I Wouldn’t Bet on Beto

By Kevin D. Williamson

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

 

Robert Francis O’Rourke, who likes to be called “Beto,” has decided to take a run at the Texas governor’s office, his third full-tile charge at a buzzsaw in only a few years. My guess is that Greg Abbott is going to beat the callow dude-bro from El Paso a lot worse than Joe Biden (and everybody else; Beto never made it onto a ballot) beat him in the Democratic primary and a hell of a lot worse than Ted Cruz beat him in the Senate race.

 

One reason for that is the political character of Texas, where an indicator of the political facts on the ground can be seen in a longtime Democratic state representative from the once solidly Democratic Rio Grande Valley who has just switched to the Republican Party.

 

A second reason is that Beto O’Rourke is a flippin’ idiot, a fact that is attested to by practically all of his public appearances.

 

A third and related reason is that this flippin’ idiot intends to put attacking the Second Amendment at the heart of his campaign for governor . . . of Texas . . . at a time when support for anti-gun measures is declining around the country, thanks in no small part to the misgovernance of imbecilic Democrats such as himself, who have helped to launch a crime wave that is currently washing over American cities. He’d be better off running on high gasoline prices and kicking puppies.

 

If I were Greg Abbott, I’d probably be a little more worried about my Republican primary challengers than about Señor O’Rourke.

 

At least we’ll get to hear Ben Shapiro’s amusing Beto impersonation for a few months.

 

The last great Democratic hope in Texas didn’t break 40 percent against Greg Abbott. I wouldn’t be surprised if Beto O’Rourke underperforms that, while doing the Republicans the invaluable service of providing a great gaping black hole into which national Democrats can shovel money.