Key Republican Contribution to SuperPAC Hurts O'Rourke
The Reyes camp caught a big break this week with the revelation that one of the chief Republican bad guys out there Eric Cantor, made a contribution to the same Super PAC that is supporting O'Rourke's campaign.
Let me explain why its bad for O'Rourke, other than they obvious reason of being connected to such a crazy nut Republican like Cantor. (All you Republicans that worship at the altar of Cantor can feel free to put your comments I'm not going to pay attention to anyway at the bottom).
If you are a Democrat, you understand how bad Cantor's ideas are. Which is why its such a bad thing for O'Rourke. To be fair to O'Rourke its not like he can control who contributes to the Super PAC. But he doesn't have to take their money either. He can choose not to.
Personally, I think he should return the money. If for no other reason that the principle of the whole thing. Everyone knew that the Citizen's United decision was going to open the door for some bad doo-doo, but candidates have a choice.
And so do voters.
As it is O'Rourke is being portrayed as a Republican in sheep's clothing. He's received some healthy contributions from Republicans in this campaign, as Reyes has in the past, only not as much as the Congressman.
He's been anti-union.
Then there is this mailer that O'Rourke sent out:
The first line says he'll put his country and community over party and career. That sounds a lot like "Country First". You memmer who used that line?
Yup...John McCain.
McCain's messaging in that campaign was that he wasn't going to be a rank-and-file, toe-the-line Republican. It was his lame attempt at aiming for the center of the electorate.
It didn't work because it scared off his base in the GOP. There's a lesson there for O'Rourke. The 12th Political Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Scare the Crap Out of Thine Own Base.
Its a miscalculation on the part of the O'Rourke team. El Paso in particular, but the trend will likely go nationwide, are basically sick of the Tea Party. I'm betting that the Tea Party high water make was two years ago and we will now see push-back against what they did.
That means more voters voting for Democrats over the Tea Party. Especially when the energy of the Presidential campaign starts to ramp up, which is already starting to a degree.
But want proof that the Tea Party is about to experience a counter - revolt? Check out the annual Tea Party Rally this year. The venue has been dwindling over the last couple of years and now they are meeting in an even smaller place. They literally had rows of empty seats that last one. Ironically, another member of the Democratic Primary was a speaker at that event, Jerome Tilghman.
The Tea Party is contracting so badly that I think they are going to meet at a booth in a Jack in the Box in the Northeast next year.
The point is, the rhetoric of the O'Rourke mailer doesn't help his cause, its hurts it.
Then Cantor is putting money in the kitty too? This is bad for O'Rourke.
Out of his control but still bad for his campaign. The bad part for O'Rourke is that Reyes campaign appears to actually be leveraging this one in an effective way.
The Reyes camp created a sharp looking chart that shows similarities between O'Rourke and Eric Cantor and the Tea Party. That reminds me, I should give them props for that. Creating and releasing that chart is a much better and more classy way of taking on your opponent than posting pictures of his mug shot.
Way to NOT be douche bags this week guys!
I'm a realist and I understand that O'Rourke is in a no-win situation. What campaign in their right mind would return money that they didn't absolutely have to? Campaigns need money to run and get the message out. Several current and former state representatives, and I think even the Senator, have taken contribution from Republican organizations like the TLR. Its a means to an end.
But Cantor isn't some cherry-picked Republican that pulled from a list of donors to make O'Rourke look bad. He's the arch-Republican Tea Partier in Congress.
I can already see the mailer...
Let me explain why its bad for O'Rourke, other than they obvious reason of being connected to such a crazy nut Republican like Cantor. (All you Republicans that worship at the altar of Cantor can feel free to put your comments I'm not going to pay attention to anyway at the bottom).
If you are a Democrat, you understand how bad Cantor's ideas are. Which is why its such a bad thing for O'Rourke. To be fair to O'Rourke its not like he can control who contributes to the Super PAC. But he doesn't have to take their money either. He can choose not to.
Personally, I think he should return the money. If for no other reason that the principle of the whole thing. Everyone knew that the Citizen's United decision was going to open the door for some bad doo-doo, but candidates have a choice.
And so do voters.
As it is O'Rourke is being portrayed as a Republican in sheep's clothing. He's received some healthy contributions from Republicans in this campaign, as Reyes has in the past, only not as much as the Congressman.
He's been anti-union.
Then there is this mailer that O'Rourke sent out:
The first line says he'll put his country and community over party and career. That sounds a lot like "Country First". You memmer who used that line?
Yup...John McCain.
McCain's messaging in that campaign was that he wasn't going to be a rank-and-file, toe-the-line Republican. It was his lame attempt at aiming for the center of the electorate.
It didn't work because it scared off his base in the GOP. There's a lesson there for O'Rourke. The 12th Political Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Scare the Crap Out of Thine Own Base.
Its a miscalculation on the part of the O'Rourke team. El Paso in particular, but the trend will likely go nationwide, are basically sick of the Tea Party. I'm betting that the Tea Party high water make was two years ago and we will now see push-back against what they did.
That means more voters voting for Democrats over the Tea Party. Especially when the energy of the Presidential campaign starts to ramp up, which is already starting to a degree.
But want proof that the Tea Party is about to experience a counter - revolt? Check out the annual Tea Party Rally this year. The venue has been dwindling over the last couple of years and now they are meeting in an even smaller place. They literally had rows of empty seats that last one. Ironically, another member of the Democratic Primary was a speaker at that event, Jerome Tilghman.
The Tea Party is contracting so badly that I think they are going to meet at a booth in a Jack in the Box in the Northeast next year.
The point is, the rhetoric of the O'Rourke mailer doesn't help his cause, its hurts it.
Then Cantor is putting money in the kitty too? This is bad for O'Rourke.
Out of his control but still bad for his campaign. The bad part for O'Rourke is that Reyes campaign appears to actually be leveraging this one in an effective way.
The Reyes camp created a sharp looking chart that shows similarities between O'Rourke and Eric Cantor and the Tea Party. That reminds me, I should give them props for that. Creating and releasing that chart is a much better and more classy way of taking on your opponent than posting pictures of his mug shot.
Way to NOT be douche bags this week guys!
I'm a realist and I understand that O'Rourke is in a no-win situation. What campaign in their right mind would return money that they didn't absolutely have to? Campaigns need money to run and get the message out. Several current and former state representatives, and I think even the Senator, have taken contribution from Republican organizations like the TLR. Its a means to an end.
But Cantor isn't some cherry-picked Republican that pulled from a list of donors to make O'Rourke look bad. He's the arch-Republican Tea Partier in Congress.
I can already see the mailer...
Ah yes, good point Bob. He can denounce it but cannot reject money he isn't getting. Nice catch.
ReplyDeleteThe cesspool needs to be abolished.
ReplyDeleteHis father-in-law gives to the Super PAC. Do you really believe he is not going to coordinate with O'Rourke? Give me a break! Here's another point...it's obvious that the El Paso Times is in it for O'Rourke. Can't we just assume that the El Paso Times is essentially doing the coordinating for the O'Rourke camp? They fabricate headlines, print misleading stories, ignore negative stories for O'Rourke...they might as well be politically paid advertisements for O'Rourke. Vendidos!
ReplyDeleteLencho
Okay Douche Bag, you probably do absolutely nothing to improve El Paso but you are going to mock me?
ReplyDeleteOkay, fine, I'll play along. In case you didn't know, the very first piece I ever wrote for Newspapertree was about nepotism.
But since you started this, be specific about what you are talking about, I'm betting you don't actually understand the actual definition of nepotism.
Actually, I think you make their point Mr. Hale...
ReplyDeleteBeto will be pulled around by Christian Fundamentalist,Tea Party members,and other right wing nut cases.
ReplyDeleteO'Rourk will be pulled around by Christian Fundamentalist Tea Party members and other right wing nut cases.He won't be able to be the leader like in city council.
ReplyDelete