Beto O’Rourke wants a promotion. He wants to go from the House to the Senate and go from representing a constituency of 743,000 in the 16th congressional district to the entire state of Texas and its 30 million residents.

With days to go before the election and President Donald Trump along with Ted Cruz ramping up the immigration rhetoric, O’Rourke has managed to stake out an opposition stance without offering much detail of his own. It’s time he stepped up and delivered.

Outside of advocating for a path to citizenship for DACA recipients (a.k.a. Dreamers), O’Rourke hasn’t offered much in the way of ideas of details about immigration, particularly the migrant caravan that started out in Honduras.

That isn’t to say we are enamored with what Cruz brings to the table. He supports Trump’s border wall and when he met with the editorial board would only say he opposed citizenship for Dreamers. Cruz’s embrace of the pseudo-journalistic outfit Project Veritas and another of their questionable videos does nothing to add to what is an important debate.

O’Rourke’s tone and the manner in which he’s conducted his campaign became the focal point of our recommendation for the voters of Texas to make him the state's next junior senator. But the debate about immigration is so critical to the nation and particularly Texas, it is imperative that O’Rourke do more than just offer counter-statements to Trump and Cruz about unity and bringing people together.

What is his position on how the migrant caravan should be handled? The possibility exists that by the time it arrives, the number of people may dwindle from thousands to hundreds. But if thousands of people arrive at the Texas border, U.S. authorities will have to do something. If O’Rourke believes he’s in a better position to lead on such issues than Cruz, he’s obligated to his supporters and non-supporters alike to offer concrete solutions.

If O'Rourke wins, we'd like to see him succeed. Our criticism of Cruz over the years centered on his tone and the legislative approach that too often ties up Congress instead of advancing legislation.

O’Rourke is a unique position. The divisiveness within our political culture has the country adrift like a rudderless ship. A reporter described O’Rourke as a “rock star.” But the people of Texas and the United States deserve real leadership. Beto O’Rourke has that opportunity. And he can start before the election.

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