The Beto Effect - How To Lose Elections and Influence Nothing

[Chad Fuck 17680]

Everyone knew he had no chance. I still voted for him but he was never going to win due to guns alone.
Texans value guns over kids. Simple as that.

Certainly that was the case in Uvalde.

Smdh

[Born to Run 6569]

Which wasn't even said during this race and was also said in the heat of the moment following the Wal-Mart shooting in El Paso.
I agree Beto might've done a better job clarifying that statement in this campaign but it was always going to be disingenuously used in Abbott/Patrick attack ads and it was. I do not think his common sense views on guns are all that different than enough Texans for it to not be the reason he wins or loses an election in this state.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=https://www.surlyhorns.com/board/forum/17-cloak-room/&share_sfid=17&share_fid=2053247&share_type=sf

As soon as he said that I knew he was toast. His first run, I donated a lot of time and money to his campaign enthusiastically. After that blunder, I fully checked out. He will need to move if he wants to hold political office outside El Paso. I like the guy and believe he comes from a good place, which are sadly not good traits in politics.

[Born to Run 6569]

Winning as a Democrat in Texas requires a fuck load of old school pandering enough to make Pappy or the Fergusons blush. And maybe a midget.

Going to the Valley? Shoot some Dove skillfully, dress like an accurate redneck, eat Menudo or tripe while listening to King George and drinking a Lone Star. Learn to two step and Cumbia. Ride around with Pat Greene in a convertible through Bluebonnets.

The townhall were cool, but skateboarding was tone deaf.

See Gov Ann hunting Quail (and she only won because her opponent was pro-rapist)

Hell see Dana Goeb to start with. We love our mythology; we love our guns.


Hint hint future Dems. Get really good at Sporting Clays. Bum a dip from a townhall participant.

[F250 28774]

2 hours ago, Born to Run said:

Going to the Valley? Shoot some Dove skillfully, dress like an accurate redneck, eat Menudo or tripe while listening to King George and drinking a Lone Star. Learn to two step and Cumbia. Ride around with Pat Greene in a convertible through Bluebonnets.

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

Running strong, high profile candidates for statewide or even congressional seats have downstream positive impacts even if the main candidate loses. Take Hidalgo in Houston. It’s not a stretch to say that the main reason she won in ‘18 and ‘22 is due to Beto coattails.

In a better world for Dems, this would lead to more reciprocity where Hidalgo grows her base and the Dems in Houston, which helps the statewide candidates in the future, and so on.   This part hasn’t happened.

[troph 24791]

2 hours ago, Born to Run said:

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=https://www.surlyhorns.com/board/forum/17-cloak-room/&share_sfid=17&share_fid=2053247&share_type=sf

As soon as he said that I knew he was toast. His first run, I donated a lot of time and money to his campaign enthusiastically. After that blunder, I fully checked out. He will need to move if he wants to hold political office outside El Paso. I like the guy and believe he comes from a good place, which are sadly not good traits in politics.

same, I wore my old senate shirt a couple of times this cycle but I didn't do anything for him this time other than that. last time I raised nearly $80K for him for his senate race. his comments on guns made him unelectable.

[atomheartbevo 89661]

6 hours ago, MeerkatBong said:

Dude wow. The Onion is savage.

Very:

Reeling in the wake of a difficult loss in the Texas gubernatorial race, Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke reportedly asked his advisors Wednesday if getting paralyzed by a tree might help his 2026 election chances. “Look, we’ve got to be honest with ourselves and admit something is holding me back as a candidate, and if that’s my ability to walk, then, sure, I’d stand in the path of a falling oak tree,” O’Rourke said during an impromptu huddle with his closest aides in which he asked how much polling had been done on the hypothetical scenario of a freak accident leaving him tragically confined to a wheelchair before the next governor’s election. “Let’s imagine I get a four- or five-point bump with Hispanics after they see a photo of me in a wheelchair. If we’re talking about turning Texas blue, then who the hell knows what I’m willing to sacrifice? Anyway, let’s fire up some focus groups ASAP, because this having two functional legs shit is clearly not working.” At press time, O’Rourke added that it couldn’t hurt to throw in a question about whether it would help his electability to get married to Greg Abbott’s wife.

[Beau Vine 54225]

 

[mchookem 16335]

man i don't even want to read that. that was the most astounding anecdote of the night. unbelievable. the problem with Texas really is that it's full of Texans. 

[Frank Erwin 203]

Beto was easily the best democratic candidate in a generation.  He raised more money than wheels.  He had the best motivating policy decision (overturning roe v Wade) ever.  He still posted the same numbers as a lesbian mexican sheriff who didn't raise a dime.  I like Beto, but this shows the battle the dems face in Texas 

[Deej 76785]

13 hours ago, MeerkatBong said:

So what now? He's lost 3 times in a row. I thought I read from some politico's that losing 3 times in a row is generally understood in the sector that it means 3 strikes and you are out with a political career. Is that accurate? I wonder what he can do to rebound or be of value-- maybe a House Seat? Would his pride let him do that?

Starring in the "Coyote Ugly" sequel?

 

[Deej 76785]

9 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

SHould be reversed for accuracy:

 

3rd party candidate:

Puppy that gets diarrhea forever. 

[tx 3 putt 76952]

 

[Voldemort86 2259]

Pisses me off that Beto lost my home county ( Tarrant).  It went blue in 2018 and 2020.

[mchookem 16335]

45 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

that's incredible. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

Smaller counties believe that lies that the GOP tells them. And for some reason, these citizens (and many in large counties) don’t want to blame the ruling party for anything that has happened in Texas in the last 30 years.

Many Texans don’t have anyone in their daily life that speaks up for Democrats so they’re left to their own critical thinking skills to decipher what is happening in Texas politics. And those skills were honed in Texas public schools. That education average puts them in the lower percentiles of the country.

Many people negatively impacted by Abbotts bad policies won’t vote against him.

[Fudge Nuggets 19190]

Beto is now the Hillary Clinton of Texas. Maybe chickenshit Castro will get off his ass and finally take a risk?  I hear others say he would be a great candidate but hell, I can’t even remember his first name. 
 

TDP should be sued for 30 years of gross negligence. 

[chainsaw 9867]

1 hour ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Beto is now the Hillary Clinton of Texas. Maybe chickenshit Castro will get off his ass and finally take a risk?  I hear others say he would be a great candidate but hell, I can’t even remember his first name. 
 

TDP should be sued for 30 years of gross negligence. 

TDC incompetency only outshadowed by NY Dem leadership. A big hearty FUCK YOU to Cuomo.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

there are many state and local party machines that do nothing but lose but somehow keep the same people in leadership year after year. In those cases, the party exists so they can keep a job.   basically the A&M athletic department.

[Hookah Horns 3083]

Rural Texas would be totally worthless but for the oil. So much white trash. 

[RPM 26320]

6 hours ago, Voldemort86 said:

Pisses me off that Beto lost my home county ( Tarrant).  It went blue in 2018 and 2020.

Yer gonna love the new Tarrant County Judge, Tim O'Hare.

[Snake Diggity 4624]

The more I think about it, I think the only way we will ever get a Dem governor (at least in the next 20 years) is if there is an extremely well funded far right wing independent candidate.

[WBT 20566]

7 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

The more I think about it, I think the only way we will ever get a Dem governor (at least in the next 20 years) is if there is an extremely well funded far right wing independent candidate.

Or a true believer like that little troll running for gov (his name already escapes me) actually wins an R primary

Edited November 10, 2022 by WBT

[Snake Diggity 4624]

Just now, WBT said:

Or a true believer like that little troll (his name already escapes me) actually wins an R primary

Sadly, I think even if Huffines had won the primary he would have beaten O’Rourke.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4976]

17 hours ago, C-Man said:

Which wasn't even said during this race and was also said in the heat of the moment following the Wal-Mart shooting in El Paso.

I agree Beto might've done a better job clarifying that statement in this campaign but it was always going to be disingenuously used in Abbott/Patrick attack ads and it was. I do not think his common sense views on guns are all that different than enough Texans for it to not be the reason he wins or loses an election in this state.

People tend to not trust people who continually claim to change their views, and his campaign website still says this:

Quote

And while it might not be the easy or politically safe thing to say, I don’t believe any civilian should own an AR-15 or AK-47.

Walking back his gonna take them away comment but still putting that in his campaign website wasn't going to gain him any trust.

[Beau Vine 54225]

42 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

Sadly, I think even if Huffines had won the primary he would have beaten O’Rourke.

Easily.  Huffines isn't a RINO like Abbott!

[sidis 9828]

i really don't understand how you guys can keep discussing this as if there is a chance that a democrat could possibly win statewide office in the current conditions...regardless of candidate charisma, pandering, etc...  you need to travel outside of austin.

texas is a lost state.  it isn't just the east, west, and north texas rural areas.  it's the suburbs.  it's cypress, it's the woodlands, it's plano and southlake it's waco and georgetown.  it's aggy.  the lufkins, longviews, tylers, abilenes, of the state are just gravy.

the manifestation of jesus christ, abraham lincoln, george washington, nelson mandela, ghandi, and caeser all in one person would get absolutely obliterated by ted cruz, greg abbot, and dan patrick in a statewide race.  ironically, by people voting against their own diabetic, scooter riding interests.  this state is irredeemable in terms of numbers.

one of the great ironies that i do find amusing about this state is that the two of the very few blue counties (travis and dallas) are responsible for contributing all of the socialist robinhood funds that every other red county across the state relies on to fund their local education.  austin isd, eanes isd, highland park, and plano is where almost all the money comes from.  "DON'T BE VOTIN' FOR NO SOCIALISTS, TEXAS!  now give us all your money austin and dallas."

[bolverk 29671]

1 hour ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

People tend to not trust people who continually claim to change their views, and his campaign website still says this:

Walking back his gonna take them away comment but still putting that in his campaign website wasn't going to gain him any trust.

Sorry, man, I don't buy the argument that his gun comment has anything to do with the loss. It's a convenient excuse.

As far as I know, guns were not up to debate in any of the other statewide elections. Beto got 43.8% of the vote, which should be considered the benchmark to beat if he were an exceptionally poor candidate based on that rationale, so let's take a look at the election results of other statewide offices.

Lt. Gov: Collier got 43.4% against Potty Patrick.

Atty Gen: Garza got 43.6% against indicted felon Paxton.

Ag Comm: Hays got 43.6% against Jesus shot Miller.

Comptroller: Dudding got 40.9% against Hegar.

Land Comm: Kleberg got 42.1% against Buckingham.

Railroad Comm: Warford got 40.5% against Christian. 

 

What we see with these results is that far from being an exceptionally poor candidate based on his gun stance, he slightly outperformed every single other statewide Democratic Party candidate -- even those whose opposition included someone who wasted a session on transgenders going to public restrooms and one who recently, and quite literally, ran down his driveway to an awaiting truck driven by his wife to prevent from being served papers.

The results from this election were not about guns nor even Beto. They were wholly due to just over half of voting Texans voting R no matter the candidate nor the issue.

 

 

[Dutchrudder 11139]

I think the biggest issue with Beto is that both he and the Dems overvalued his performance against Cruz. They misinterpreted that performance as "Beto is sooooo awesome and dreamy" instead of reading it as "Ted Cruz sucks shit, and even moderate Texans don't like him." From there, he has run for more stuff and failed because he's in a state where the deck is stacked against him at every level. That overconfidence should be worked out now, and hopefully they see the writing on the wall. Find another place for that time, effort and money, it will be better spent.

He should go back to being a House rep, and work his way back up. No Dem is going to win a statewide race for years, possibly decades. Ronald Reagan himself could walk in and run as the Dem for Governor, and still lose by a million votes. The best the Ds can do is fill every national race with someone worthwhile and hope for a couple more wins.  

[Beau Vine 54225]

14 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Sorry, man, I don't buy the argument that his gun comment has anything to do with the loss. It's a convenient excuse.

As far as I know, guns were not up to debate in any of the other statewide elections. Beto got 43.8% of the vote, which should be considered the benchmark to beat if he were an exceptionally poor candidate based on that rationale, so let's take a look at the election results of other statewide offices.

Lt. Gov: Collier got 43.4% against Potty Patrick.

Atty Gen: Garza got 43.6% against indicted felon Paxton.

Ag Comm: Hays got 43.6% against Jesus shot Miller.

Comptroller: Dudding got 40.9% against Hegar.

Land Comm: Kleberg got 42.1% against Buckingham.

Railroad Comm: Warford got 40.5% against Christian. 

 

What we see with these results is that far from being an exceptionally poor candidate based on his gun stance, he slightly outperformed every single other statewide Democratic Party candidate -- even those whose opposition included someone who wasted a session on transgenders going to public restrooms and one who recently, and quite literally, ran down his driveway to an awaiting truck driven by his wife to prevent from being served papers.

The results from this election were not about guns nor even Beto. They were wholly due to just over half of voting Texans voting R no matter the candidate nor the issue.

 

 

Well see, it's a slippery slope that's what it is!   If you vote for a Dem for Railroad Commissioner, he's going to ban trains from shipping guns and raw materials used to make guns and THEN WE WON'T HAVE ANY GUNS AND WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO THEN?????

[MeerkatBong 115]

26 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Sorry, man, I don't buy the argument that his gun comment has anything to do with the loss. It's a convenient excuse.

As far as I know, guns were not up to debate in any of the other statewide elections. Beto got 43.8% of the vote, which should be considered the benchmark to beat if he were an exceptionally poor candidate based on that rationale, so let's take a look at the election results of other statewide offices.

Lt. Gov: Collier got 43.4% against Potty Patrick.

Atty Gen: Garza got 43.6% against indicted felon Paxton.

Ag Comm: Hays got 43.6% against Jesus shot Miller.

Comptroller: Dudding got 40.9% against Hegar.

Land Comm: Kleberg got 42.1% against Buckingham.

Railroad Comm: Warford got 40.5% against Christian. 

 

What we see with these results is that far from being an exceptionally poor candidate based on his gun stance, he slightly outperformed every single other statewide Democratic Party candidate -- even those whose opposition included someone who wasted a session on transgenders going to public restrooms and one who recently, and quite literally, ran down his driveway to an awaiting truck driven by his wife to prevent from being served papers.

The results from this election were not about guns nor even Beto. They were wholly due to just over half of voting Texans voting R no matter the candidate nor the issue.

 

 

The bold highlights the point I think you missed; in order to win Texas you have to win over some of those blind, straight ticket R voters. You don't win those voters over by having the message he had on guns.

Everything else you said is true though and he was as good a candidate as any, but LonghornMatt nailed it. You need a blue dog democrat who looks and feels more like rural Texas (the poster who mentioned knowing how to comport himself around a shotgun, wearing some boots, tough talkin'/hard drinkin' as a shout out to Ann Richards who was awesome) to have a prayer in Texas and Beto ain't that.

At least until Gen Z is here in full force and even then, who knows.

[troph 24791]

36 minutes ago, MeerkatBong said:

The bold highlights the point I think you missed; in order to win Texas you have to win over some of those blind, straight ticket R voters. You don't win those voters over by having the message he had on guns.

Everything else you said is true though and he was as good a candidate as any, but LonghornMatt nailed it. You need a blue dog democrat who looks and feels more like rural Texas (the poster who mentioned knowing how to comport himself around a shotgun, wearing some boots, tough talkin'/hard drinkin' as a shout out to Ann Richards who was awesome) to have a prayer in Texas and Beto ain't that.

At least until Gen Z is here in full force and even then, who knows.

truth is the Republican vote in parts of Texas is as automatic as the Democratic vote for 3-4 generations after Reconstruction. My grandmother (lived in AR near Texarkana) was a "yellow dog democrat" (RIP) and would not vote for a Republican for any reason, she wouldn't even listen. In fact, she would get loud and tell you you're wrong, she doesn't want to hear it, it's Christmas, don't ruin the Lord's birthday talking about those awful bastards.

Today, I think there is a similar mental entrenchment for Republicans among rural elderly voters (65+). 

We can also fairly show that it was about 1980 when the yellow dog democrats started moving to the Republican no matter what vote.  reasons are pretty obvious when you start to look at it but that's another thread and has been discussed by many, many of us here and elsewhere.

 

Edited November 10, 2022 by troph

[MeerkatBong 115]

1 minute ago, troph said:

truth is the Republican vote in parts of Texas is as automatic as the Democratic vote for 3-4 generations after Reconstruction. My grandmother was a "yellow dog democrat" (RIP) and would not vote for a Republican for any reason, she wouldn't even listen. In fact, she would get loud and tell you you're wrong, she doesn't want to hear it, it's Christmas, don't ruin the Lord's birthday talking about those awful bastards.

Today, I think there is a similar mental entrenchment for Republicans among rural elderly voters (65+).

 

For sure you are right. But again. That 40% is the lost cause. The 40% in urban, ethnic/diverse areas for the other team is lost cause for R's.

The real fight is the 20% in the middle that can be a RINO or Blue/Yellow Dod Democrat and not an indoctrinated dyed in the wool card carrying member of one team or the other.

Or whatever the real #'s and %'s are-- I just used round numbers.

[troph 24791]

1 minute ago, MeerkatBong said:

For sure you are right. But again. That 40% is the lost cause. The 40% in urban, ethnic/diverse areas for the other team is lost cause for R's.

The real fight is the 20% in the middle that can be a RINO or Blue/Yellow Dod Democrat and not an indoctrinated dyed in the wool card carrying member of one team or the other.

Or whatever the real #'s and %'s are-- I just used round numbers.

you may be right about that. but I'm pretty much done hoping and thinking it's possible because those voters are taxes and economy only and on that front it's really only taxes.  with the cycle of irresponsible tax cuts and then responsible tax increases dysfunctional cycle we find ourselves in, I just don't see urban republicans that still vote republican switching.  I'd love to be wrong, I'd love for you to be right.

[chainsaw 9867]

1 minute ago, MeerkatBong said:

For sure you are right. But again. That 40% is the lost cause. The 40% in urban, ethnic/diverse areas for the other team is lost cause for R's.

The real fight is the 20% in the middle that can be a RINO or Blue/Yellow Dod Democrat and not an indoctrinated dyed in the wool card carrying member of one team or the other.

Or whatever the real #'s and %'s are-- I just used round numbers.

I agree Texas is not a lost cause and it IS trending purple. We just didn't realize that Betomania was fool's gold. You had a very bad and unpopular president, very bad and unpopular senate opponent, and a novel approach to campaigning (basically, livestreaming a roadtrip to every county). Betomania really didn't start up until like late July so it only lasted like three months maybe four.

The party needs to keep hammering those fundamentals and focusing on smaller races first.

[Chad Fuck 17680]

Having grown up in rural Texas, I gotta say it's really hard to watch.  It's like a baby who throws his food all over the kitchen, but you gotta keep trying to shove food down his throat. 

 

[MeerkatBong 115]

4 minutes ago, troph said:

you may be right about that. but I'm pretty much done hoping and thinking it's possible because those voters are taxes and economy only and on that front it's really only taxes.  with the cycle of irresponsible tax cuts and then responsible tax increases dysfunctional cycle we find ourselves in, I just don't see urban republicans that still vote republican switching.  I'd love to be wrong, I'd love for you to be right.

You and I agree (I think if I'm remembering correctly) on the way to really throw a monkey wrench into the works and disrupt and change the trajectory of "Politics as usual" in Texas. 2 words:

Matthew.

McConaughey.

[bolverk 29671]

8 minutes ago, troph said:

truth is the Republican vote in parts of Texas is as automatic as the Democratic vote for 3-4 generations after Reconstruction. My grandmother (lived in AR near Texarkana) was a "yellow dog democrat" (RIP) and would not vote for a Republican for any reason, she wouldn't even listen. In fact, she would get loud and tell you you're wrong, she doesn't want to hear it, it's Christmas, don't ruin the Lord's birthday talking about those awful bastards.

Today, I think there is a similar mental entrenchment for Republicans among rural elderly voters (65+). 

We can also fairly show that it was about 1980 when the yellow dog democrats started moving to the Republican no matter what vote.  reasons are pretty obvious when you start to look at it but that's another thread and has been discussed by many, many of us here and elsewhere.

 

Short anecdote: Growing up in the Permian Basin (one of the first areas of the state that took the turn to solid Republican), I distinctly recall my dad griping about how East Texas "yellow dog Democrats" would even vote for the devil so long as he had a D behind his name. This would've been around the late 70s/early 80s when Dems were still winning statewide.

In his latter years, I would argue with him that he had turned into just the thing that he used to hate but in the other direction. The last time we got into it was the Thanksgiving before Covid when he told my niece that you shouldn't vote for the candidate -- just The Party.

[troph 24791]

4 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Short anecdote: Growing up in the Permian Basin (one of the first areas of the state that took the turn to solid Republican), I distinctly recall my dad griping about how East Texas "yellow dog Democrats" would even vote for the devil so long as he had a D behind his name. This would've been around the late 70s/early 80s when Dems were still winning statewide.

In his latter years, I would argue with him that he had turned into just the thing that he used to hate but in the other direction. The last time we got into it was the Thanksgiving before Covid when he told my niece that you shouldn't vote for the candidate -- just The Party.

100%

6 minutes ago, MeerkatBong said:

You and I agree (I think if I'm remembering correctly) on the way to really throw a monkey wrench into the works and disrupt and change the trajectory of "Politics as usual" in Texas. 2 words:

Matthew.

McConaughey.

possibly but I'm wary of celebrity candidates.

[chainsaw 9867]

7 minutes ago, MeerkatBong said:

You and I agree (I think if I'm remembering correctly) on the way to really throw a monkey wrench into the works and disrupt and change the trajectory of "Politics as usual" in Texas. 2 words:

Matthew.

McConaughey.

I had this thought for a while but then I realized it would be very easy to smear him. His inner circle probably figured that out too and he's smart enough to listen to them.

[sidis 9828]

8 minutes ago, MeerkatBong said:

You and I agree (I think if I'm remembering correctly) on the way to really throw a monkey wrench into the works and disrupt and change the trajectory of "Politics as usual" in Texas. 2 words:

Matthew.

McConaughey.

no.  not even close.  you think mm would appeal to this guy?

or this guy?

he does not.  there is genuinely no point to discussing it.  it ain't happening.  just forget it.  texas is what it is.  a perfectly located place for success in terms of resources, geological diversity, a waterway port to the world, and decent weather outside of the summer...with a lot of good people and a lot of horrifically, undereducated/underinformed and economically disadvantaged people who are firmly entrenched in a quixotic culture war against the "woke" windmill constructed and fed to them through self-reinforcing information channels.

[chainsaw 9867]

1 minute ago, sidis said:

no.  not even close.  you think mm would appeal to this guy?

or this guy?

he does not.  there is genuinely no point to discussing it.  it ain't happening.  just forget it.  texas is what it is.  a perfectly located place for success in terms of resources, geological diversity, a waterway port to the world, and decent weather outside of the summer...with a lot of good people and a lot of horrifically, undereducated/underinformed and economically disadvantaged people who are firmly entrenched in a quixotic culture war against the "woke" windmill constructed and fed to them through self-reinforcing information channels.

Those guys are only growing in pant size, not in number. They exist in California and Oregon, too. They just don't matter enough electorally anymore. That's what will be happening in Texas.

[troph 24791]

5 minutes ago, chainsaw said:

Those guys are only growing in pant size, not in number. They exist in California and Oregon, too. They just don't matter enough electorally anymore. That's what will be happening in Texas.

when? 10 points is the closest Dems get and migration of conservatives from blue states to red states is as notable as any other type of migration.

Edited November 10, 2022 by troph

[sidis 9828]

1 hour ago, bolverk said:

Sorry, man, I don't buy the argument that his gun comment has anything to do with the loss. It's a convenient excuse.

As far as I know, guns were not up to debate in any of the other statewide elections. Beto got 43.8% of the vote, which should be considered the benchmark to beat if he were an exceptionally poor candidate based on that rationale, so let's take a look at the election results of other statewide offices.

Lt. Gov: Collier got 43.4% against Potty Patrick.

Atty Gen: Garza got 43.6% against indicted felon Paxton.

Ag Comm: Hays got 43.6% against Jesus shot Miller.

Comptroller: Dudding got 40.9% against Hegar.

Land Comm: Kleberg got 42.1% against Buckingham.

Railroad Comm: Warford got 40.5% against Christian. 

 

What we see with these results is that far from being an exceptionally poor candidate based on his gun stance, he slightly outperformed every single other statewide Democratic Party candidate -- even those whose opposition included someone who wasted a session on transgenders going to public restrooms and one who recently, and quite literally, ran down his driveway to an awaiting truck driven by his wife to prevent from being served papers.

The results from this election were not about guns nor even Beto. They were wholly due to just over half of voting Texans voting R no matter the candidate nor the issue.

 

 

this is an excellent post and everyone should read it over and over until it sinks in.

dan patrick and ken paxton both won elections against anything.  if that happens, there is nothing to discuss.  these are genuinely two of the worst human beings alive today...with absolutely no redeeming qualities. 

beyond immamac's typical capriciousness and randomly flying off the handle in posting, it does seem like maybe beto fucked his sister or mom or something as there is something particularly vitriolic there...but beyond that, beto is just playing the sacrificial lamb over and over because no one else wants to waste their time and life fighting a completely unwinnable and ineffectual race.

[sidis 9828]

11 minutes ago, chainsaw said:

Those guys are only growing in pant size, not in number. They exist in California and Oregon, too. They just don't matter enough electorally anymore. That's what will be happening in Texas.

said people like yourself for 20 years...bad news for you.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4976]

14 minutes ago, sidis said:

this is an excellent post and everyone should read it over and over until it sinks in.

dan patrick and ken paxton both won elections against anything.  if that happens, there is nothing to discuss.  these are genuinely two of the worst human beings alive today...with absolutely no redeeming qualities. 

beyond immamac's typical capriciousness and randomly flying off the handle in posting, it does seem like maybe beto fucked his sister or mom or something as there is something particularly vitriolic there...but beyond that, beto is just playing the sacrificial lamb over and over because no one else wants to waste their time and life fighting a completely unwinnable and ineffectual race.

2018 - Beto loses to Ted Cruz, who nobody admits to liking by about 5%

2020 - Beto says he is coming for your guns

2022 - Beto says, well I really didn't mean it like that...and loses by about 10% to a candidate nobody admits to liking.

[crash_davis 23113]

Beto couldn't beat Abbott in a foot race. He's simply unelectable. 

The question is if Dems nominated someone more electable, can that person beat Abott? Are there enough moderates in this state who would vote Dem if a charismatic nominee was the choice? I honestly don't know.

Texas is as red as California is as blue. California elected a moderate Rep in Arnold. Could the same happen in Texas?

 

[sidis 9828]

7 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

2018 - Beto loses to Ted Cruz, who nobody admits to liking by about 5%

2020 - Beto says he is coming for your guns

2022 - Beto says, well I really didn't mean it like that...and loses by about 10% to a candidate nobody admits to liking.

abbott is nowhere near as disliked as cruz.  in 2018, cruz was coming off of everyone around here figuring out that he was such a shameless opportunist, he would suck donald trump's dick after trump called his wife a dog and said his dad assassinated a president.  2018 was also a midterm after a republican taking the white house.  more indies show up and break for the opposite party.  2022 is a midterm with a new democratic president.  surprise surprise.

read bolverk's post i quoted.  this was a pointless race...it didn't matter who ran.

but, that said, i think beto should probably go give it a shot in nevada or something.  there's nothing for him here.

[chainsaw 9867]

Beto would never leave El Paso, at least not until his kids go off to college and even then probably not.

[Nicole44 22059]

I think he’d have a shot in a place like North Carolina, New Mexico or Nevada. He’d do well in New Mexico I think and could ride that to being Governor. Watching all the channels the last few days, I realize that for some it’s the “mission” and not the “fight” but that both parties are learning to perhaps spend their resources in other states. This midterm, was to me, proof of that. Lots of money spent in Florida and Texas could be better used in other states like NC for Democrats. The GOP wasted money in several places. I’m not saying give up on Texas but I’m also saying allocate more resources in other places. That would be like the GOP sinking $200m in California and not pursuing other states.