Abbott vs Beto

[WLJ]

 Beto O’Rourke flip-flops again on gun confiscation; Now he’s for it
https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2022/05/31/beto-orourke-flip-flops-again-on-gun-confiscation-now-hes-for-it/

[WLJ]

The BluePrint Polling survey found that 48.5 percent of respondents said they would definitely vote for Abbott, while 7 percent were leaning toward the Republican. A further 32.9 percent said they would definitely vote for O’Rourke and just 4.3 percent said they were leaning toward the Democrat.

A find it a bit unsettling that 33% are definitely voting for the Irish Hispanic.
Yes it's comforting he's 100% pretty much going to lose but to think 33% are that unreachable bothers me.

Beto's gun ban backfiring? New poll shows Abbott with growing lead
https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2022/06/14/betos-gun-ban-backfiring-new-poll-shows-abbott-with-growing-lead-n59366

[Perd Hapley]

Going full Leroy Jenkins at that press conference failed to win Texan hearts and minds? Go figure.

So was it stupidity, or a smart play to get more out-of-state donations for his cash-grab "campaign"?

[WLJ]

Going full Leroy Jenkins at that press conference failed to win Texan hearts and minds? Go figure.

So was it stupidity, or a smart play to get more out-of-state donations for a cash-grab "campaign"?

I have yet to hear anything remotely intelligent come out of his mouth so I vote stupidity

[Boomhauer]

A find it a bit unsettling that 33% are definitely voting for the Irish Hispanic.
Yes it's comforting he's 100% pretty much going to lose but to think 33% are that unreachable bothers me.

Beto's gun ban backfiring? New poll shows Abbott with growing lead
https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2022/06/14/betos-gun-ban-backfiring-new-poll-shows-abbott-with-growing-lead-n59366

Remember the significant number of Califuckers moving to Texas that aren’t moving because they are conservatives tired of Cali.

Austin, DFW and Houston are hotbeds off liberals in TX.

[MechAg94]

Remember also that a certain percentage of voters will vote for the party regardless of who is there.  Numbers in the 30% range are bare minimum. 

I wouldn't say those people are unreachable, but you aren't going to reach them with a reasoned argument.  They are emotionally attached to the Dem party and they are going to have to reach a point where something smacks them hard enough to get them to think about it. 

The other part I would add is the worst Republicans are nearly as bad as the worst Democrats.  From what I have seen, that is the way they would respond. 

[Ben]

I see that the congressional district that encompasses San Antonio has flipped red in a special election. There is hope.

[MechAg94]

I see that the congressional district that encompasses San Antonio has flipped red in a special election. There is hope.

Republican Mayra Flores Wins U.S. House Seat In South Texas, First GOP Win There In 150+ Years
https://www.dailywire.com/news/republican-mayra-flores-wins-u-s-house-seat-in-south-texas-first-gop-win-there-in-150-years

Been Democrat since 1870 according to the link. 

[Perd Hapley]

I read somewhere she's the first female Hispanicalx Republican TX has ever sent to Congress. Seems improbable.

[WLJ]

I read somewhere she's the first female Hispanicalx Republican TX has ever sent to Congress. Seems improbable.

First Mexican born Congresswoman

Flores is now “the first GOP candidate to represent that area of the Rio Grande Valley since 1870,” the Houston Chronicle reported, adding that she is now “the first congresswoman born in Mexico.”

[WLJ]

MSNBC columnist Eric Michael Garcia panicked over the results of the election, saying that Democrats needed to be sounding the alarm immediately.

“There is a political earthquake happening in Latino politics in South Texas and there is a reason I have been saying it will be voting like West Virginia,” he tweeted. “But like @SeanTrende , I expected this in two decades. #TX34. This should be a five alarm fire for Democrats.”

 

[WLJ]

Waiting for someone to ask "Beto" why he didn't get an abortion 

[MechAg94]

Should we start referring to him as BetoX? 

[HankB]

Remember also that a certain percentage of voters will vote for the party regardless of who is there.  Numbers in the 30% range are bare minimum. 

I wouldn't say those people are unreachable, but you aren't going to reach them with a reasoned argument.  They are emotionally attached to the Dem party and they are going to have to reach a point where something smacks them hard enough to get them to think about it. 

The other part I would add is the worst Republicans are nearly as bad as the worst Democrats.  From what I have seen, that is the way they would respond.

Someone (not me, though I wish I could take credit) came up with a short but profound truism: It's hard to reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into.

These are the +/- 30% of the population that still approves of Biden.    (Think back several decades - even though he lost, during his attempt at re-election Jimmy Carter still got votes - tens of millions in fact.)

[Angel Eyes]

Should we start referring to him as BetoX? 

[Perd Hapley]

Winning hearts and minds, Beto MFs someone at a campaign rally.

https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2022/08/11/its-orourkes-gun-control-plans-that-are-a-joke-n61373

I can't imagine why he's not already President.

[Hawkmoon]

Remember also that a certain percentage of voters will vote for the party regardless of who is there.  Numbers in the 30% range are bare minimum. 

I wouldn't say those people are unreachable, but you aren't going to reach them with a reasoned argument.  They are emotionally attached to the Dem party and they are going to have to reach a point where something smacks them hard enough to get them to think about it.

My father was such a person and, based on my personal family history, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that such people absolutely ARE unreachable. In my father's case, he was a Republican, but over the years I saw him support some truly atrocious local and state candidates. "Why would you support that clown?" I'd ask.

"He's a Republican," was the answer. My father would have supported Attila the Hun if Attila had been a Republican.

And that's why I vowed never to join a political party. Our statewide 2A advocacy group is always pushing me to register with a party -- either party -- so I can vote in the primaries. Yeah, I get it. If both primaries nominate poor candidates, maybe I will have missed an opportunity. In the end, though, my objectivity is more important to me. If I register with either party, even for just one election cycle, I can never again write to an elected official or testify at a hearing and state that I am a life-long unaffiliated voter.

[MechAg94]

My father was such a person and, based on my personal family history, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that such people absolutely ARE unreachable. In my father's case, he was a Republican, but over the years I saw him support some truly atrocious local and state candidates. "Why would you support that clown?" I'd ask.

"He's a Republican," was the answer. My father would have supported Attila the Hun if Attila had been a Republican.

And that's why I vowed never to join a political party. Our statewide 2A advocacy group is always pushing me to register with a party -- either party -- so I can vote in the primaries. Yeah, I get it. If both primaries nominate poor candidates, maybe I will have missed an opportunity. In the end, though, my objectivity is more important to me. If I register with either party, even for just one election cycle, I can never again write to an elected official or testify at a hearing and state that I am a life-long unaffiliated voter.

I saw the opposite.  My grandparents voted Democrat.   A lot of people in the South voted Democrat whether it was because they grew up under FDR or other reasons.  One grandfather said he was a hobo in the Great Depression and FDR's new deal programs gave him a job.  I don't think either of my grandfathers were alive when Clinton took office.  My parents considered themselves independent and liked Reagan.  I liked the free market economics stuff and limited govt.  Took me a few years to realize few Republicans truly support that.

That is one reason I always thought that great party switch Democrats like to claim happened was BS.  My grandparents never switched.  My small home town still has local candidates who are largely democrat.  That may have changed over the last 20 years, but it was still that way in the '90's.  The change in Southern states happened across multiple generations. 

[K Frame]

""He's a Republican," was the answer. My father would have supported Attila the Hun if Attila had been a Republican."

Anymore, I have to say that I agree with your father.

I voted for Democrats in years past -- they seemed to be moderates who were more closely aligned with my beliefs than the Republican candidate at that time.

I will NEVER make that *expletive deleted*ing mistake again.

[Hawkmoon]

I read somewhere she's the first female Hispanicalx Republican TX has ever sent to Congress. Seems improbable.

Shouldn't that be "Hispanicalx Replicanx Texanx"? (Just to avoid confusion?)

[MechAg94]

I would say if you are going to vote one party, make sure you vote in the party primary and get some say in who candidate is.  It does help sometimes.  When Ted Cruz ran the first time for Senate, there was another Republican who was the front runner.  He was an establishment guy like Cornyn.  Thankfully, the word got out and Cruz took the lead and won the primary.  He has been a pretty decent Senator. 

[Hawkmoon]

""He's a Republican," was the answer. My father would have supported Attila the Hun if Attila had been a Republican."

Anymore, I have to say that I agree with your father.

I voted for Democrats in years past -- they seemed to be moderates who were more closely aligned with my beliefs than the Republican candidate at that time.

I will NEVER make that *expletive deleted*ing mistake again.

I will probably never vote for a Democrat again, either. But I remain of the opinion that our two-party political system is hopelessly broken, that it often conspires to keep good, qualified people out of office (and ever out of the election process), and for that reason I will not register with any party because I think party politics are the root of much of the evil in this country today.

[zahc]

I saw the opposite.  My grandparents voted Democrat.   A lot of people in the South voted Democrat whether it was because they grew up under FDR or other reasons.  One grandfather said he was a hobo in the Great Depression and FDR's new deal programs gave him a job.  I don't think either of my grandfathers were alive when Clinton took office.  My parents considered themselves independent and liked Reagan.  I liked the free market economics stuff and limited govt.  Took me a few years to realize few Republicans truly support that.

That is one reason I always thought that great party switch Democrats like to claim happened was BS.  My grandparents never switched.  My small home town still has local candidates who are largely democrat.  That may have changed over the last 20 years, but it was still that way in the '90's.  The change in Southern states happened across multiple generations.

The great party switch is a myth of convenience that was created as a desperate explanation for why modern liberals should vote for the party of slavery, jim crow, and anti-civil rights. There was no great (or small) party switch and looking at the vote data makes it obviously a tall tale.

[Pb]

The change in Southern states happened across multiple generations.

Yes, I agree.  I live in one of the most conservative states in the entire country.  Our state legislature was not GOP until less than fifteen years ago!

My grandfather also grew up Democratic.  His family was involved in New Deal agricultural programs.  He said that as a boy he hardly knew anyone Republican, and they were considered odd.

He was a very conservative person.  I am not sure when or even if he became a republican officially, but I know he was a fan of Rush.

[MechAg94]

I will probably never vote for a Democrat again, either. But I remain of the opinion that our two-party political system is hopelessly broken, that it often conspires to keep good, qualified people out of office (and ever out of the election process), and for that reason I will not register with any party because I think party politics are the root of much of the evil in this country today.

IMO, a big part of that is the way the campaign finance laws are set up.  Makes it easier for the party to collect money and dole it out to the candidates they prefer.  Makes it harder for outsiders to get noticed.  As people like Rush said years ago, there was greater turnover in Congress before there were any campaign finance laws.