Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas is one of the happiest men in the great state of Texas. The meme in the mainstream media leading up to the Texas Primary was that a blue wave was building that would sweep the dominant Republicans out of office. Cruz was said to be threatened by Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, a young liberal congressman with a superficial resemblance to Bobby Kennedy. The actual results of the primary revealed the “blue wave” to be a blue drip.

Democrats surged but so did Republicans

The results for O’Rourke in the Democratic Primary and Cruz in the Republican Primary tells one everything needed about the state of play in Texas.

O’Rourke won with 641,000 or 62 percent of the vote. Second place Sema Hernandez, who spent next to no money, got nearly a quarter of the vote. Meanwhile, Cruz got 1.3 million votes for 85 percent of the total. The results were replicated up and down the ballot.

Cruz mocks O’Rourke’s name change

Cruz released a country and western style song radio ad the night of the primary that mocked O’Rourke’s assumption of a childhood nickname “Beto” as well as some of his more liberal views, including his wish to enact a kind of civilian draft. Robert O’Rourke is as Irish as the day is long, but the Irish vote is not a factor in Texas. “Beto” makes him sound Hispanic, making him seem as if he was trying to be trans-ethnic.

The media pounces

The media, especially CNN, was not amused. In a number of interviews, journalists pointed out that Sen. Cruz’s full name is Rafael Edward Cruz. Is he not being a little hypocritical mocking O’Rourke for his creative naming? Not at all, Cruz would reply. First of all, “Ted” is often used as a shortened version of “Edward.” Think Sen.

Edward Moore “Teddy” Kennedy. Second of all, the talented senator says, let me tell you how my dad escaped Cuban tyranny and immigrated to America with hardly any money and worked his way up. Unlike O’Rourke, Cruz has never tried to hide his ethnic origin. He is a proud Cuban American, though his Spanish is said to be somewhat substandard.

Cruz is, in any case, a real and not fake Hispanic.

The bottom line

The general election for Senate in Texas is going to be fun to watch. “Beto” O’Rourke is not going to unseat Ted Cruz, no matter how much national Democrats and the media might wish it. He is the Wendy Davis of 2018, and the only mystery is how thoroughly Cruz is going to thump him from Amarillo down to Brownsville.
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