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as a candidate Beto is a joker but that is a class move
by MrMan 4y ago
as a candidate Beto is a joker but that is a class move
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- quink 4y ago> joker Which part? Support for anti-trust legislation, ending for-profit prisons, ending the war on drugs, increasing teacher salaries, increasing public school funding, combating global warming, confronting Ted Cruz over guns, pointing out that past US policy in Central America was bad, supporting gun buybacks, removing tax-exempt status from churches which are politically active, immigration reform, expanding Medicaid, legalizing Marijuana... Those are some of his main things he's been doing or is advocating for. You've put it out there so I may as well ask... which specific ones of these make him a joker?
- dahdum 4y agoI won’t say he’s a joker, but he does seem intent on losing elections at this point. Instead of focusing on winning in Texas he’s acted as if he’s running a national Presidential campaign. DeSantis did the same but was an incumbent with strong support. I like Beto but I just don’t see Texas going with an increasingly uncompromising progressive who failed his senate, Presidential, and governor campaigns.
- quink 4y agoHe got more votes than any Democrat before him in Texas. And he got Texas from the lowest turnout in the country in the 2014 midterms to the middle of the pack, and the closest vote in 40 years. And in the governor race he had the best Democratic showing since 1994. Sure, he's losing, but by narrower margins than anyone before him, and in a solidly red state. > DeSantis did the same but was an incumbent with strong support. Beto got 4% more votes (44% vs 40%) in the 2022 governor election in Texas than the Democratic candidate in Florida, despite Texas traditionally being more red than Florida.
- dahdum 4y agoHe's been on the decline since the failed presidential bid in my opinion. He's pushing farther left and becoming more uncompromising in his rhetoric, driving his base but alienating independents and moderates. He focused his campaign on abortion, gun confiscation, and the power grid when Texas voters cared more about border security and economy. He gambled by playing to national progressives for presidential primary support and donations, but now he's left with no office to seek and a record of losing. He's a "superstar loser" as The Atlantic put it. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out, but I'm not too hopeful he'll accomplish much beyond celebrity fundraising. I'd be happy to be wrong on this though.