Democrats at Abilene's Paramount Theater roar for U.S. Senate candidate O'Rourke

Scott Kirk | Special to the Reporter-News

Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, showed once more that he can draw a crowd in one of the most Republican counties in Texas.

Nearly 800 people filled seats at the Paramount Theatre on Thursday afternoon for a townhall meeting.

“This feels so good, even though I know you should be at work right now,” the congressman from El Paso playfully chided the crowd.

This was O’Rourke’s third trip to Abilene since November, having last come to Abilene in May to the Abilene Woman’s Club. O’Rourke, who has visited all 254 counties in the state in a campaign that has caught national attention as he seeks to unseat junior senator Ted Cruz, promised the crowd it wouldn’t be his last visit to the city.

The enthusiasm showed by the crowd indicated he would be welcomed back. On several occasions he was given standing ovations.

O’Rourke delivered his stump speech before accepting questions from the audience. His remarks touched on familiar topics from his stop in May — health care, sensible border security, public education and consensus building that relies on a civil discourse.

“Decency, so many people have brought that up,” he said. “How can he come to different conclusions and do so in a good and decent way? Our success is dedicated on the premise of working together.”

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O’Rourke said it was in public education where people of all political stripes come together and have common goals.

“There is still a place where we come together,” he said. “Ninety-five percent of our children go to public schools.”

He quoted a teacher from Graham, where O’Rourke spoke earlier Thursday, who told him “I don’t want to be packing heat. I want to be focused on their education.”

“I want you (teachers) to be worried about connecting with that kid and making a living wage while you’re doing that,” O'Rourke said.

While not using the phrase “expanding Medicare,” O’Rourke said Texas, the least insured state in the nation, could lead the way in developing universal health care that insures all people. He said even people who have health care are sometimes unable to use it because premiums have gotten too high. He mentioned the case of a school teacher in Weatherford who died of the flu in February because she couldn’t pay her co-pay for a visit to the doctor.

“For a $119 co-pay, this teacher lost her life,” O’Rourke said.

O’Rourke said that while making healthcare more available and cheaper would be expensive, he said the cost of not doing so was even more expensive. For instance, he said, most people receive mental health care at the county jail at the cost of $60 while receiving the care on an outpatient basis cost less than $14.

“Tell me where you would want to put your money,” he said.

This trip marked an O’Rourke who was slightly more partisan, reserving his most stinging criticism for President Trump, specifically for the border policy that separated children from parents, a practice of which he said, “nothing has made me more sick.”

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“That was done by one man, Donald J. Trump,” he said “That stain stays with us until every child is returned to their parents.”

O’Rourke received an enthusiastic ovation when he said that Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller should be able to complete his investigation of Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election.

While speaking to reporters following the event, O’Rourke said he disagreed with some Democrats who have called for the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

I don’t understand the idea that we should abolish ICE,” he said, adding that better relationship between minority populations and law enforcement have made El Paso one of the safest cities in America.

O’Rourke was the top act in a card featuring four other candidates including:

Sam Hatton, candidate for District 71 representative. Hatton recounted his childhood spent in poverty and how he received help from government agencies, including public school. “I’m running because I owe a debt I cannot pay.”

Steven Kirkland, an Abilene native, Cooper High graduate and Houston judge who is running for Supreme Court place 2. Kirkland, who described himself as “the bald gay guy from Abilene, Texas,” said he wanted to remove politics from the court and replace it with justice.

Kim Olson, a retired Air Force colonel once stationed at Dyess who is running for ag commissioner. Olson detailed all of the programs that fall under the agriculture umbrella and said, “Does it sound like a serious department that needs a serious leader? I’m your girl.”

Mike Collier, a Houston CPA who is running for lieutenant governor. Collier stressed his commitment to public education and promised to return benefits taken from retired teachers.

Miguel Levario, the Democrat opposing Republican U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington in November, was listed on the event program but "wasn't able to make it at the last minute," Taylor County Democratic Party chairperson Kristina Campus-Davis said.

Sisters Camille and Leah Parrish said the opportunity to hear the other candidates who appeared with O’Rourke was one of the aspects of the rally they enjoyed most.

“I thought it was great,” said Camille Parrish, who lives in Abilene. “I thought to see the other candidates, who you don’t hear much about, was great.”

She said the rally had her “fired up.”

“I’m going to be knocking doors and my sister is going to be making phone calls,” she said.

That was response hoped for by O’Rourke, who often touts that he has raised more money than Cruz despite not taking any money from political action committees.

“It’s not terribly sophisticated,” said O’Rourke of his travels around the state and his conversations with voters. “Everything you hear me talk about has come from talking with people.”

Some polls now have O’Rourke within a few percentage points of Cruz, who is still the favorite to retain his seat. However, O’Rourke isn’t backing down, in a county as reliably Republican as Taylor County.

“I’m not buying that people won’t vote for a Democrat,” he said. “I’m not saying I’m going to win here, but I’m definitely not going to concede Taylor County.”

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