Most readers are likely aware that Beto O’Rourke has dropped out of the presidential race. It is not unexpected although many in El Paso were living the fantasy of an El Pasoan president. Beto was never presidential material. But there is a lesson future politicos can learn from Beto.
After the illusion of teenyboppers propelling him to the presidency wore off, Beto and his campaign realized that to play on the national stage he needed a gimmick. Being from the border and because border politics is the biggest political hot potatoe in 2020, it seemed like Beto had the gimmick he needed for his presidential ambitions.
But Julian Castro put a quick end to the border politics gimmick by asking a simple question that unmasked Beto as completely unprepared for the national stage. Beto floundered and was on the verge of ending his quest for the presidency when an unlikely intervention gave Beto the gimmick he needed.
A murderer drove to El Paso to kill Mexicans.
However, demonstrating his ineptness, Beto almost immediately squandered that opportunity to claim a national issue for his political gimmick. Rather than open a national discussion about racial hate that drove the killer to El Paso to kill Mexicans, Beto instead focused on the one political loser in the United States that guarantees political suicide – guns.
The problem with guns in the United States is simply that there are too many of them already on the street. There is simply no way to take the guns off the streets of America. There is just simply too many of them in too many hands.
This reality does not change from any perspective – pro or against guns.
As if that reality wasn’t enough; taking guns away is political suicide in the U.S.
But Beto thought that his charisma was enough to change that reality. Or, maybe talking about racial hatred wasn’t his cup of tea.
Regardless, it was only a matter of time that Beto’s sputtering campaign ground to a halt. It did last week.
Taking guns away from people will never be a viable political position.
Beto proved this.
