Beto missed lesson from Mark White
Ted was right.
I hate to admit it, but Ted Cruz was right. Beto O’Rourke was too liberal for Texas voters. Despite his magnetic charisma, unending work ethic and $70 million war chest, O’Rourke lost — and he lost even though he had almost double the votes of any other Democrat in Texas midterm history. So, what happened? The 254-county strategy didn’t work as planned.
Early in the primary, O’Rourke shared with me the advice my late father, former Gov. Mark White, gave him. He told O’Rourke that he’s running a 254-county race. O’Rourke ended up making that a central aspect of his strategy, touching the steps of every rural courthouse in the state.
But I think O’Rourke might have missed the point. My father’s advice wasn’t just about visiting rural counties, but also about representing them, and it’s clear that didn’t happen. Rural voters sided sharply for Ted Cruz, giving him 75 percent of the vote in Texas’ 191 rural counties, which made up 11 percent of the total electorate. With Democratic strongholds in urban centers and gains being made in the suburbs, O’Rourke lopsided rural loss proved to be the deciding factor.
Ironically, O’Rourke successfully energized his base, but in doing so, he simultaneously energized the Republican base as well. Rural voters ended up believing Donald Trump and Cruz’s fear-mongering about O’Rourke liberal views on immigration and health care, and frankly, O’Rourke did little to dissuade them. In fact, he was unabashedly open with his liberal views, which is fine, unless you want to win a statewide campaign in Texas.
A friend’s comment about O’Rourke campaign put it best: “Would it have killed Beto to go quail hunting just once?”
On the bright side, O’Rourke successfully led Democratic gains in Texas’ congressional and county races. But we must win statewide races, starting with the governor and lieutenant governor, if Texas is going to make progress on health care, education, gun safety and criminal justice. To do that, Democrats need to connect with rural voters — not only by visiting them, but by representing them.
In Texas, this means working for universal health care without requiring it be Medicaid for All. Or opposing a border wall while also securing our borders and creating an immigration policy that works. Or promoting common-sense gun safety laws while affirming gun ownership rights.
O’Rourke did get it right sometimes. He famously acknowledged our freedom to kneel during the national anthem, while also recognizing it’s an insult to veterans and suggesting less offensive methods.
I believe reaching rural voters also means connecting with them on faithbased issues that often entirely ignored by Democratic candidates. More than others, rural voters want to know a candidate’s personal faith. Lord only knows how many times Cruz said , “God bless Texas.”
The 2018 midterm elections also resolved a long-running battle within the state Democratic party. Staff members have spent years arguing, ironically from a headquarters building located across the street from the Governor’s Mansion, that they needed a great liberal candidate to stir up the base. So much for that theory. O’Rourke was the most exciting liberal candidate in decades and got fewer votes than even Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, famous for charging taxpayers for his trip to get a “Jesus shot.”
O’Rourke and Texas Democrats should look at how Democratic candidates get statewide wins in other red states, such as Gov.-elect Laura Kelly in Kansas, U.S. Sen. Doug Jones in Alabama and Gov. Jon Bel Edwards in Louisiana.
These moderate politicians successfully mobilized their liberal, urban bases, while also building connection with enough “right-of-center” suburban and rural voters to win in deeply red states. When O’Rourke runs against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in 2020 (fingers crossed), he should remain authentic to his beliefs, while also giving voice to the nuance that is so much a part of complicated issues like immigration and health care.
There is no need to wait for urban population growth to offset the rural vote. Instead, Democrats should continue to nominate candidates who can energize the base, like O’Rourke, and learn from his loss by speaking to issues that rural voters can get behind. If we do this, and take advantage of Donald Trump’s extremism, which continues to drive voters away from the Republican party, we can turn Texas blue in 2020.
I’m thankful for the sacrifice of family time, health and career made by O’Rourke and all the statewide candidates. I know a little of that sacrifice both as the son of a politician and as a candidate, and I’m deeply grateful to them. These thoughts on attracting more rural voters to the Democratic Party are not meant to be critical, but rather constructive, as we build on the great progress made in this election. That said, we still have work to do in Texas, and the issues facing our state need new leadership that Democrats can deliver.