Beto O'Rourke and a Purple America

This morning, for the first time in a long time, I began to feel optimistic about the upcoming election. In Lawrence Wright's book God Save Texas he says that according to the polling Texas is a blue state where folks don't vote. He means that the Republicans, partly because of greater turn out at the polls and some gerrymandering, elect more candidates than Democrats. If everyone in Texas voted the Democrats would win. Maybe in this upcoming election that will happen.

I feel optimistic partly because I watched Beto O'Rourke on Stephen Colbert. He is running for the senate in Texas against Ted Cruz. O'Rourke, in case you haven't kept up with Texas politics, is a congressman from El Paso and an ex-punk rocker. He has visited every one of Texas' 254 countries in his campaign. His feeling about the people of Texas echos the feelings of Lawrence Wright, also a native Texan. Texas is the most diverse state in the country, led by Houston the most diverse city. The people of Texas are experienced with immigrants and if anyplace can come to terms with increasing diversity in America, Texas is the place, the test-case, the laboratory for the demographic reality of white folks being a minority. O'Rourke is against the 'wall' and for 'dreamers'. Living and legislating in a border town, he understands the reality of the situation, the realpolitik of the immigration issue.

Today in the Washington Post it was reported that Willie Nelson, another Texas hero, will give a concert in support of O'Rourke on September 29th. On the 4th of July O'Rourke joined Willie on the stage of a concert in Austin, spoke a little, then picked up a guitar and played along with the band. On September 29 Willie will have a concert in support of O'Rourke and has gotten a lot of angry, negative feedback from fans about his supporting an 'anti-American commie' and 'socialist' like O'Rourke. That's Texas and America. Argue, yell, shout slogans, denigrated the other person's opinion, but still let the music go on. I liked hearing the word 'socialist' in the angry messages. This means the word is in the air again, people are talking about what helping one's neighbors means, what universal health care means (another O'Rourke issue of support), what is at stake in elections. All these things mean to me that activating the Texas voter base may result in a true picture of Texas as a blue state.

Perhaps if this happens in Texas, that Beto O'Rourke beats Cruz, we can once again, in this country lean closer to being  the purple country that we truly are.

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