A leading newspaper in Texas has urged Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) in an editorial piece to drop out of the presidential race and to return to Texas and run for senator.
The editorial said while it sympathizes with the victims of the shooting, it has been thinking about O'Rourke.
“There are times, it seems, in most presidential campaigns when the facades get stripped away like so many layers of paint. What’s left is a human moment, usually fleeting, and not always flattering. But real—and often more telling than a season of advertisements,” said the Houston Chronicle’s editorial.
The editorial mentioned an instance that happened between O'Rourke and a reporter on Sunday. The reporter had asked the democratic nominee if President Donald Trump should do anything to ease off the hate towards immigrants.
The editorial said O'Rourke responded bluntly. He said: “Um, what do you think?”
“You know the [expletive] he’s been saying. He’s been calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. I don’t know … Like, members of the press—what the [expletive]? It’s these questions that you know the answers to …”
The editorial said such language is unusual coming from a Presidential candidate. “It certainly isn’t the normal fare for an editorial page in the Sunday paper, either, with or without the asterisks. But it struck us as so unscripted, so unexpected, that its offense was somehow washed away,” said the editorial.
The editorial said it would like to see O'Rourke take a new direction.
“So Beto, if you’re listening: Come home. Drop out of the race for president and come back to Texas to run for senator. The chances of winning the race you’re in now are vanishingly small. And Texas needs you,” said the editorial.
It mentioned that no democrat had been elected to a statewide office in Texas since 1994. “You chipped away at a wall that wasn’t quite ready to come down. You showed it’s possible.
“For too long, Texas officials have had only to consider how far to the right they must go to stay in office. No one is asking whether there might be a good idea or two on the Democratic side of things. We need you, Beto, because Texas badly needs that other view of the world, those differing opinions,” the editorial said.
It asked if O'Rourke would stand against the four-timer John Cornyn. It said it wouldn’t be easy, but things have changed. President Trump is no longer secure in Texas, and neither are the Republicans.
It said Texas would get smarter and its politics will get more sophisticated if O'Rourke shifts his focus to the state.
“So please, Beto, after you’ve taken some time to mourn the dead in El Paso, consider whether now is a good time to leave one race and join another. Texas needs you back home,” the editorial said.
