Beto missed his shot on EVERTHING He should have NEVER ran for president He should now NEVER run for Governor He should have went after that other senate seat He is a bad candidate and is not a good decision maker Beto . .. be a mayor somewhere for about 10 yrs Rocket River
He makes it official and is going to lose to the shittiest governor in the country in a landslide because of his politically stupid taking people's guns rhetoric.
millions and millions will be spent on this election and we all already know how it will turn out. at what point does this dude give up on politics and try to get a real job. or will he just run for a different office every two years? 2018 - senate 2020 - president 2022 - governor not a good look.
Because it's Beto people are going to roll their eyes but damn... His messaging here is on point. If THE MESSAGE here is going to be consistent and hammered home, I think Abbott is in some real trouble... but not necessarily from Beto. I also think this message will be one that pretty much mirrors what Matthew McConaughey would want to say so I get why Beto or a top Democrat would want to get ahead of his message if he does decide to run. The message makes it clear how horrible Gregg Abbott is, and reminds Texans of his incompetence as well as his divisive politics which when the General Election comes around, he'll try to make you forget about. That's a great start. The real problem for Beto though is that he's going to be getting eye rolls because of his failure to win the Senate seat, and then the presidential primary. He'll be seen as someone whose a career campaigner who rakes in cash, but always loses so all he does is run for seats he's going to lose. If you didn't know who he was though, and this was his first big campaign out of the gate, I would say that Abbott is in real danger.
I like Beto and I wish he could beat Abbott, but I think he jumped the shark when he was willing to take people's AR's away from them. I'm all for gun control, but you can't talk about taking away things people already own when they have been responsible owning them in America. The rhetoric doesn't work and it will be hammered over and over about in the campaign.
While I also agree he doesn't have much of a chance... but no Democrat has much of a chance at any statewide office in Texas (hence, there are no statewide officeholders). So sure... folks can glom onto the assault weapon position. Just like they glommed onto Wendy Davis running shoes when she ran, and every other right wing talking point against every Democrat that ran (and will run) for statewide offices. And we have governors like abbott and senators like cruz and cornyn. Or... people can look at O'Rourke and look at abbott... and decide who they would rather govern this state. I'm voting for change, even more people won't. At the end of the day come voting day I will know I voted for the better person.
He committed Texas political self immolation when he said that he'd take away AR-15s. It is the political boogeyman among gun-owning Texans and there is no amount of retconing or backtracking that will make people forget about it. Abbott would run up the score in rural counties, unlike Cruz in 2018, and blow Beto out of the water on the strength of that soundbite alone. It speaks to the weaknesses and ineptitude of the Texas Democratic Party that the two best hopes for defeating Greg Abbott and the state GOP that almost froze us all to death are Beto O'Rourke and an independent run by Matthew McConaughey.
Then both you and I voted for the best person. More Democrats obviously need to, but even people who perceive themselves as "independents" and even some republicans that think its time for a change should strongly consider voting for the best person and not simply for the candidate with an R next to their name on the ballot.
Well... he gave a soundbite. He took a swing on what could be a bold position that people nod their heads at, and he found out really quickly how the right wing media works. That sound bite will follow him for the rest of his career. Funny how a soundbite can define a career on the left (Hillary "superpredators", Beto "Hell Yes") and on the right Steve Scalise can claim to be "David Duke without the Baggage" and he's getting fast tracked all the way up to speaker of the house. Texas is a unique state though, and I think he'll be hard pressed to erase his history with many of the voters he needs to erase the minds of. In order to win Texas away from the hard right, you just need turnout from non-voters, keep the suburbs which went Dem in 2018, and mostly stayed with Biden in 2020, and then also carry traditionally urban Dem voters in large turnout. The big issue is the political climate which right now just looks bad for any Democrat, but could change in a year... probably not though. Then the second is unlocking the largest block of non-voters in the country who for whatever reason just don't vote here in Texas. The messaging though... I think it is solid on what needs to be said to Texan voters... most of whom want a change from Abbott even though alot of them never would think to vote for a Democrat.... EVER. Especially one they think they know as well as Beto.
I know plenty of gun-owning independent and conservative voters who, while turned off by the culture war nonsense the religious base demands, will absolutely never consider a candidate who said the quiet part about taking guns away out loud.
I hope Beto and Cruz get caught in a gay sex cheating on their wives debacle and disappear. I would love to never have to read about either of them again. Beto comes off as weak. Cruz is just puke.
This is the first time I'll vote. Beto is better than Abbott, but I doubt Beto's ability to win Texas.
I know those people too (as I assume most of us here in Texas do) and the issue is there's no room for nuanced discussion. You cannot erase that sound bite, and open up their minds to what he was really trying to say. The positive though for those of us that want Abbott gone is that I do believe that there is a softening on the hardcore Republican brand though, and these conservative voters have an open mindedness about them even if they are close minded on some issues like guns. That's why I don't have a ton of hope for McConaughey the person, but I do think it's winnable for an independent branded Texas type of guy. I just don't think Beto is that guy... he's a known Democrats... who can only win under perfect conditions (as I said, high turnout, good D climate like 2018, non-voters finding way to polls, etc). If an independent shows up and carrys this message well, I think the Democrats need to be smart and make sure they do NOT stand in that persons way of beating Abbott.
OK, but again, we are talking about assault rifles. And I suspect a larger percentage of Americans would support restrictions on assault rifles... up to and including bans. At some point people need to look beyond wedge issues and decide if the current officeholder has their best interests in mind. Is unfettered assault rifle ownership more important than a properly functioning power grid? Than reducing the number of deaths due to COVID-19?
Right and is Beto going to be able to get the voters to "look beyond wedge issues" like assault rifles when we know every time he's approached by someone in the media the first question will be putting him on the defense with his "Hell Yes" comment?? I don't know but I hope he gets past it. I actually like Beto, and want him to find a governing role instead of constantly campaigning.
I don't think a majority would support a ban on "assault weapons". Also that is a pretty broad encompassing terminology. Closed bolt semi-automatic rifles like the ar-15 are bit time sellers. Too popular.
As far as I know, McConaughey has yet to declare that he won't run for governor as an independent, so the faint hope is still there. My personal preference is that he run as a Democrat in the primary because I think he'd beat Beto like a drum, and then McConaughey would have the support of the state and national Democratic Party organizations. Eager to back him, in my opinion. I don't doubt that they would raise millions nationally to enable Matthew to mount a strong campaign. However, Mathew will do whatever Matthew wants to do. No doubt about it. He's his own man. If Beto ends up being the candidate, we get 4 more years of Abbott's criminally incompetent "leadership" that is making Texas a laughingstock across the country, in my opinion, while doing untold harm to the state and it's people. Here's what Ted Cruz, of all people, said about the possibility of McConaughey running for governor. From the Houston Chronicle:: “He's a very charming, very affable guy,” Cruz said. “He's a movie star, and a good-looking, charming, affable movie star can be a really formidable candidate on the ballot. And I hope that doesn't happen, but you know what? He's going to have to make his own decision whether he's going to run or not." Here's some more from the article: The Oscar winner/author/soccer team owner/philanthropist/UT Minister of Culture/professor of practice/amateur manicurist/bourbon peddler/professional Texan has been toying with the idea of running for governor for months now, calling it a "true consideration" and reportedly making calls to some "influential people in Texas political circles." McConaughey may truly be the formidable opponent Cruz and other Republicans fear. An April poll from the Dallas Morning News had McConaughey winning over incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott in a hypothetical match-up. But of course, it's still unclear what party McConaughey would run under. He's widely painted himself as a centrist over a Republican or Democrat. "I’ve said this analogy a few times before, but someone told me, 'There ain’t nothing in the middle but dead armadillos and yellow lines,'" McConaughey told the Longview News-Journal in March, John Anderson reports. "I said, 'Well, I’m walking right down the yellow lines, right in the middle of the highway right now. And the armadillos are free having a great time because right now, both sides are so far to the right or the left, there aren’t even tires on the pavement.'" Whatever that means. Texans vote for the next governor in November 2022. https://www.chron.com/politics/article/Ted-Cruz-Matthew-McConaughey-governor-16255882.php To that reporter's last comment? I would add that I know what Matthew means!
