Beto O 'Rourke "as optimistic as I've ever been" despite a minimal loss to Ted Cruz | American News

In the end, the night should not be his. Beto O 'Rourke, a Democratic member of the Democratic Congress of the border town of El Paso who became one of the new superstars of his party, acknowledged his defeat as part of his attempt to 39 insurgency to overthrow Ted Cruz from a US Senate seat in Texas. words that sounded like those of the victor.

"I believe in you, I believe in Texas and I believe in this country," he told an audience in his home town of El Paso. "I am also inspired, I have as much hope as ever in my life. The loss tonight does not diminish what I feel for Texas or this country.

Thousands of O'Rourke fans had waited hours before their champion turned up, filling a baseball stadium. Although the mood became gloomy at the announcement of his defeat, he lit up when he went on stage shortly after 22h with the songs of "Beto!" Beto! "Sitting above the crowd.

Long before election day, Rourke was compared to Robert Kennedy for his charisma, his beautiful appearance, his sense of rhetoric, and his intense political pbadions.

That was the distance he had moved to Texas – his best performance on the part of a Democrat in a US Senate race for 20 years – he is certain to now have a voice important in the party. He took a state that had been written off by progressives for decades and had practically fought it all by himself.

"O Rourke has collected more money than any other electrifying public like the Texas Democrats, like no Texas Democrat (nor any Republican). in recent history and breathed new life into a moribund democratic party. While Beto-Mania has bitten the dust tonight, he still has a bright future, "said Mark Jones, a political scientist at Rice University.

Julian Castro, Obama's housing secretary and former mayor of San Antonio, said The Guardian, getting closer so close, O 'Rourke had given a major boost to the Democratic hopes in Texas. "His feat is to show that Texas, with its 38 constituency votes in the presidential elections, is back. "

Castro added," It's an awakening for this state.The Democrats can go much further and faster than anyone else thought. "

Ted Cruz celebrated being hooked to his Senate seat in front of several hundred supporters gathered in a ballroom. A hotel located in one of the most upscale neighborhoods in Houston.

In the ballroom, he rocked his fans as they chanted "USA!" And kissed his wife, Heidi, before going on stage. "Texans have come together around a common sense agenda, including low taxes, loose regulations and many jobs. Secure the border and keep our communities safe and defend the Constitution and the Charter of Rights, "he said.

The 47-year-old also called for more civility, respect and dignity in politics, which sounded hollow. A man who, only two weeks ago, had appeared on stage at a rally organized by Donald Trump in the honor of Cruz, in which the president had deployed his usual repertoire of ultra partisan insults and false statements.

Cruz – Trump's nemesis during their fight for the Republican Presidential Inauguration of 2016 – has demonstrated in front of him and led a campaign based almost entirely on the dismantling of Trump. a base of white and conservative loyalists of Trump. , relying on suburban and rural voters, ruthlessly criticized his Democratic opponent for being too liberal for Texas, portraying him as a far left Hollywood star, a socialist at Bernie Sanders disconnected from traditional values ​​- it that is to say God embraces the throat, firearms, fossil fuels, low taxes and limited government.

Cruz challenges O'Rourke on his immigration policy, warning of the dire consequences of allowing "caravans" of Central American asylum seekers to enter in the country. an echo of Trump. He also turned into a viral video in which the Democrat said there was "nothing more American" than to kneel during the national anthem, as he did. had made the NFL players to protest the police brutality.

Nevertheless, when the result was certain and O & # 39; Rourke no longer posed any threat, Cruz took the time to congratulate his opponent. O'Rourke, he said, "had plunged his heart into this campaign, worked tirelessly, was a father and took time away from his children. Allow me to say to all those who have worked on his campaign, those who have been inspired, that I am also your senator and that my responsibility is to represent every Texan.

Before Cruz gave his victory speech in Houston, his father, Raphael, appeared on stage. "The message is loud and clear," he told the Republican crowd. "Texas Remains Red!"

But this message is not at all clear after a deadly campaign that saw the Democratic Oppressed too close to winning the Senate seat for its comfort. The last time a Democrat did it was in 1994.

O. Rourke began his David-Goliath mission to overthrow Cruz less than two years ago with a two-person team only, old friends from El Paso, traveling for hire. sedan. He started from scratch in a state devoid of Democratic party infrastructure, crisscrossing the state to seize its 254 counties, which is no small feat in Texas, a country bigger than France.

Wherever he went, he planted seeds of a new democratic infrastructure – something that has been sorely lacking in Texas since the 1990s. They have begun recruiting volunteers, often young and inexperienced, but energetic and enthusiastic, who became an army of 25,000 men on the day of the election.

The team of O 'Rourke created 727 "ephemeral" offices transforming the houses of volunteers into centers of activity. . In the end, they had struck almost two meters from the door.

The Democratic candidate did his best to mobilize each potential vote. When the Guardian reported a young Hispanic man to Gonzalez who had never voted and had no intention of starting, he sent his agent to the field at a 100 km distance to register the individual and encourage him to vote.

Financially, he also tore up the traditional rule book. From the beginning, he refused to accept money from large donors or political action committees, preferring to rely on the generosity of his pbadionate supporters.

in about $ 70 million on more than a million small online donations to his opponent's $ 30 million.

In the end, the considerably higher ground game that the Republican party built over many years was simply too difficult for an individual politician to overcome.

But the narrow result still represents a radical improvement for the Texas Democrats. , a state turned minority in 2004 and with its rapidly growing population holds a huge weight in US electoral politics. If the Democrats managed to win Texas in the presidential elections, they would effectively ban Republicans from the White House.

Perhaps the most important achievement of Mr. O. Rourke has been to prove that groups that have been written off as potential voters in Texas – especially young people aged 19 to 29 – can be brought to the electoral life. His campaign resulted in an increase in the number of registrations, which added 1.6 million voters to the Texas voters list.

After enrolling them, the army of volunteers from O 'Rourke then persuaded them to go to the polls, resulting in a vote that saw nearly 5 million of Texans advance vote – more than the total number of voters in the last mid-term elections of 2014.

Cynthia Valdez, customer service badistant in El Paso, is one of the new legions of people. Democratic voters of Texas. unleashed by O & # 39; Rourke. She is 27, but voted for the first time at an advance poll last month.

She said that she was partly motivated by Trump. "It's not for the people, it's only interested in himself, his friends and the rich. He is only interested in the money. "

And that was partly motivated by O'Rourke. "It's for the average person. He cares about us. "