensitive the way people in “flyover country” are sensitive about all being lumped in one general, convenient category. In hindsight I can see how you took it that way. I try so hard to be precise with my language on this board, but I always seem to leave out qualifiers and confuse people. In this case, I should have added a parenthetical “except you.” I celebrate the bruising of Texas (IOW, turning purple) and hope Beto pulls in a ton of new voters to propel him to victory. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/569 "2018-09-22T03:23:58Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > If they want to be that big that’s they’re right but they don’t have to flaunt it 🙂 😃 > [@Aspenglow](#): > > In hindsight I can see how you took it that way. I try so hard to be precise with my language on this board, but I always seem to leave out qualifiers and confuse people. In this case, I should have added a parenthetical “except you.” > … “…and all your friends and the liberal Texan Dopers.” I don’t personally know any Cruz/thump supporters. I have some suspects, but don’t hang out with them since I’m retired. There are Beto signs all over my neighborhood. I try to be precise in my language, too, and I have observed that you do. It’s one of the things I appreciate about you. 🙂 It’s aggravating for someone to take something wrong, when you thought you had all the leaks plugged. In other news: “Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke Clash Over ‘Jim Crow,’ Immigration and Kavanaugh in Debate” > **[Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke Debate Who Is ‘Out of Step’ With Texas (Published...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/us/politics/beto-cruz-debate.html)** > > The Texas political rivals spent weeks preparing for the debate, the first of three in their Senate race, which is one of the tightest and most heated this year. > [@](#): > > DALLAS — Senator Ted Cruz sought to revive his struggling bid for re-election on Friday night, using the first debate with his opponent, Representative Beto O’Rourke, as a referendum on Texas values on issues like the criminal justice system and immigration as he tried to gain the upper hand in a familiar setting against a less-experienced opponent. > … > > With his debate performance, Mr. Cruz was seeking a jolt of momentum for his re-election bid and to halt the rising popularity of Mr. O’Rourke and calm some Washington Republicanswho have expressed worry he may lose. Mr. Cruz, who was a leading Republican presidential candidate against Donald J. Trump in 2016, is seeking a second term in the Senate, but he faces a robust challenge from Mr. O’Rourke, who is trying to become the first Democrat since 1994 to win a statewide election in deep-red Texas. > > Recent polls have indicated that the race is a tossup. On Tuesday, a poll by Quinnipiac University showed Mr. Cruz leading Mr. O’Rourkeby nine percentage pointsamong likely voters surveyed by phone. On Wednesday, an online poll by Reuters and others put Mr. O’Rourke ahead of Mr. Cruzby two percentage pointsamong likely voters, the first poll that has had Mr. O’Rourke in the lead. > … ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/570 "2018-09-22T13:20:31Z")
“The Sun is riz, the Sun is set And here we iz, in Texas yet” ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/571 "2018-09-22T13:27:45Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Apology accepted. The rest of the country tends to see Texas monolithically. It’s hard, even for us, to grasp how big the state is. From El Paso to Orange (on the Louisiana border) across the middle is 762 miles. > > Actually, Austin IS Oregon… In fact, I think it was Oregon before Oregon was Oregon. > > Re the annoyance of audience noise: take a leaf from my book-- turn off the sound and put the captions on. > > BTW, what happened to thump’s plan to hold a ginormous rally to support Rafael? I’d love it if he would get Kyle Field and 1,000 people would show up. Seats 102,733. I’ve been to Austin and I’ve been to Oregon and the two aren’t much alike in any respect in my experience. Portland in particular is WAY “weirder” even than Austin views itself. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/572 "2018-09-22T13:55:59Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I wish I’d seen more of it. I thought Beto was very strong, but it’s hard to gauge how Texans viewed it – which may be quite different from my liberal take. I watched it with some liberal friends, and we thought Beto did pretty well, he did sound very practiced but not phony. He did keep repeating how he visited all 254 counties we started laughing at that, but it is a truly impressive feat, I think that I’ve maybe been to 50 of them at most. I think his answer about his DUI was a good humble answer and then pivoting to how he got a second chance that many don’t was very good. I also liked how he kept emphasizing that we all need to come together as Texans, that all Republicans, Democrats, and Independents can and should work together on solving problems and making Texas better. That is the positivity and inclusiveness that I and many other voters like. It’s part of the reason that I’ve seen people saying they are Republicans or former Republicans for Beto, but I’ve seen zero Democrats for Cruz. Just the concept of Democrats for Cruz is so absurd. Listening to Cruz I almost got a headache from rolling my eyes so hard. And I hated it when Beto was answering but they’d cut to a shot of him in profile and Cruz smirking on the other side of the stage. I think he did a decent job playing to his base but I don’t know if anyone undecided would come vote to him based on the debate. > [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I get it. There are many more liberals and people on the left than most folks realize. Sadly, in my experience, many of them are deflated and have all but given up. > > But, there is without doubt a younger generation under 30 who are persuadable. A lot of them. As a liberal Texan, my sense is that many of us are very excited and hopeful about Beto. The issue is that Beto doesn’t just need the liberals to go out, he needs a lot of non-voters to go out. I’m hoping that the liberal excitement translates to people volunteering and doing what they can to get everyone out to vote. Somewhat related to the debate, one of Cruz’s tweets from last night was [this](https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1043278255740973058). I realize that as a crazy liberal that my point of view would be different than the voters that Cruz is targeting, but I don’t see what it is he’s going for. The tweet says “In Beto O’Rourke’s own words” and then it has a video clip of Beto talking to a crowd at a church in the Dallas area and saying how it’s an injustice that a young black man was shot in his apartment by an unarmed officer and that when the public wants all the information to make a decision, the information that is released is that there was a small amount of marijuana in his apartment. I know that there are some people who jump through hoops trying to justify what the cop did, but that video clip is not something that I think would convince Beto is crazy, and most of the responses to the tweet do seem to be Beto voters saying it’s further proof why they support him. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/573 "2018-09-22T14:11:49Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I’ve been to Austin and I’ve been to Oregon and the two aren’t much alike in any respect in my experience. Portland in particular is WAY “weirder” even than Austin views itself. Some years back, spent nine nights and five days in Austin. One time, was wandering around this big ol’ house with a sleeping bag, looking for some place nobody was partying. Dawn was breaking, saw a car pull out, said something like are people leaving? “Nah, store run, we’re getting low on beer.” Aww, what the hell, I’ll sleep when I’m dead. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/574 "2018-09-22T16:38:08Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Some years back, spent nine nights and five days in Austin. One time, was wandering around this big ol’ house with a sleeping bag, looking for some place nobody was partying. Dawn was breaking, saw a car pull out, said something like are people leaving? > > “Nah, store run, we’re getting low on beer.” Aww, what the hell, I’ll sleep when I’m dead. Over 40 years ago, I spent a romantic night in Austin with my then-boyfriend. We got up the next morning and went to a funky, friendly (now gone) restaurant called _Les Amis_ (anyone remember it?). It was a couple of blocks off the Drag. We needed to get back home, but neither of us wore a watch. We asked around the restaurant among the patrons and servers, “Anyone know what time it is?” NO ONE KNEW. Sweet memories… good times… ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/575 "2018-09-22T16:54:02Z")
I hope Beto wins as well, but I don’t need 3 emails from his campaign every day. I’m on vacation and woke up this morning with about 300 emails, 25% of them political fundraising ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/576 "2018-09-22T17:03:04Z")
Check out the video in [this Tweet](https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1043278255740973058). It’s Beto giving a speech about the Bothan Jean incident to what appears to be a primarly African American church. It’s a pretty inspiring bit of rhetoric coming from the fairly unassailable position that unarmed black men shouldn’t be shot in their own homes. Here’s the weird thing… It’s from Ted Cruz’s Twitter account and accompanied by the text, “In Beto O’Rourke’s own words #TXSenateDebate.” What point is Ted trying to make here? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/577 "2018-09-22T17:21:09Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I hope Beto wins as well, but I don’t need 3 emails from his campaign every day. I’m on vacation and woke up this morning with about 300 emails, 25% of them political fundraising I have a yahoo address that I use whenever I sign up for stores, campaigns, fund-raising, etc. All those emails go there. I never use my main email address for anything that I think is going to generate lots of mail. Consider it. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/578 "2018-09-22T18:34:29Z")
I get those fund raising and take action emails and some of them bother me a lot, with subject lines like “_ **Obamacare Destroyed!** _” or “_ **AAAaaauuugh! They’re going to kill us all!** _” I mean, I expect that kind of _ **WOLF!** _ rhetoric from the right wing, but when I see it coming from 5he anti-RW, I feel like come on people, you are better than that, rise above. Like O’Rourke. He seems to be rising above it. For whatever it will earn him. I am hopeful but not optimistic. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/579 "2018-09-22T19:01:47Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Check out the video in [this Tweet](https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1043278255740973058). > > It’s Beto giving a speech about the Bothan Jean incident to what appears to be a primarly African American church. It’s a pretty inspiring bit of rhetoric coming from the fairly unassailable position that unarmed black men shouldn’t be shot in their own homes. > > Here’s the weird thing… It’s from Ted Cruz’s Twitter account and accompanied by the text, “In Beto O’Rourke’s own words #TXSenateDebate.” > > What point is Ted trying to make here? Well, O’Rourke is obviously saying it’s wrong when police kill an unarmed black man, search his apartment for no apparent reason, and use a small amount of drugs to smear his reputation. And O’Rourke made those remarks _in a room full of black people!_ I mean, Cruz supporters naturally reject that kind of disgusting rhetoric. Just look at the way he whips up _those people_. Very unsettling. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987/580 "2018-09-22T19:02:17Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Check out the video in [this Tweet](https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1043278255740973058). > > It’s Beto giving a speech about the Bothan Jean incident to what appears to be a primarly African American church. It’s a pretty inspiring bit of rhetoric coming from the fairly unassailable position that unarmed black men shouldn’t be shot in their own homes. > > Here’s the weird thing… It’s from Ted Cruz’s Twitter account and accompanied by the text, “In Beto O’Rourke’s own words #TXSenateDebate.” > > What point is Ted trying to make here? In the words of one of the replies: > [@Kat 4 Obama (@Kat4Obama)](#): > > This is either Ted Cruz conceding defeat and giving a full-throated endorsement of Beto O’Rourke, or Ted Cruz saying he’s in favor of police gunning down unarmed African-Americans. I think we can definitively rule out one of those options, so here you have a pure, unadulterated look at what Cruz thinks his base wants to hear from him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987.md?page=28) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-beto-orourke-have-a-chance-to-oust-ted-cruz/807987.md?page=30)