Thoughts on Beto?

[Anonymous]

I listened to an interview of Beto with Brene Brown last week and fell in love with him all over again. I don't get why he hasn't done better in these last two races.

Abbott has been a terrible leader. I know Texas has been a red state, and this probably wasn't surprising. But I don't know why Texans haven't latched on to Beto more.

A good friend who is a Dem and politically involved has said to me a few times that he is an "empty suit." I'd be interested in perspectives on why Beto wasn't able to clinch Senator or Governor from Cruz or Abbott.

[Anonymous]

Because Texas gonna Texas.

[Anonymous]

Slightly off topic but can anyone explain to me why conservatives are triggered by Beto having a nickname? I often see them correcting it to *Robert Francis as if that’s some kind of own.

[Anonymous]

He made a statement about going after Texans guns. No way he could recover from that in Texas. Which is a real shame since Abbott is one of the worst governor's in history.

[Anonymous]

Beto is a phony and a goof. He comes off as self aggrandizing and always runs to the spotlight. Voters see through him. It’s not just Texas either. Look at how he flamed out in the 2020 primaries. Voters in general see through him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beto is a phony and a goof. He comes off as self aggrandizing and always runs to the spotlight. Voters see through him. It’s not just Texas either. Look at how he flamed out in the 2020 primaries. Voters in general see through him.

He's a....weird guy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He made a statement about going after Texans guns. No way he could recover from that in Texas. Which is a real shame since Abbott is one of the worst governor's in history.

OP here... yes, I get the "going after their guns" concern, but I've heard him talk about really reasonable gun control as a 4th gen Texan. With Uvalde, El Paso, etc., I would think Texas would be more open to him. I also. just read a story that the county where Uvalde is went 60% for Abbott, so what do I know???

[Anonymous]

I have a really good friend who lives near Dallas. He's pretty liberal, Mexican American, values things like education, healthcare, diversity. He and his wife both have master's degrees, and their child has special needs so he benefits from government programs so I know he's not totally against people receiving government assistance. He's not religious. Adamantly pro choice, pro women's rights. He's not opposed to reasonable gun control, especially after Uvalde. The things he says he cares about and the way he lives his life make him seem progressive in my mind, but he always votes libertarian when possible, republican when not.

I asked why he refuses to consider Beto for anything, and he says he has family members who know him and they basically hate him. I don't know if its his politics or personality they hate, and I'm not even sure if my friend knows. He trusts his family, and when they say they'd rather not vote than vote for Beto, he follows suit.

I don't get it. Conservatives voting against the things they want is starting to remind me of diabetics eating cake then crying that they're going to lose a toe, or someone taking off their oxygen mask to smoke and complaining about their pain between coughing fits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because Texas gonna Texas.

Yep. Satan himself could be on the ballot and Texans would vote for him as long as there was an R next to his name. Same with other deep-red areas like the 14th district in Georgia which just re-elected Marjorie Taylor Greene of the Jewish space lasers.

[Anonymous]

I was beyond excited about him in 2018, but so 'meh' on him this year. Better than Abbott, but he does seem pretty self aggrandizing

[Anonymous]

He needs to go back to skateboarding full-time.

[Anonymous]

I think a big part of the problem in places like Texas is that being Republican is more of a cultural identity than a political belief system for many people. Lots of them don’t even know the positions of the people on the ballot, but they vote Republican because that’s what their family does and their friends do and their neighbors do and their church tells them to do. They will always vote Republican because they do not want to be ostracized by their communities. (yes, there is an element of this for Democrats too, but studies of the phenomenon have found it is much more pronounced and wide-spread among red state Republicans.

With that background, a lot of Texas Democrats have basically given up on their own state, viewing it as a lost cause other than at the local level in certain areas. The sad thing is that, for all the hate Beto gets, he’s one of the few people who isn’t willing to give up on Texas. There’s something to be said for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He made a statement about going after Texans guns. No way he could recover from that in Texas. Which is a real shame since Abbott is one of the worst governor's in history.

OP here... yes, I get the "going after their guns" concern, but I've heard him talk about really reasonable gun control as a 4th gen Texan. With Uvalde, El Paso, etc., I would think Texas would be more open to him. I also. just read a story that the county where Uvalde is went 60% for Abbott, so what do I know???

There’s *nothing* reasonable about telling Texans “hell YES we’re gonna take your AR15!” . And that’s what he’s going to be forever known for. There’s no walking that back. Do you know how many millions of Texans own an AR15? It’s THE most common rifle in Texas. Had Eugene Stoner been a Texas resident when he invented it in 1956, the state legislature would’ve made it the official firearm of the state of Texas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a big part of the problem in places like Texas is that being Republican is more of a cultural identity than a political belief system for many people. Lots of them don’t even know the positions of the people on the ballot, but they vote Republican because that’s what their family does and their friends do and their neighbors do and their church tells them to do. They will always vote Republican because they do not want to be ostracized by their communities. (yes, there is an element of this for Democrats too, but studies of the phenomenon have found it is much more pronounced and wide-spread among red state Republicans.

With that background, a lot of Texas Democrats have basically given up on their own state, viewing it as a lost cause other than at the local level in certain areas. The sad thing is that, for all the hate Beto gets, he’s one of the few people who isn’t willing to give up on Texas. There’s something to be said for that.

This. It's identity politics. It's so socially engrained that white people vote for Republicans in TX; "poor people in bad school districts" vote for Democrats.

If you were to be a vocal Democrat in these circles, you'd eventually get iced out both socially and professionally. It's just uncouth to be a Democrat in Texan power circles and certain neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Slightly off topic but can anyone explain to me why conservatives are triggered by Beto having a nickname? I often see them correcting it to *Robert Francis as if that’s some kind of own.

I think it is because Beto is a nickname for Robert among Spanish speaking people--that is what I have been told. I have never heard it personally as a nickname for anyone else ever so I don't know if that is true. But, if that is an real thing-Beto as a Spanish nickname--I think Republicans are trying to show he is a poser --an Irish guy posing as a guy of Spanish distraction.