Post by James G on Aug 10, 2021 17:28:43 GMT
In November 2018, the young congressman Robert Francis O'Rourke - better known as 'Beto' - managed to cause the greatest of all political upsets in that year's election cycle and win the US Senate race in Texas. The Democrat won the state-wide election by a margin of less than 0.5% (just over forty-one thousand votes) to defeat the incumbent Ted Cruz. It was a shock for everyone, apart from seemingly Beto himself whose confidence had shone through throughout the race there. Due to contests held elsewhere, the Republicans retained control of the Senate in the aftermath yet had their majority cut back by Beto's win.
As soon as Beto was confirmed the winner, everyone was talking about a presidential run in 2020. He didn't though. He gave evasive answers on that and concentrated on his new Senate career. Not a divisive figure, Beto had won over Texans by refusing to go low, he followed the Michelle Obama notion of 'going high' instead, and not seeking out enemies. He had them following his Texas victory though. Chief among them was President Donald Trump. The 45th President saw the danger straight away. His political rhetoric was directed against left-wing Democrats yet while Beto was a centralist, that was where the problem for Trump was. Beto was a winner and someone who could take away the White House from him.
The Republican attack machine was in full swing against Beto throughout early 2019. His previous on-the-record comments on guns and his range of vocal supporters gave them all that they needed. Sanders, Biden and Warren were subject to media barrages of negativity when they were in the presidential race but Beto, who hadn't declared as early as others did, was where so much energy was directed. His comments when in the Senate about migrants fuelled the assaults to blacken his image in the eyes of many of potential swing voters who wouldn't vote for a Democrat such as Sanders or Warren yet were increasingly tempted by Beto.
It was late 2019 when Beto announced he was in the running for the presidency. He held an event in his native El Paso. Negative remarks were made about his late entry as well as perceived arrogance at thinking he could do what he did yet those were weak blows. It was a crowded field which Beto joined as a lot of Democrats were in that race. Bullock, Gillibrand and Harris had recently withdrew while rumours swirled that Bloomberg might enter. As to the latter, that billionaire opted not to, not with centralists such as Biden and Beto being viable candidates compared to those on the left such as Sanders and Warren. He would later put his money into the party's nominee, not try and buy his own ticket to the ball.
Iowa was held at the beginning of February 2020. The outsider Buttigieg made a good showing, so did Sanders too, yet Beto took the first contest. He had the activist support on the ground in Iowa and big money backers: the media liked him too with even the anti-Democrats Fox News not giving him too hard of a time. After Iowa, the next race was New Hampshire. It was a Beto-Sanders fight and the former emerged the winner. New Hampshire sat next to Vermont, Sanders home state, and Sanders was thought to be the favourite, but Beto once more picked up centralist-minded voters looking for 'electability'. That was something that Beto was regarded as having.
Nevada was make-or-break for Sanders. Beto spent more time there than his main rival did, connecting with unionised workers and Hispanics. His campaign thought they had it in the bag until the last minute when it became clear that Sanders had eeked out a wind. A media narrative was attempted to frame that contest as Sanders turning the corner. Within a week, that was proved to be false. Beto took South Carolina, winning by a significant margin. That result of that contest, and the approaching Super Tuesday too, was the catalyst for the withdrawals from the race by several contenders. Former Vice President Biden - humiliated in SC, as elsewhere - departed and so too did Buttigieg and Klobuchar: the latter two endorsing Beto while Biden remained silent.
Fifteen contests were held on March 3rd. There was a lot of focus in the media about the Covid-19 issue yet so much attention was being paid to the Democratic Primary to keep that top of the news. Super Tuesday saw Beto win eleven of those contests. Among his victories were Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas & Virginia. Results from California, the biggest state in the union and delegate-rich for candidates, took time to come in among record turn-out there. After an agonising wait, California was called for Beto. Warren left the race the next day and pressure moved to Sanders to concede. He didn't. Beto was victorious in four of the six races the following week - Michigan and Missouri among them; Sanders took Washington state - yet Beto was unstoppable by that point...
...apart from by Covid it seemed.
Trump declared a national emergency. Primaries were postponed and moved to later in the year. Lockdowns took place across the nation. Campaigning was curtailed in-person. Beto and Sanders (Gabbard was still in the race yet almost ignored) moved to online campaigning to keep supporters motivated, voters enthused and the dollars incoming. Three primary contests were held on March 17th though: Arizona, Florida and Illinois. Beto won all of them. That was enough. He had won. It was impossible for Sanders to defeat him. Biden was among those who moved to endorse him with Bloomberg, and his billions, joining in.
Only in early April did Sanders throw in the towel. Beto had become the de facto nominee for the Democrats until Gabbard quit the next day. The endorsements came thick and fast after that from those who had stayed neutral - in public anyway - throughout the primaries. Obama, the Clintons & Pelosi all gave their support to Beto along with a Sanders endorsement too. He won all of the delayed primaries with them still being held regardless and then attended the convention in August. Speculation was rife about his running mate. Events during the summer with the George Floyd death and subsequent riots, plus Trump's actions too, saw momentum gain for Beto to pick a 'woman of color'. He did so, opting for Stacey Abrams from Georgia. She'd been denied the Georgie governorship in 2018 through what many saw as Republican cheating. She was someone who could motivate voters, and she and Beto got along well. Abrams was also there to keep the party's left on-side too with unease about Beto's centralism and Sanders not on the ticket.
The White House Covid outbreak, Trump being Trump, more protests & riots, Covid, arguments over mail-in ballots for the election... the 2020 race was quite something. Republicans campaigned against Beto as they were prepared to do should the opponent have been Sanders. He wasn't though. Allegations that Beto was a socialist, a communists, the devil even just didn't stick. The slogan 'Defund the police' and remarks from those on far left were disassociated with Beto's campaign no matter how hard Trump tried to tie him to that. His history with gun control was the only thing that did stick, causing worry for the Democrats.
November 3rd saw election day happen. Beto and Trump were both convinced they would win. Only one of them would be proved correct. That would be Beto.
The Democrats flipped back the Blue Wall states of Michigan and Pennsylvania as well as taking Arizona from long-held Republican control: Trump's savaging of McCain's memory didn't help but AZ had been trending towards the Democrats for some time. Efforts to take Florida, Iowa and North Carolina failed in addition to regaining Wisconsin. The Republicans also held Texas despite a lot of talk that Beto, who'd two years before taken that Senate seat, could seize TX. A lot of attention was on Georgia with Abrams on the ticket. She was unable to push the Democrats over the line there in GA with Trump holding the state by a scant six thousand votes.
Beto-Abrams beat Trump-Pence by over six million votes and the all-important electoral vote tally was 280-258. It was still an empathic victory. An incumbent had been defeated, not done since 1992 and before that back in 1980.
Trump refused to concede. Allegations of fraud, lies, cheating, and the Democrats being meanies were made. Lawsuits failed so did efforts for recounts. Then January 6th 2021 came around. A usually boring procedural matter of Congress certifying the state's tallies turned into a riot outside. Trump whipped up a crowd, walked away and let them invade Congress. He did nothing to see force used to remove the mob for several hours until his hand was forced. Democrats, even a good number of Republicans too, were furious. For the latter, that same day they should have been celebrating where they held one of the special election Senate seats in Georgia - Abrams helped see the other win - to retain just enough control of the Senate. Beto didn't get his trifecta yet all attention was on what many regarded as Trump's failed coup.
Two weeks later, in an event which Trump didn't show up for, Beto was inaugurated as the nation's 46th President.
'Beto 2020' had been one hell of a ride.
As soon as Beto was confirmed the winner, everyone was talking about a presidential run in 2020. He didn't though. He gave evasive answers on that and concentrated on his new Senate career. Not a divisive figure, Beto had won over Texans by refusing to go low, he followed the Michelle Obama notion of 'going high' instead, and not seeking out enemies. He had them following his Texas victory though. Chief among them was President Donald Trump. The 45th President saw the danger straight away. His political rhetoric was directed against left-wing Democrats yet while Beto was a centralist, that was where the problem for Trump was. Beto was a winner and someone who could take away the White House from him.
The Republican attack machine was in full swing against Beto throughout early 2019. His previous on-the-record comments on guns and his range of vocal supporters gave them all that they needed. Sanders, Biden and Warren were subject to media barrages of negativity when they were in the presidential race but Beto, who hadn't declared as early as others did, was where so much energy was directed. His comments when in the Senate about migrants fuelled the assaults to blacken his image in the eyes of many of potential swing voters who wouldn't vote for a Democrat such as Sanders or Warren yet were increasingly tempted by Beto.
It was late 2019 when Beto announced he was in the running for the presidency. He held an event in his native El Paso. Negative remarks were made about his late entry as well as perceived arrogance at thinking he could do what he did yet those were weak blows. It was a crowded field which Beto joined as a lot of Democrats were in that race. Bullock, Gillibrand and Harris had recently withdrew while rumours swirled that Bloomberg might enter. As to the latter, that billionaire opted not to, not with centralists such as Biden and Beto being viable candidates compared to those on the left such as Sanders and Warren. He would later put his money into the party's nominee, not try and buy his own ticket to the ball.
Iowa was held at the beginning of February 2020. The outsider Buttigieg made a good showing, so did Sanders too, yet Beto took the first contest. He had the activist support on the ground in Iowa and big money backers: the media liked him too with even the anti-Democrats Fox News not giving him too hard of a time. After Iowa, the next race was New Hampshire. It was a Beto-Sanders fight and the former emerged the winner. New Hampshire sat next to Vermont, Sanders home state, and Sanders was thought to be the favourite, but Beto once more picked up centralist-minded voters looking for 'electability'. That was something that Beto was regarded as having.
Nevada was make-or-break for Sanders. Beto spent more time there than his main rival did, connecting with unionised workers and Hispanics. His campaign thought they had it in the bag until the last minute when it became clear that Sanders had eeked out a wind. A media narrative was attempted to frame that contest as Sanders turning the corner. Within a week, that was proved to be false. Beto took South Carolina, winning by a significant margin. That result of that contest, and the approaching Super Tuesday too, was the catalyst for the withdrawals from the race by several contenders. Former Vice President Biden - humiliated in SC, as elsewhere - departed and so too did Buttigieg and Klobuchar: the latter two endorsing Beto while Biden remained silent.
Fifteen contests were held on March 3rd. There was a lot of focus in the media about the Covid-19 issue yet so much attention was being paid to the Democratic Primary to keep that top of the news. Super Tuesday saw Beto win eleven of those contests. Among his victories were Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas & Virginia. Results from California, the biggest state in the union and delegate-rich for candidates, took time to come in among record turn-out there. After an agonising wait, California was called for Beto. Warren left the race the next day and pressure moved to Sanders to concede. He didn't. Beto was victorious in four of the six races the following week - Michigan and Missouri among them; Sanders took Washington state - yet Beto was unstoppable by that point...
...apart from by Covid it seemed.
Trump declared a national emergency. Primaries were postponed and moved to later in the year. Lockdowns took place across the nation. Campaigning was curtailed in-person. Beto and Sanders (Gabbard was still in the race yet almost ignored) moved to online campaigning to keep supporters motivated, voters enthused and the dollars incoming. Three primary contests were held on March 17th though: Arizona, Florida and Illinois. Beto won all of them. That was enough. He had won. It was impossible for Sanders to defeat him. Biden was among those who moved to endorse him with Bloomberg, and his billions, joining in.
Only in early April did Sanders throw in the towel. Beto had become the de facto nominee for the Democrats until Gabbard quit the next day. The endorsements came thick and fast after that from those who had stayed neutral - in public anyway - throughout the primaries. Obama, the Clintons & Pelosi all gave their support to Beto along with a Sanders endorsement too. He won all of the delayed primaries with them still being held regardless and then attended the convention in August. Speculation was rife about his running mate. Events during the summer with the George Floyd death and subsequent riots, plus Trump's actions too, saw momentum gain for Beto to pick a 'woman of color'. He did so, opting for Stacey Abrams from Georgia. She'd been denied the Georgie governorship in 2018 through what many saw as Republican cheating. She was someone who could motivate voters, and she and Beto got along well. Abrams was also there to keep the party's left on-side too with unease about Beto's centralism and Sanders not on the ticket.
The White House Covid outbreak, Trump being Trump, more protests & riots, Covid, arguments over mail-in ballots for the election... the 2020 race was quite something. Republicans campaigned against Beto as they were prepared to do should the opponent have been Sanders. He wasn't though. Allegations that Beto was a socialist, a communists, the devil even just didn't stick. The slogan 'Defund the police' and remarks from those on far left were disassociated with Beto's campaign no matter how hard Trump tried to tie him to that. His history with gun control was the only thing that did stick, causing worry for the Democrats.
November 3rd saw election day happen. Beto and Trump were both convinced they would win. Only one of them would be proved correct. That would be Beto.
The Democrats flipped back the Blue Wall states of Michigan and Pennsylvania as well as taking Arizona from long-held Republican control: Trump's savaging of McCain's memory didn't help but AZ had been trending towards the Democrats for some time. Efforts to take Florida, Iowa and North Carolina failed in addition to regaining Wisconsin. The Republicans also held Texas despite a lot of talk that Beto, who'd two years before taken that Senate seat, could seize TX. A lot of attention was on Georgia with Abrams on the ticket. She was unable to push the Democrats over the line there in GA with Trump holding the state by a scant six thousand votes.
Beto-Abrams beat Trump-Pence by over six million votes and the all-important electoral vote tally was 280-258. It was still an empathic victory. An incumbent had been defeated, not done since 1992 and before that back in 1980.
Trump refused to concede. Allegations of fraud, lies, cheating, and the Democrats being meanies were made. Lawsuits failed so did efforts for recounts. Then January 6th 2021 came around. A usually boring procedural matter of Congress certifying the state's tallies turned into a riot outside. Trump whipped up a crowd, walked away and let them invade Congress. He did nothing to see force used to remove the mob for several hours until his hand was forced. Democrats, even a good number of Republicans too, were furious. For the latter, that same day they should have been celebrating where they held one of the special election Senate seats in Georgia - Abrams helped see the other win - to retain just enough control of the Senate. Beto didn't get his trifecta yet all attention was on what many regarded as Trump's failed coup.
Two weeks later, in an event which Trump didn't show up for, Beto was inaugurated as the nation's 46th President.
'Beto 2020' had been one hell of a ride.
