Beto O’Rourke is the real deal rhetorically, and one hopes he will be “true to form” when we elect him. I was impressed with his courage and spine, something lacking with many Democrats always seeking the mythical center.
When I interviewed Beto O’Rourke a few months ago, I thought he was hedging on single-payer Medicare for All, a policy I support and the only system after viewing through an objective mathematical lens, is the only answer. He was not hedging; he was genuinely opening the door for others to come up with a better way to get there.
I got a call a few weeks ago from a Democratic operative suggesting that a write about particular candidates. When the subject turned to Beto, he said that Criminal Justice reform is something we have to get candidates to talk about sooner rather than later. I told him, not even Beto would do that because it is taboo in Texas. You know this is a law and order state that uses the police and the military as props. The operative corrected me quickly. He said I must not have heard O’Rourke speak lately.
Later on, I would see the video of Beto O’Rourke responding to a likely plant about his stance on the NFL players who kneeled during the anthem. He could not have constructed a better answer. At that point, I said, “If that came from the heart, then he gets it.”
Yesterday’s debate was not for Ted Cruz or the pundits. It was for marginalized people who rarely see a white politician come out unabashedly for policies beneficial to them.
O’Rourke did not waffle on criminal justice reform, marijuana legalization, the right for everyone to protest and much more. In fact, he used his drunk driving charge as a catalyst to imprint in the psyche of all Texans the concept of privilege and the criminal justice system.
Beto O’Rourke did not shy away from calling out the fact that we imprison people of color disproportionately. He was clear that we had a tiered and unequal justice system that he pledged to work on if elected.
People of color see politicians only when they need their vote. The politician would either come to town or Skype in. Throughout O’Rourke’s speech, he was channeling a message; a message heard loud and clear by the aggrieved.
O’Rourke never backed down in the debate. He engaged Cruz on every issue and did not back down from morally correct policies.
I think as Beto went around the 254 Texas counties, it made him a more Progressive candidate. When you see the real problems afflicting people, it is only through policies that affect systemic change where one can address the challenges these people face. These solutions are undoubtedly always Progressive.
The moderators asked each candidate to say something nice about the other candidate. O’Rourke was magnanimous as he praised Cruz as a country-loving family man. Ted Cruz took that opportunity to provide an attack on Beto by using the Socialist moniker as he attempted to marginalize him. O’Rourke’s reply was prescient and straightforward. He looked at Ted Cruz and just said.”True to form.”
He needed to say nothing more as the message was loud and clear. And I am sure the audience at large got it.