The United States Senate race of 2018 in Texas, left me wondering “Who is this Beto fellow” that caused such as stir in the Lone Star State? Ted Cruz had pretty much owned Texas for the previous six years or so, and along comes this fellow who very nearly knocked Cruz off his Senatorial thrown. What was so special about Beto that he had the entire nation talking about him, and what was his message that very nearly cost Cruz his seat in the Senate?

A few days ago ( I subscribe to everyone’s notices) I received a message that Congressman O’Rourke was coming to Creston, Iowa. The small town of Creston is only about 30-minutes from my home, so I thought, “what the heck” let’s go find out what all the hoopla is about.

I was greeted by some nice young ladies who wanted me to “sign-in” of which I initially resisted trying to explain that I was not only Republican but a conservative Republican Writer/Activist/Blogger etc. “No problem, we like you anyway, and Beto will want to talk with you, he likes everyone” was the response I received.

While waiting for the candidate to show up, I did meet two very nice young men. Both Mustafa and Brandon were part of his advance team. We discussed politics for a short time and of course the inevitable “why is a Trump supporting Republican” at a Beto event? Again, I explained that I just wanted to find out “why” so many were supporting this Congressman who lost a Senate race to Ted Cruz. According to the latest polling, he is some 10 points ahead of the President, so naturally, I want to know “why?”

Beto did arrive to a warm welcome from the approximately 75 or so rally goers. The event was held at a historic train depot in downtown Creston, Iowa. I was a bit shocked to see a family show up, and they all were wearing their “Trump for President 2020” gear. T-shirts adorned with the Trump logo as well as ballcaps. Even the two ladies had Trump hats.

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After the advance lady gave her opening “Beto credits,” the candidate took to the microphone and began presenting his stump speech. His opening salvo was about how divided our nation was, and it was time for our country to come together to solve the many problems we have. He then dived into Veterans issues, global climate change, social security, and Medicare, and then it was off onto fossil fuels and green energy. He pretty much hit all of the big topics that most Democrats do cover with the exception of woman’s right to choose and how the evil Republicans will strip you of that right eventually. He did not go near that one or guns.

Prior to his arrival, I had asked one of his advance people “what type of event this would be?” He informed me that this more of a listening event on this tour of Iowa for the Congressman. Sure enough, Beto did not talk for very long at all, maybe 15-minutes at the most. Then he opened it up for questions. The crowd being very conservative types, most farmers did not ask many questions at first, so if you know me, you know that I just had to offer up my two-cents and ask a question.

I very warmly said; “welcome to Iowa, home of the nations leading pork production and corn.” The crowd laughed, and even Beto smiled and thanked me. Then I got serious! Congressman, it has been public knowledge that you and many of the other candidates have supported and even endorsed AOC’s Green New Deal. Let’s be honest, much of what is in the deal “I have read it,” and it is virtually if not totally impossible to pull off. On top of that the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Forbes have put a price tag on this at $93 Trillion over ten years. How do you plan on paying for this as we are already broke? The crowd did, in fact, gasp when I asked this question, and Beto looked a bit like a deer in the headlights at first.

He then proceeded to produce many statistics (of which I lost almost immediately) and then said that the plan would actually end up near fiscally neutral. But he did reinforce his argument that we were all going to die in 10-12 years. Many thanked me for the excellent question as the candidate did as well.

Most of what the candidate said was the liberal talking points of the progressive Democrats. Beto was pleasant, cheerful, and welcomed all questions. The family of Trump supporters tried to corner him, and he was even cordial to them as well. He spent much of his time reinforcing the idea that we as American need to come together and his message was very enthusiastically received. He, of course, was very pro-illegal immigrant and defended those who have walked from Honduras to the United States. This line received huge applause from the Democrat supporters.

It is clear to me now why Beto O’Rourke is so famous. He has the innate ability to show empathy to all who are listening. He is passionate and persuasive in his arguments on various topics, and he explains these arguments where most can understand. He doesn’t use political speak as most politicians do; he talks at probably a high-school level where the crowd “gets it.”

Beto is very charismatic, charming with the older crowd, and to be very honest, he has a lot of Bobby Kennedy in him. I don’t know that he can beat Biden, mostly because of fundraising, but Beto is somebody the Republicans should keep an eye on in future years. I suspect he might have a bright future in the Democrat party.

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