Super PAC Money & Beto O'Rourke

I wrote a long time ago about how Beto O'Rourke would benefit from the Citizen's United decision. I think as far back as around the time of his announcement.

I might have even asked him about it on camera, I'm going to have to check it out, but I recall talking with him about it because he kept talking about how he was going to be out-spent in this race. I knew that wasn't going to the case.

Before we go any further, lets get one thing straight. Both candidates for the race (I'm referring to the serious candidates, Beto O'Rourke and Silvestre Reyes) are getting PAC money. Both of them, so wrap your head around that fact because I also wrote a long time ago about how we were going to hear the most senseless argument in the history of stupid things to argue about...who's money is worse.

The point is, if you believe money is an influence on candidates, them both candidates have outside influences working on them. And point of fact, Congressman Reyes has received much more PAC money.

Let's also stipulate something else. They both have received Republican money. If either of them tells you they haven't, they are lying to you because they both have. I've written about the fact that the big money Republicans have been supportive of Congressman Reyes in the past going back a long time. Hell, he was the business candidate when he first ran.

Bottom line - both candidates take PAC money, both candidates take Republican money. And they are happy to do it.

Understood? Good, moving right along...

O'Rourke's support from the Super PAC Campaign for Primary Accountability is very problematic for O'Rourke. People have been critical of some of his campaign positions that sound like Republican ideas (means testing, term limits, etc) since he started articulating positions.

The Super PAC isn't necessarily partisan but there is a BIG connection to the GOP. Let's not kid ourselves about that. Its like the Texans for Lawsuit Reform. They don't donate to Republicans exclusively, but the vast majority of their work is for the GOP.

Most of the big-money donors locally to the Super PAC are Republicans. The Times' points out that they have given to both parties, but to be more accurate they only give to Democrats when there isn't a Republican in the picture, like in the case of most local elected officials. So yes, they have given to Democrats, but only because there wasn't a viable Republican to donate the money to, so they are solidly Republican donors.

That is very problematic for O'Rourke given some of his positions. So now a lot of hard-core Democrats will start questioning his Democratic Party values. But I'm still not convinced Republicans are all that excited about Beto either. I know that there has been at least one fundraiser that was pretty much a GOP-only event, but most rank and file Republicans in town look at O'Rourke as the most liberal member of the previous city council.

And some of his more progressive positions undermine support from the GOP as well.

Now Reyes can go to his much deeper connections with PACs and raise more money now that he is being targeted. The support of the Super PAC is going to galvanize support for the Congressman among Democrats now because of their connection to the GOP.

This support opens a big can of worms for O'Rourke. So now, in addition to all the questions he gets about weed, he will now be getting questions about weed and Democratic Party values and Republican money.

One quick note - its a lose/lose situation for O'Rourke. He has to take the money. He doesn't have a choice really. In order to get his message out and be competitive he has to have the resources to do it. Resources cost money. You can't win if you don't have money. Its that simple.

State Representative Naomi Gonzalez found herself in a similar situation. She needed Republican money to win.

And she did. In one of the bluest of blue districts in the County, if not the state of Texas.

Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think I know of a single candidate or elected official that has never taken ANY Republican money. 

But no matter how you look at this, its bad for Beto.

This is Pandora's box and he opened it.