Beto O 'Rourke incarcerated in Ted Cruz during the debate in Texas

(SAN ANTONIO) – The Democratic Beto O 'Rourke gave up his usual message of unity and optimism and attacked Ted Cruz, hoping to reverse the results of his polls to see him. Weaken in the face of the Republican President in the second debate on a race in the Texas Senate become one of the most watched nation.

At the start of the debate on Tuesday night, Cruz criticized O'Rourke for earlier votes in favor of a tax on oil production ever passed, which could have hit hard oil-rich Texas. O'Rourke reacted by referring to Senator Donald Trump's nickname as the two men were fierce rivals at the 2016 Republican presidential primary: "Senator Cruz will not be honest with you. He will invent positions and votes that I have never held. "

"That's why the president called him Lyin 'Ted," said O'Rourke "and that's why the nickname stayed because it's true."

Cruz, former champion of the Ivy League debate, replied: "It is clear that Pollsters of Congressman O'Rourke told him to attack."

Democrats have long dreamed of a growing Hispanic population that would help move from red to Texas blue and upset the electoral map. But the polls that once showed O'Rourke at hand a monumental disaster suggest that Cruz could be even more advanced. No Democrat has won any of the more than 30 state offices in Texas since 1994, the country's longest run of political defeats.

Only three weeks before election day, Tuesday may be one of the last shots for O'Rourke. This was the last debate scheduled for the race after the cancellation of a debate in Houston following the Senate votes on Kavanaugh's confirmation.

Cruz wants to attend a previously scheduled public meeting with just O'Rourke in the US-Mexican border town of McAllen on Thursday night, but it is unclear if this will be done on time.

The two men used this confrontation to oppose abortion regulation, climate change, Brett Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court and a defense wall backed by the Trump administration. Things never became unpleasant or too personal – the borrowed "Lyin 'Ted" was the only name, but both candidates tried to impress voters by criticizing their opponent's antecedents.

When Mr. O. Rourke said he wanted to extend federally funded health care to a greater number of Americans, Mr. Cruz said that the congressman was in agreement with the Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and was supporting a socialized medicine that would cost billions of dollars and required extremely high tax increases. O'Rourke accused Cruz of not doing enough to stand up to Trump regarding Russia and that the state needs a "full-time senator" rather than someone who focuses on on the candidacy for the presidency.

Even when Cruz tried to say that O & # 39; Rourke and he were rather in agreement to oppose higher Trump administration rates on products manufactured overseas, O & # 39; Rourke laughed while answering: "It's really interesting to hear about the partisan circus after you leave. six years in the Senate, "hinting at Cruz's time as an insurgent Tea Party who fought President Barack Obama at every turn.

O'Rourke, who is relinquishing his seat at Congress in El Paso to challenge Cruz, broke the Senate's fundraising records with more than $ 38 million worth of breathtaking awards in the last three months of September. The Democrat has a war chest worth $ 22.9 million, more than double the $ 11.3 million that Cruz has.

Cruz kept O & # Rourke on the defensive during the debate last month in Dallas and O & # 39; Rourke – who had stuck for months on a bipartisan and reassuring message – kept his promise to refine his tone Tuesday evening in front of a public KENS-5, the subsidiary of CBS, welcomed 120 people.

He also noted that his monster fundraising had taken place without accepting donations from outside political groups, but Cruz added that O'Rourke "continues to follow left-wing national activists and left-wing national donors."

In response to a question on the #MeToo motion, O 'Rourke said Cruz had "inexplicably" voted against the Violence Against Women Act, saying the senator was "in full discussion and without action". good for this country "and that people of both sexes should be protected from harassment and abuse.

Although Cruz seems to be in a better position than at the start of the race, Trump takes the unthinkable step of holding a rally in a state so faithfully conservative, heading Monday to an arena of 8,000 seats in Houston. The president took Texas on a relatively modest score of nine points in 2016. Nevertheless, Cruz is a staunch supporter of Trump since they fought during the presidential race – and hopes that this common appearance will appease some conservatives around the state who were angry at past animosity.