2020 Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke hasn’t minced words this weekend in his response to Saturday’s shooting in the Texas cities of Midland and Odessa.
A lot of discussion on Twitter as to whether a POC pol or female pol could get away with such profanity, but I think this works for Beto. He’s speaking ‘white’ here. A lot of white folks will get what he’s saying and that’s really the point. We need more white voters to turn against the GOP on a number of issues, gun control being one of them. If you look at how the 2020 campaigns are shaping up at the Senate, House and state level, gun control is now one of the top 3 issues that Dems are aggressively running on in purple districts. This issue is an absolute killer for the GOP. A sustained focus on this issue could result in the Dems winning 5 or 6 Senate seats, another 20 House seats and the presidency.
Beto is at 2% because he fails to articulate his positions much beyond this. He needs to aim lower than the Presidency and find his more natural level. Losing to Ted Cruz for Senate does not make you Presidential.
He doesn’t have an real shot at the Presidency - but he has a real role as a ‘firebrand’ in the primaries. Throwing F-bombs - making hard comments - provoking actions and more importantly RE-actions from various politicians.
I say let him roar. It’s good stuff.
The Dems need the messaging. I can’t say this enough, because this is how we lose elections to the nutcases on the Right. We don’t control the message; we respond to the bad message the GOP puts out. We need to start initiating the message and stop being coy about this. I say this about the mainstream religion too: the Apostle Paul said we need to be bold in our faith. This idea could make the leap to political messaging. Somehow, the Dems are so coy that no one really knows what they stand for.
Except for this by Beto. We need more like this. Much, much more.
Well, when you’re right, you’re right. This is massively, I fear possibly unfixably at this point, fucked up.
No.
Yes.
Perfect.
I wonder if more people in law enforcement are becoming more supportive of gun control measures as the gun nuts point their weapons at them.
The guy yesterday didn’t even seem to have an agenda (although too soon to tell without more info). He just used perfect strangers as target practice.
My impression is that their solution is just more, bigger weapons for them.
This is truly authentic and how most of us who are under 70 speak. It gets directly to the point.
Anyone who wants to play Church Lady should go after the fake prez.
Maybe better to mention the 24/7 corporate sponsored hate machine telling Americans that their country is under attack by trans-marxist liberals whose sole intent is to make their grandmother a muslim gun grabber.
These guys are prevalent because the temperature has been raised by AM radio hosts trying to out-freak the populace, like the religious carpetbaggers before them, and now weaponized by Alex Jones, the internet and the rest to the point that someone can be so tightly wound in their lives that the merest change in circumstance leads them to murder-suicide.
Our president is literally pulling the same gag, spreading conspiracy theories meant to enable dumbasses to feel like only they can see the truth. This is so obvious it isn’t even mentioned.
The country has been gaslit.
A fat lot of good that did the police officer yesterday. Also, look at Texas’s incredibly irresponsible and dangerous loosening of gun control measures. Open carry on down.
Where were these good guys with guns yesterday?
I sincerely wish the Dems would run on the idea that hatred is not a family value, nor is it an American value. The Right seems to think this is a winning issue - hate everyone that doesn’t look or act like you; that it’s ok to shoot to kill those that don’t look or act like you. At some point, those guns may well be trained at you because you’re different. It’s just not a value anyone should want to be associated with.
Well then we can expect them to be driving around in black and white tanks soon
Yes, but there’s an aside:
We need the House, Senate and WH, then we can at least pass some basics. If we could only get serious background checks and the absolute banning of assault weapons.
Wonder if this latest horrendous act was with an assault weapon. Can you drive and shoot one of those at the same time?
I think what Beto is doing is great and he needs to stick around if for nothing else than changing the red neck gun laws in his state that just went into effect today.
This is Beto’s territory. He should run for Senate on this. Not for President. Follow the lead of Hickenlooper and get out now while the getting is good.
I don’t want to lose this voice completely, but he is too regional.
Beto can break through on this specific issue because he is speaking ‘white’ in tone, language and demeanor. That’s just a fact. Folks often need relatable language they can understand and communicate crisply. This is ‘fucked up’ cuts through all of the talk radio influenced stuff.
Same idea, he’s local - it’s his issue. It doesn’t translate to non-Texas. But he’s Texas, right now, and in the forefront of that discussion.
I totally agree with Beto!
These gun violence shootings are FUCKED UP!
What’s “f-ed up” is that every mass shooting is seen as an opportunity for republicans to flex their muscles on the Second Amendment, and for democrats to be outraged - and neither side does anything on gun control. Texas state repubs just relaxed gun laws even further, and house dems postponed their gun control discussions because of Dorian - apparently some members from Florida and the Carolinas can’t travel. Really? Leaving a hurricane area is what most people do. Beto can curse all he wants, but I’m coming to the sad realization neither side wants to lose this issue as a talking point.
I’ve seen local departments with promo pictures of their (tank-like)(APC-like) vehicles.