Chinks in O'Rourke's Armor

But before you get all warm and fuzzy in the Beto glow, which a lot of you already have, there are some chinks in the armor.

And lets face it, the only place you are going to see an objective critique of the O'Rourke record is here because he's really, really, really good and working the media.

Since the Reyes camp hasn't decided to play any offense and seem content to react to O'Rourke and let the Congressman take punches from O'Rourke, I thought I'd write down the areas I've identified as vulnerable issue-based discussion. (BTW, I weigh the pros and cons of every election I care about on a ballot, so if you are ever interested on a specific race, email me and I'll send you my thoughts).

Hell, maybe I'll do a series of posts on pros and cons of candidates...

Legalization of Marijuana

O'Rourke has had a MAJOR shift in his position on legalization. He was originally for legalization of narcotics. That has now shifted in to a much softer conversation about legalization of marijuana. A lot of pro-O'Rourke people try to minimize this by saying that the issue doesn't have support on the national level so it shouldn't be a major focus.

Nice try, but legalization is a big deal. It represents a major policy change and one that the overwhelming number of law enforcement professionals are against. Yes, I know there is LEAP, but it represents only a small fraction of the law enforcement community.

Plus, lets not forget our geographical location. O'Rourke uses El Paso's border location as the reason why leadership on the immigration reform policies should come from El Paso. You could make the same argument that our border location is all the more reason to be having this discussion.

Leadership

Which flows into another point. The central themes from the campaigns have been Reyes Works and Beto Leads. But lets be honest with ourselves here. The two issues for which O'Rourke has taken the lead on are controversial. 

Legalization and domestic partner benefits.

The two issues he's most known for and has taken the lead on, are the two issues he can't talk about without taking some political heat for. The Reyes camp can't let him have is cake and eat it too, but they appear more than willing to.

The fact that the Reyes campaign hasn't jumped on this baffles me. I mean I realize they haven't had a serious threat, well basically ever, but they have got to get their sea legs and start punching back.

Some very fair questions need to be asked here. Why the change in the position? We know the answer. Because its scares the shit out of a lot of voters. O'Rourke is in a difficult position because he has made the comparison to prohibition in terms of legalization of marijuana. But when you make the comparison of prohibition of alcohol to marijuana, you inevitably come to the realization that the same logic could be applied to legalization of all drugs.

Maybe some people are okay with the idea of legalization of marijuana, but I doubt too many people would be cool with legalization of crack or crystal meth. Yes, yes, I know the argument. The problem is, O'Rourke can't make the argument without losing a lot of support.

I've been pretty consistent on my critique of the legalization issue since it first unfolded. Go ahead, use the search function on my blog and you'll see what I wrote. At the time this all went down, O'Rourke, Byrd, Ortega, and all the others that went down to the border to hold a press conference and sign a manifesto on the issue were all patting each other on the back about how brave they were for taking on such a controversial issue even though its not a city issue.

So he was willing to take on the issue that was clearly a federal issue then as a city rep, but he doesn't want to touch it with a ten foot pole now that he's running for the federal level where he could actually affect the policy change he advocated for?

And you people seriously don't see the irony there?

But going back to what I said then about bravery. Why didn't those folks take on something more El Pasoans could benefit from? Why didn't they take on poverty, teen pregnancy, obesity, diabetes, literacy, or all the other issues this community struggles with? Those are all issues that are out of the hands of city council that their bravery could have been very beneficial for the community.

Why did it have to be legalization of a recreational drug?

Anti-Union Statements

And there are some other problems with O'Rourke that no one seems willing to examine. I am admittedly a little biased here because my father was a union organizer, but his very public position on unions is very bad as a Democrat. Its a popular position if you are a Republican, but if you are a Democrat, who's base is organized labor, its a very bad position to have.

His statement was, "I think the police union is out of control, and it makes me question the need and wisdom of having a police union in El Paso,"

That is a strong anti-union stance. Frankly I don't understand how he can say he's pro-union and believes in the right to collective bargaining and have made a statement like the previous one. “Out of control” is Republican anti-union rhetoric. I know some of you might not like to hear it, but go check out some of the stuff said in Ohio a while back.

Its very similar.

I'm sorry but questioning “the need and wisdom of having a police union in El Paso”, just doesn't sound very pro-union to me. It sounds decidedly anti-union.

To be fair to O'Rourke he was on city council at the time and they were facing budget and pension issues. O'Rourke talks about how they “bailed out” the pension.

Bail-outs. More Republican rhetoric.

But even if he is just against public unions, that is still really bad as a Democrat. That's police, fire, city/county workers, and teachers. Wants next? Roll Rosa Guerrero off of Scenic Drive?

If he's going to make the Congressman be accountable for his record, the Reyes campaign should get off their ass and make him accountable for his.

Immigration

This is another area where I think the Reyes campaign has dropped the ball on. O'Rourke went after Reyes on immigration in the early stages of the campaign but has backed off. Simply put, Reyes has a record he can be proud of on immigration. He's not the main central figure, but the people that are the main central figures always ask for his support. And honestly, I don't think you can really make the argument that we would be any further along on Comprehensive Immigration Reform if he was.

But the point is, the Congressman has a record on immigration reform. Where is O'Rourke's footprint on the issue? Since I've been heavily involved in the issue myself, I can tell you I have never once seen O'Rourke at an immigration reform event. I've seen County Judge Escobar, City Reps Susie Byrd and Eddie Holguin, and Sheriff Wiles. O'Rourke was never around.

Don't get me wrong, O'Rourke is in favor of CIR. I've talked about the issue with him previously. He outlined his position on the issue early in the campaign. But if there were ever a chance at playing offense on an issue where the Congressman is 100% safe in terms of his record, it would be immigration reform.

But they haven't done it.

I'm baffled as to why.

Social Security

O'Rourke's comments at the end of the debate on Social Security are the kind of things that end up in a campaign mailer. When asked about what budget cuts he would make and what he would protect, O'Rourke said that we need to protect Social Security for people now, but for people his kids' age, “...We need to look at things like means testing...we need to look at perhaps a longer..a later age at which my kids are going to retire...”

That is another statement that is very hard to walk back. Its a brave thing to say, but its not the kind of thing that is going to win votes in a Democratic Primary.

O'Rourke's overall message sounds like he's aiming for a message that works in a general, which again baffles me. There is no general election. If he beats the Congressman, he will be the Congressman. The Republicans are a non factor in El Paso's Congressional race.

Wanna see what I mean? I've written about the Republican Congressional sacrificial lamb is going to be. Can you remember the name?

Betcha can't...(unless you're one of my Republican readers)...