September 20, 2021      5:19 PM

HK: To beat an increasingly unpopular Abbott, Beto would have to demonstrate discipline he has previously eschewed

Beto’s vulnerabilities have perhaps begun to pale as general election voters confront Abbott and Texas’ new abortion ban, permitless carry of handguns, and covid policy

OK, let’s be blunt. Young Democrats suffer the vapors over the prospect of a Beto gubernatorial run. Republicans understand that his first two forays into the big show revealed a flawed, hubris-driven candidate who arrived ill-prepared and squandered every advantage he should have enjoyed.

The cult of Beto got so out of control that he block-walked for a Democrat (anyone remember her name?) in a special election against Rep. Gary Gates in a Texas House race and is ironically credited with helping to drive up GOP turnout and widen Gates’ predictable margin of victory. It was a heavily Republican district to begin with in Fort Bend.

As soon as the former congressman tried to help the Democrat in that race, he became the story rather than the candidate.

But the substantive failure during O’Rourke’s own campaigns was that it drowned out legitimately good advice from people who had won victories for Democrats decades ago in this state. Some have argued he engineered his own defeat at the hands of Ted Cruz – some would say single-handedly – which is why Gov. Abbott’s consultant Dave Carney relishes the prospect of this contest.

By Harvey Kronberg

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