As I scan the news, I’m increasingly amused at the last-minute panic the GOP is experiencing in the face of Beto O’Rourke’s Senate race. They’ve been so smug in their position for so long that it just never occurred to them Beto might put up a serious fight for the office.
Suddenly he’s within reach of the seat and the Republicans are frantic. I read all the speculation on how this could happen, or why it still won’t happen, or what could be done to prevent its happening. I smell fear.
There are several things people find appealing about Beto, but I think you can put the majority of his success down to one startling tactic. He dares to do the one thing that most politicians of both parties will no longer do: he’s actually listening to his constituents.
Politicians haven’t been listening to their constituents since the Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United invited corporations and billionaires to dismantle our democracy. At first, calls and letters to representatives were answered with form letters that assured the voter, no matter what their expressed opinion, that the representative was firmly in lockstep with the party, thank you for your interest and would you please donate? Clunk.
Then they unplugged the phones and stopped responding to emails altogether. When constituents had the nerve to show up at town halls, representatives stopped coming. Now they avoid the press and hide from the people with the fervency of escaped felons. Funny how the common folk will turn on you when you ignore them, insult them, and steal from them.
Beto attends. He questions. He listens. He runs the roads, shakes the hands, looks into the eyes, and says what he means. Damn. How hard is that? Too hard, apparently, for Republicans to comprehend.
The thing is, Texans don’t care so much about your flag pin when you’re a horse’s ass. And when you get outside the oil company boardrooms and the country club foursomes, most of us think Ted Cruz is a poser and a creep. Now the real Texans have a real alternative. Don’t be too surprised if Ted’s in need of a job come November.
Go Beto.