President Trump has warned GOP members they could lose their seats in 2018 if they don’t get on the Trump train, but that likely didn’t include the possibility of Spanish-speaking Irish-American former punk rockers coming for their spots too. That’s the exact problem Republican Ted Cruz faces now that three-term Congressman Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke announced he will be making a run in 2018 at the Texas seat Cruz currently holds.
O’Rourke certainly has a unique resume for someone that is looking to make a run at one of the most prestigious jobs in politics. His past includes a stint as a tech entrepreneur and more notably, one as the vocalist and guitarist of 90’s punk rock band Foss that included Cedric Bixler Zavala, future lead singer of the Grammy-winning band The Mars Volta.
O’Rourke is up against tall odds if he plans on victory; Texas hasn’t elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 30 years. His base of supporters consists largely of people from his district of El Paso and his platform for a run at the Senate seat will reportedly include added benefits for veterans, zero use of corporate money in his campaign, and a promise to serve only two terms in the Senate. He recently told the Dallas Morning News he’s aware the fight to de-seat Cruz will be a tough one, but he’s up for the challenge:
“I’m under no illusions this will be anything but hard in a primary and anything but hard in a general election. Nothing I’ve ever done that’s amounted to anything has been easy,” O’Rourke said. “My heart’s in it, I want to do this, I’m driven to do it. I’m not poll-testing it. I’m not consulting with consultants.”
O’Rourke’s time as a member of the punk band Foss came to an end when he decided to start working for a pair of technology startups. After some success, he moved to El Paso in 1998 where he began his rise as a politician. Now, he’s looking to go all the way from dimly-lit clubs to a seat in the halls of Congress. While he doesn’t plan to attack Ted Cruz in the same fashion that President Trump did with much success during the 2016 primaries, he is open about his own objections to what Cruz stands for:
“Having a junior senator who has been focused for the last four years on running for president has left Texas ill-served, unrepresented, and not achieving what we can in the Senate,” O’Rourke said. “Having someone who puts party and ideology before the country literally means we shut the government down instead of making the government work for the people it’s supposed to.”
Watch out, Ted Cruz.
(Via NY Daily News)