The televised debate on Tuesday between Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke was a massacre. O'Rourke has been reluctant to debate Cruz from the beginning, and with good reason (ironically, as a rule, an incumbent shuns debate) – Cruz has successfully argued cases before the Supreme Court.

O'Rourke was occasionally flustered and almost succeeded in hiding it, while Cruz was confident and occasionally laughed at some of his opponent's assertions. But more than that, Beto relied on vague generalities about specific questions and on a couple of questions tried the politicians' tried and true tactic of avoiding answering a question by going off on a convoluted tangent. Twice Cruz pounced on that, pointing out that he hadn't answered the panel's questions. The specific subjects were how to pay for socialized medicine and how to secure the border (O'Rourke is on record on considering abolishing ICE). Cruz countered with specific numbers.

This is not to say that it was totally one-sided. O'Rourke got in a couple of good hits, such as Cruz's absence from Senate affairs, but, again, he was unable to point to any achievement of his own as a congressman.

Another point is that O'Rourke's TV ads can be categorized as "Gee, whiz, can't we all get along, be civil to each other?" Yet, during the debate, he attacked Cruz and once insulted him as being a liar.

There were instances during the debate that caused merriment in the audience. One involved O'Rourke detailing his family's care for a blind squirrel, which resulted in endless jokes among audience members about the squirrel having a pre-existing condition.

The finishing remarks encapsulated both campaigns, with O'Rourke being vague and sugary and Cruz defending Trump and GOP policies, which have resulted in spectacular economic successes. "Why would you want to screw that up?!" should be the GOP's slogan everywhere. Genius ending.

One last point. It has often been said that money determines the outcome of an election. To a large degree, that is bogus. O'Rourke has received more than $38 million, mostly from outside the state (not to mention that the media see him favorably and abhor Cruz), whereas Cruz has raised $12 million. This race should put to rest that canard.