President Trump said he has buried the hatchet with his 2016 presidential rival Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) ahead of a campaign rally for the Republican senator in Houston, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “He’s not Lyin’ Ted anymore. He’s Beautiful Ted.”
President Trump said he has buried the hatchet with his 2016 presidential rival Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) ahead of a campaign rally for the Republican senator in Houston, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “He’s not Lyin’ Ted anymore. He’s Beautiful Ted.”
Texas Tribune: “When President Donald Trump first announced he would travel to Texas to campaign for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, at least one Texas Republican operative prayed for the rally to take place at Kyle Field in College Station — and the sentiment had nothing to do with Aggie pride.”
“At issue was a fear that if the Trump rally took place in one of Texas’ big cities — particularly Dallas or Houston — the president’s presence could further incite the Democratic base in races where Republican incumbents are in the fights of their political lives.”
“The prayer wasn’t answered. Instead, Trump is headed to the heart of Houston on Monday. And some — but not all — Texas Republican operatives are anxious that he could hurt local incumbents, particularly U.S. Rep. John Culberson and state Rep. Sarah Davis.”
The Houston Chronicle endorsed Beto O’Rourke (D) for U.S. Senate in Texas:
There’s one more reason O’Rourke should represent Texas in the U.S. Senate: He would help to serve as a check on a president who is a danger to the republic. Cruz is unwilling to take on that responsibility. Indeed, the man who delighted in calling the Texas senator “Lyin’ Ted” all through the 2016 presidential campaign, who insulted Cruz’s wife and his father, is bringing his traveling campaign medicine show to Houston next week to buoy the Cruz campaign. The hyperbole, the hypocrisy and the rancorous hot air just might blow the roof off the Toyota Center.
While the bloviations emanate from the arena next week, imagine how refreshing it would be to have a U.S. senator who not only knows the issues but respects the opposition, who takes firm positions but reaches out to those who disagree, who expects to make government work for Texas and the nation. Beto O’Rourke, we believe, is that senator.
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President Trump has moved his Texas rally for Sen. Ted Cruz’s reelection campaign to a larger venue because of what a top aide called “huge and unprecedented” ticket sales, Politico reports.
The Trump campaign originally chose Houston’s NRG Arena, which can hold 8,000, and then abruptly changed locations on Thursday to the Toyota Center, which can hold 19,000.
In his debate with Rep., Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) blamed the “rage” of the “far left” for the lack of “civility” in politics and then promptly barked at the debate moderator who tried to ask a question.
“He’s dishonest. That’s why the president called him Lyin’ Ted and it’s why the nickname stuck because it’s true.”
— Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), quoted by the Texas Tribune, in his U.S. Senate debate with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
A new CNN poll in Texas finds Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) appears well-positioned for re-election over challenger Beto O’Rourke (D), topping him 52% to 45% among likely voters.
Just 9% of likely Texas voters say there’s a chance they could change their mind about the Senate contest before Election Day.
These ads from the liberal-backed Fire Ted Cruz PAC are just brilliant.
President Trump will star at a rally in Houston on Oct. 22 to help Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the Dallas Morning News reports.
The president said that he would hold a “major rally” for Cruz at the biggest stadium they could find in Texas.
“This rally is set for the NRG Arena, which has an 8,000-seat arena — a far more modest venue than the one Trump had promised. Nearby NRG Stadium, by comparison, is home to the NFL Houston Texans and tops out at around 80,000 people.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “rode an anti-Washington wave into the Senate in 2012, became a disruptive outsider in the chamber the next year, and ran against the establishment when he sought the presidency in 2016,” Politico reports.
“But when his reelection campaign wobbled earlier this year under pressure from upstart Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Cruz leaned hard on a new strategy: the inside track.”
“Cruz’s TV ads have touted his record bringing home billions in federal relief spending after Hurricane Harvey, highlighting ‘bipartisan’ tax relief for those affected by the storm. Cruz’s Texas colleague, Sen. John Cornyn — whom Cruz declined to endorse in 2014 when Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, faced a primary challenge — headlined a six-figure fundraiser for Cruz in Washington. And Cruz has leaned on help from the highest echelons of the Republican Party, campaigning with Vice President Mike Pence and Donald Trump Jr. in Texas recently and getting a commitment from President Donald Trump for a future event.”
Daily Beast: “Michael Avenatti on Thursday tweeted a link to Democratic donation platform ActBlue that appeared to be an O’Rourke donation page, but the fine print on the page noted that, by default, half of the money donated would go to Avenatti’s Fight PAC.”
“Rep. Beto O’Rourke raised an astonishing $38.1 million in three months, as Democrats in Texas and nationwide showered him with donations for his bid to oust Sen. Ted Cruz,” the Dallas Morning News reports.
“The haul smashed previous records for a U.S. Senate contest, and assures that the hard fought race, already the nation’s costliest, remains on top of the 2018 list.”
“O’Rourke’s haul is more than triple the $12 million that Cruz said he raised from July through September.”
A new Quinnipiac poll in Texas finds Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) leading challenger Beto O’Rourke (D) by nine points in the U.S. Senate race, 54% to 45%.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) declined CNN’s invitation to participate in a televised town hall with challenger Beto O’Rourke (D), the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
So O’Rourke will be featured in a live, one-hour town hall on October 18.
Rolling Stone: “The ad — which was paid for by an anti-Cruz PAC and was not endorsed by his senate opponent, Beto O’Rourke — is beautiful in its simplicity, and strikes to the heart of Cruz’s campaign, which has revolved around the idea that he is more authentically Texan than his challenger.”
Former President Obama “has endorsed 11 Texas Democrats leading up to next month’s midterm elections. But none go by the popular four-letter moniker Beto,” the Texas Tribune reports.
Said U.S. Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke (D): “I don’t think we’re interested. I am so grateful to him for his service, he’s going to go down as one of the greatest presidents. And yet, this election is on Texas.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) described Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) as “cult-like” in the way that he’s garnered attention in his bid to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), The Hill reports.
Said Abbot: “He’s been a cult-like, very popular figure the way that he’s run the campaign, but you don’t vote on cult, you don’t vote on personality when you get to the U.S. Senate. You vote on the issues.”
The Austin American Statesman reports O’Rourke held a rally over the weekend attended by more than 50,000 people.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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