Among the bothersome things out of the Beto Pancho Lefty O’Rourke vs. Ted Cruz election contest is the swarm of political consultants trying to sound smart with statements about how Ted Cruz “got off to a slow start” and that the campaign took too long to realize it was in a tough race.
That’s twenty-twenty hindsight because none of these folk knew that O’Rourke, who didn’t exactly light the world afire in his Democrat primary, was going to transform into a viable candidate and one who would raise more money than any senate candidate in the history of our country.
It is only with twenty-twenty hindsight that one can assert that the Cruz camp was caught off balance and should have been running harder earlier. Cruz’ near 4-point win is in line with the actual margin that Texas is a Republican state. The late surge was most effective as you’ll note Cruz gained momentum into Election Day while O’Rourke lost some momentum.
“Texas is a Republican-leaning state, but it is not as Republican as people think: In 2016, Trump didn’t run away with the state, but beat Herself with 52 percent of the vote. Other Republican presidential candidates have enjoyed about the same level of support,” read the summary of my take in Texas in National Review.
If you take out the top and bottom performers statewide, Cruz’ margin of victory over O’Rourke is smaller than the average of about 7.6 points but still in-line with top-of-the-ticket performance when competitive races exist.
Too many have been measuring Texas Republican strength by comparing viable Republicans to non-viable, near broken Democrats over the past many years.
Cruz race reminds us of the real GOP strength in Texas
That’s twenty-twenty hindsight because none of these folk knew that O’Rourke, who didn’t exactly light the world afire in his Democrat primary, was going to transform into a viable candidate and one who would raise more money than any senate candidate in the history of our country.
It is only with twenty-twenty hindsight that one can assert that the Cruz camp was caught off balance and should have been running harder earlier. Cruz’ near 4-point win is in line with the actual margin that Texas is a Republican state. The late surge was most effective as you’ll note Cruz gained momentum into Election Day while O’Rourke lost some momentum.
“Texas is a Republican-leaning state, but it is not as Republican as people think: In 2016, Trump didn’t run away with the state, but beat Herself with 52 percent of the vote. Other Republican presidential candidates have enjoyed about the same level of support,” read the summary of my take in Texas in National Review.
If you take out the top and bottom performers statewide, Cruz’ margin of victory over O’Rourke is smaller than the average of about 7.6 points but still in-line with top-of-the-ticket performance when competitive races exist.
Too many have been measuring Texas Republican strength by comparing viable Republicans to non-viable, near broken Democrats over the past many years.