Trump Did NOT Cause COVID-19... But He Is Responsible For The Way The U.S. Is Botching The Response

The last thing in the world Trump wants to see are headlines like this one from Politico yesterday: Trump's mismanagement helped fuel coronavirus crisis. And once large numbers of people start dying, Trump will get really desperate, desperate that voters don't blame him, though they should. "For six weeks behind the scenes, and now increasingly in public, Trump has undermined his administration’s own efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak-- resisting attempts to plan for worst-case scenarios, overturning a public-health plan upon request from political allies and repeating only the warnings that he chose to hear. Members of Congress have grilled top officials like Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield over the government’s biggest mistake: failing to secure enough testing to head off a coronavirus outbreak in the United States. But many current and former Trump administration officials say the true management failure was Trump’s... Interviews with 13 current and former officials, as well as individuals close to the White House, painted a picture of a president who rewards those underlings who tell him what he wants to hear while shunning those who deliver bad news... 'If this sort of dysfunction exists as part of the everyday operations-- then, yes, during a true crisis the problems are magnified and exacerbated,' said a former Trump HHS official. 'And with extremely detrimental consequences.'" Ironically, it's his own moron supporters who will pay the most dearly, since that 30-some-odd percent of Americans are the only people who believe a word that comes out of his filthy mouth.

Something like 20,000 people went to Fascistpalooza-- they refer to it as CPAC-- last week and speakers included many of the leaders of the far right of American politics including Señor Trumpanzee, Coronavirus Czar Pence, Jared Kushner-in-law + Ivanka, Don Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, Kellyanne Conway, Betsy DeVos, Mike Pompeo, Lawrence Kudlow, Alex Azar, Mark Meadows, the U.S. psychopathic ambassador to Israel, David Friedman (suspected by some of being the Typhoid Mary of the far right), Richard Grenell, Ken Cuccinnelli, Sam Brownback, Nikki Haley, hate talk radio host Mark Levin, Ronna Romney McDaniel, Sebastian Gorka, Ted Cruz (who announced on Sunday evening that he will be self-quarantining at home in Texas after learning that he had a "brief conversation and a handshake" with the guy who tested positive for COVID-19), Joni Ernst, Marsha Blackburn, Dan Sullivan, Paul Gosar (also quarantined now), Gym Jordan, Liz Cheney, Devin Nunes, Andy Biggs (one of the 2 members of Congress who voted against coronavirus funding), Louie Gohmert, Matt Gaetz, Doug Collins, Paul Gosar, Steve Scalise, Roger Williams, Glenn Beck, James O'Keefe (the Project Veritas guy) and dozens of other neo-fascists only known inside the movement. They-- and all the attendees-- were exposed to COVID-19.

Glenn Beck's propaganda website announced over the weekend that "one of the attendees at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, the country's largest annual gathering of conservatives, has tested positive for the coronavirus. While the identity of the patient is unknown, the American Conservative Union confirmed the patient tested positive for the disease in a New Jersey hospital and was exposed to the virus before attending CPAC. The Hill reported that the patient is currently being quarantined.

The American Conservative Union also announced that the person with coronavirus did not shake hands with Trump or Pence, although some people may recall that at a Florida fundraiser for Vern Buchanan, Pence shook hands with a cadet who is now quarantined.

The big annual AIPAC convention nearly had as many attendees as CPAC. And so far 3 people have tested positive for coronavirus. Speakers included Coronavirus Czar Pence, Status Quo Joe, Michael Bloomberg, Austrian neo-fascist Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Joe Trippi, Mike Pompeo, Miss McConnell (R-KY), Steny Hoyer, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Steve Scalise (R-LA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Liz Cheney (R-WY), Lee Zeldin (R-NY), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Blue Dogs Josh Gottheimer (NJ), Abigail Spanberger (VA) and Mike Sherrill (NJ), Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Chuck Schumer and top Schumer operative J.B. Poersch, Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Ann Wagnwer (R-MO), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), David Kustoff (R-TN), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Adam Smith (D-WA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Angie Craig (D-MN), and Félix Antoine Tshisekedi-Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Top political leaders in Italy and Iran have tested positive for coronavirus and members of the Iranian parliament have begun dying. Pelosi has discussed shutting down Congress to avoid spreading the disease among members-- who, remember, go home (i.e., everywhere) every weekend and shake hands with their constituents and then come back to Congress. It's too late to down anything about it now. As Buzzflash editor Mark Karlin noted, "Richard Hatchett, the doctor leading efforts to find a vaccine for Coronavirus, says it is 'much more lethal than normal flu... This is the most frightening disease I've ever encountered in my career.'"

Amidst the news reports on Coronavirus, there is a steady flow of warnings from epidemiologists that the Coronavirus presents a tsunami pandemic. Although it may be an outlier estimate, according to a CBS Evening News interview with a top Harvard epidemiologist, he predicts 40-70% of every adult in the world over the age of 35 will be infected with Coronavirus, “with millions of people dying.” That may be alarmist, but if you watch the interview with this solemn, low-key Harvard expert, you are left shaken not only by the gravity of what might face us, but by the willful denial of the potential catastrophe led by Trump.

Trump’s visit to the CDC on Friday was surreal, typical of his deranged preoccupation with and perpetuation of an alternative universe that is grounded in a Fox News fantasy that is aimed at controlling his base, while consolidating power and attempting to steal the 2020 election to assert “unitary executive authority” over the US. His indefatigable propaganda, that conflicts with epidemiological experts in regards to the Coronavirus, will not be modified by any concessions to reality if they detract from his pernicious fantasy world that he has constructed largely with the input of Fox News TV personalities, particularly with the ongoing advice of Sean Hannity.

In the unhinged news conference at the CDC, Trump appeared as if he had slept in his golfing clothes and wore a red campaign cap as he made pronouncements that had more to do with spreading deadly disinformation on the Coronavirus than in limiting its wildfire expansion.

“Anybody that needs a test gets a test…. the tests are all perfect,” Trump said from behind a CDC lab desk. “like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect. Right? This was not as perfect as that but pretty good.”

He couldn’t resist trying to again claim that his call to Ukrainian President Zelensky on July 24, 2019, was “perfect,” even though he was impeached over it. But, of course, as with his violation of asking for a foreign power to assist him in the 2020 election, he was equally guilty of promising universal testing when the kits are, as of today, still in extremely short supply. Less than 2000 people in the entire US had been tested as of Thursday.

He boasted the demented falsehood, “People are really surprised I understand this stuff [the Coronavirus]. Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability.’”

He managed to squeeze in his usual barb at one of his self-perceived “enemies,” in this case Democratic Washington Governor Jay Inslee whose state is currently at the initial epicenter of the Coronavirus outbreak in the US, and has just declared an emergency in the state. Trump called him a “snake” and a bad man because when Mike “HIV Epidemic and Smoking Doesn’t Cause Cancer” Pence called Inslee to offer federal help, Inslee recounted, “I told him [Pence] our work would be more successful if the Trump administration stuck to science and told the truth.” It was like a dagger through Trump’s vampire heart, striking at the very gaslighting that the DC press has generally faithfully reported. There was so much more of Trump’s vast array of unabashed lying during the “briefing,” but one particular exchange sticks out more than the other dangerous lies, in part because it was the frightening truth. He was asked when the passengers on the stricken Grand Princess, moored off of San Francisco with no one allowed to leave, would be discharged to quarantine on the mainland (only a small percentage have been tested thus far), and Trump said he has been against letting them off because it would hurt “my numbers.”

What did he mean? He was just publicly, as he is wont to do, revealing his con. He didn’t officially include any passengers on the ship who have contracted the Coronavirus as being among Americans who have been infected (the number of whom have the virus is not trustworthy as revealed by the CDC). The infections appear to be vastly under reported because there are, as noted above, not enough test kits to determine, even roughly, how many people are affected, and Trump wants to keep “his numbers” low to reinforce his lie that the Coronavirus is a Democratic “hoax” and “will disappear some day like magic.”

But no reporter followed up on this despicable statement on his part. The Grand Princess, given that the Coronavirus is transmitted at up to 6 feet, is Trump's Voyage of the Damned. He is facilitating infection of passengers by not letting them off the ship, because he doesn't want known US infection numbers to ratchet up. Couldn’t one reporter call him out on how he is indifferent to the passengers confined and destined to be infected?

There was so much more inanity to the briefing filled with lies, bombast, name-calling and even a Trump digression to ask a Fox reporter how his ratings were for a recent town hall appearance. In short, if was vintage unhinged Trump.

However, we are facing a catastrophic pandemic being managed by a mentally incompetent faux president, and lives are on the line-- many lives, as he and his anti-science Sancho Panza, Mike Pence, run havoc through efforts to mitigate the virus’s spread, not to mention handling the devastating economic fallout, the stress on the US public health system, social disruption, the uninsured, and honest recommendations about avoiding the virus.

In short, Trump needs to be restrained in a mental health facility, not to be “governing” the nation. His handling of the Coronavirus is beyond incompetent. He is offering "advice" that will actually accelerate the spread of the virus. If the DC press corps didn't treat his lunacy with such deference, we might see the virus spread at a lower rate (and its exponential spread is just starting), but they are incapable-- for the most part-- of doing anything other than transcribing his lies and false assurances aimed, in large part, at trying to stop the stock market from plunging even further.

Some cable news stations have become more critical of his pronouncements and tweets, and are starting to interview actual medical experts, but, for the most part, the media continues to treat the travesty of the likes of his CDC press briefing as standard practice. They normalize Trump’s pathology.

Don't these "reporters" have families they cherish and now face Coronavirus unchecked by a lunatic? How can they still act as if Trump is suited for office? The virus is closing in on DC-- and it will inevitably start to infect the DC media, members of Congress and staffers, and even likely the White House. That is because unlike Trump’s other enemies, a virus does not care about a person’s status in life. It can’t be stopped by bullying, deceit and power.

Part of the problem, as explained before on BuzzFlash, is that the major media is owned by corporations, who are concerned with profits, who have wealthy people on their boards, and rely on conservative advertisers. The interest of the publishers filters down to reporters to treat Trump as an actual president and not to demand the truth from him. This is what Noam Chomsky famously called the “manufactured consent” guard rails of the media.

This epidemic is going to get worse, far worse, and the infections and deaths are on Trump's hands. He is a toxic contagion of misinformation and a sociopathic, cruel demagogue, who only values creating a spectacle for the media, chaos and grifting. Meanwhile, we will all suffer from his evil.

The media, particularly the DC White House “reporters,” are Trump’s enablers as the Coronavirus will take a larger toll than it would otherwise if Trump’s cons were challenged. Our lives are at risk, and many many reporters still assist Trump by making excuses for, what one news outlet euphemistically called, his “freewheeling style."

What Trump needs is not servile scriveners. He needs a mental health intervention.

The media is largely inured to a mentally impaired impostor presiden and treat him as though he merits his authority.

Let's hope that the 2020 election isn't canceled due to a "national emergency" declared by Trump as the Coronavirus pandemic explodes out of control due to Trump's ineptitude and political cynicism. Our economy may have imploded by then too. Is the media prepared for this, or will they just again report Trump’s rants rather than ferret out the truth as we enter into full-fledged fascism?

That the DC press corps is still normalizing Trump when he is making preposterous claims about his "ability" to contain the virus when he is worsening the pandemic, that he is endangering our lives, is mind boggling. Aren't these journalists supposed to take a deep dive into the truth?

Under Trump, the US has become the epitome of ignorance. We are purveyors, under Trump's macabre "hunches," of a primitive denial of reality.

Trump is frustrated because he can't give the Coronavirus a nickname and mock it. However, the Coronavirus cannot be intimidated by the rantings of a carnival barker con man. Death and disease have an agenda that can't be bullied.

Journalist Nancy LeTourneau, in a March 5 article in the Washington Monthly straight forwardly charges that the “media still won’t address Trump’s unfitness for office”:

The unwillingness of the news media to discuss Trump’s unfitness for office keeps the public from grappling with the fact that his response to this crisis has been a disaster. That will also shield the president from accountability when this particular crisis gets much worse-- which most experts assume is just a matter of time...

Since shortly after Trump was inaugurated, I have been saying that we need to talk about his mental health issues. To anyone who has been paying attention, he has only deteriorated since that time...

It is becoming more clear every day that none of us are safe as long as Donald Trump is president. That is why all of us have to talk about the elephant in the room that the media wants to avoid: this president is not well.

...[Trump] is clearly mentally unbalanced, narcissistic, cruel and preoccupied with his role both as the master entertainer and creator of diversionary spectacle. Add to that his role as a demagogue seeking to become a dictator and his functioning as a mafia don who only values personal loyalty to him over loyalty to the United States, and you have a clear and present danger in the White House.

...Tourneau concludes: “The unwillingness of the news media to discuss Trump’s unfitness for office keeps the public from grappling with the fact that his response to this crisis has been a disaster. That will also shield the president from accountability when this particular crisis gets much worse-- which most experts assume is just a matter of time.”

...Journalism should be a noble calling, but for the most part it functions now as a fluffer for Trump’s ruinous shortfalls.

Some fault lines are starting to show, as some journalists realize the disastrous future that awaits us as a “normalized” Trump leads us over a cliff. It may be too late, and many of the White House reporters are still treating Trump with deference and recording his misinformation as though it were true, but all we can hope for is that the crack in the dam of the corporate press will widen as DC journalists realize that their lives and the lives of their families are on the line too.

UPDATE: Just one extraordinary example of how Trump is endangering US citizens and urging exposure to the virus, and why he must be removed from control of the strategy to manage the pandemic:

TRUMP: “A lot of people will have this [the Coronavirus], and it’s very mild. They will get better very rapidly. They don’t even see a doctor ... So, if we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work-- some of them go to work, but they get better.” – Fox News interview Wednesday.

Remember, "The White House overruled health officials who wanted to recommend that elderly and physically fragile Americans be advised not to fly on commercial airlines because of the new coronavirus, a federal official told The Associated Press. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention submitted the plan this week as a way of trying to control the virus, but White House officials ordered the air travel recommendation be removed, said the official who had direct knowledge of the plan. Trump administration officials have since suggested certain people should consider not traveling, but they have stopped short of the stronger guidance sought by the CDC."

All along the way, Trump has made every possible wrong decision on how to handle Covid-19. "From the beginning," reported Michael Shear at the NY Times "the Trump administration’s attempts to forestall an outbreak of a virus now spreading rapidly across the globe was marked by a raging internal debate about how far to go in telling Americans the truth. Even as the government’s scientists and leading health experts raised the alarm early and pushed for aggressive action, they faced resistance and doubt at the White House-- especially from the president-- about spooking financial markets and inciting panic. 'It’s going to all work out,' Mr. Trump said as recently as Thursday night. 'Everybody has to be calm. It’s going to work out.' … But from Mr. Trump’s first comments on the virus in January to rambling remarks at the C.D.C. on Friday, health experts say the administration has struggled to strike an effective balance between encouraging calm, providing key information and leading an assertive response. The confused signals from the Trump administration, they say, left Americans unprepared for a public health crisis and delayed their understanding of a virus that has reached at least 28 states, infected more than 300 people and killed at least 17."

Business Insider reported that "Hospitals are bracing for what could be millions of admissions nationwide as the virus spreads." How are American businesses responding?

• Apple is recommending employees at its Silicon Valley headquarters work from home.
• Google is letting its tens of thousands of Bay Area employees work from home.
• Cisco is closing a building at its massive Silicon Valley campus after a worker was exposed to the coronavirus.
• Sequoia Capital, the prestigious VC firm that famously warned startups about the 2008 financial crisis, published a memo urging startup founders to prepare for business disruptions.
• Bank of America is splitting up its Wall Street traders and sending some to Stamford amid concern over coronavirus.
• An employee at investment giant TIAA has contracted coronavirus, and the Manhattan WeWork office where they were working has been closed for cleaning.
• Goldman Sachs switched a 400-person conference at the last minute to an audio-only webcast.
• Morgan Stanley is moving about half of its Wall Street traders to its disaster-recovery site outside NYC.

Yesterday, I suggested looking at Maureen Dowd's NY Times column, Trump's Crazy Fantasy World in regard to his mental illness. Today I want to bring up something else from the same column: "Trump," she wrote, "is continuing his Panglossian handling of the coronavirus. 'The tests are beautiful!' he said as he toured the C.D.C. Friday evening, after a kerfuffle over delays in testing. 'The tests are all perfect, like the letter was perfect, the transcription was perfect,' he added, referring to his communication with the president of Ukraine. 'This is the highest-level test anywhere.' 'I like this stuff, I really get it,' he said, adding that maybe he should have become a scientist, like his uncle the 'super genius,' instead of running for president. Meanwhile, the stock market is still freaking out and financial angst is spreading from boardrooms to kitchen tables. We can vividly see in this crisis how close to the surface Trump’s id is and how easily he cleaves to delusions. He personalizes everything so much that when things go bad, he can only see it as an attack on him by the forces out to get him. He seems psychologically incapable of dealing with a virus that is complex and uncertain. The virus will be in every community and needs truth, honesty and intelligence-- all absent from the unstable Trump, who at his core is a frightened boy and pretender."

Trump's Xenophobia And Racism Is Very Appealing To Some In Tennessee

Elaine Chao, Trump's Secretary of Transportation-- and Mitch McConnell's beard-- was born in Taiwan and Trump's Secretary of Veteran's Affairs, Robert Wilkie, was born in Germany. Texas Senator Ted Cruz was born in Canada. Currently 28 members of Congress were born in other countries, including close Trump crony, Mark Meadows, who was born in France. Among the naturalized Americans in Congress today are Stephanie Murphy (Vietnam), Ilhan Omar (Somalia), Adriano Espaillat (Dominican Republic), Ted Lieu (Taiwan), Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (Ecuador), Norma Torres (Guatemala), Salud Carbajal (Mexico), Chuy Garcia (Mexico), Albio Sires (Cuba), Pramila Jayapal (India) and Mazie Hirono (Japan).

A normal American president would be thanking them for their service to the country and celebrating the fact that they chose to become citizens of the U.S. But no one ever accused Trump or being a normal American president. Many people have noted that, at least technically, he isn't even a legitimate president, since Russia helped to put him into the White House by stealing the 2016 election.

Sunday morning Trump was ranting and raving on Twitter about how "'Progressive' Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is too be run. Why don't they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can't leave fast enough. I'm sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!"

Ted Lieu was on MSNBC a couple of hours later and he noted that Trump is a "racist ass." Want the full context? "I never thought I’d see the day when a president was telling immigrants to go back to where we came from. Donald Trump is demonstrating he’s a racist ass. He’s not uniting us. I can’t wait until he leaves the office of the presidency." James Slack, a spokesman for UK Prime Minister Theresa May said she thinks "the language used to refer to these women was completely unacceptable." Bloomberg reported that "May’s comments are likely to put pressure on the two rivals to succeed her, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson, to join her in denouncing the president’s language when they take part in a live debate on Tuesday evening." The head of Britain's Conservative Party is calling at Trump-- knowing full well he will attack her as soon as he hears about it, while not ONE Republican congressmember has said "boo." Where is John Katko? Fred Upton? Brian Fitzpatrick? Elise Stefanik? Lee Zeldin? Peter King? Doug LaMalfa? Where's Mario Diaz-Balart, Don Bacon, Michael McCaul and Jaime Herrera Buetler? All hiding out! Not a peep out of any of these morally bankrupt enablers! (UPDATE: Texas Republican Will Hurd, the party's only African American member in Congress-- and who represents a 70% Latino district, was just on CNN and he agreed that Trump's tweets were racist. That's one.)




Earlier today, Señor Trumpanzee tried defending his Sunday tweets telling the 4 Democratic women of color to go back to the "broken and crime infested" countries they came from, apparently unaware that 3 were born in the U.S.A., and asserting, falsely, to reporters, "These are people that hate our country." When asked if he was concerned that most people see his disgusting tweets as racist, he said, "It doesn't concern me because many people agree with me." That's true; many do-- basically his own revolting Know Nothing racist base. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats rallied behind the AOC, Ilhan, Ayanna and Rashida-- and Pelosi is scheduling a vote on a resolution condemning Trump's comments. This will force every Republican to take a stand. I wonder if it will make any of her "Majority Makers" uncomfortable too.

Milwaukie, Oregon Mayor Mark Gamba, like Ted Lieu, wants Trump to know what he thinks of his racist, xenophobic and unAmerica attack on the 4 congresswomen. "The Conman in Chief is terrified of the four young congresswomen because even at his level of self delusion he recognizes what true patriots look and sound like. He recognizes that if they can start to shift our country towards a direction that truly serves the 99%, his game is up as is that of all the status-quo corporate sellouts. I stand with @AOC, @RashidaTlaib, @IlhanMN, @AyannaPressley."

Jim Himes, a congressman from Connecticut who was born in Peru, told us a couple of hours after Trump's crazy tweet storm, that "Once again Trump demonstrates the contempt he holds for people of color and those he doesn’t deem sufficiently American because they’re not of European descent. Apart from betraying our country’s core values, he is encouraging white nationalism. This white guy is not holding his breath for the President’s demand that I return to Peru, the country of my birth."

It's worth remembering that although Ilhan Omar was born in Somalia-- but has been living in Minnesota since she was 10 years old-- the other 3 women Trump was attacking were all born in the U.S. Ayanna Pressley was born in Cincinnati. AOC was born in New York City. And Rashida Tlaib was born in Detroit, which she now represents in Congress. Ilhan responded by e-mailing her constituents that "Trump knows exactly what he is doing with this bigoted attack. He’s stoking white nationalism because he is angry that I am serving in Congress and fighting against his hate-filled agenda.

Since the beginning of Trump’s time in office he has tried to ban immigrants from Somalia from entering our country. He may have succeeded in getting his Muslim ban but he won’t succeed in banning my voice and fight.

I will fight each and every day to repeal the ban and put it into the dustbin of history where it belongs.

His administration has created and is fueling a human rights crisis on our southern border. He is keeping children in cages, detaining immigrants for profit, forcing people to live in unsanitary conditions separated from their loved ones. I have spoken out about these terrible conditions at every turn, have called for abolishing ICE, and voted ‘no’ on the recent bill to give the Trump administration more funding on the southern border with zero oversight or accountability.

I have repeatedly called for impeachment proceedings to begin in the House because we have a constitutional responsibility to investigate Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Donald Trump is lashing out at me because I am fighting back against his hate-filled policies at every turn and that makes me a target. I am fighting for an agenda that is supported by the American people and that terrifies him.

By telling me that I should return to Somalia, Trump is trying to silence the voices of the people I represent. But I will always fight for what is right and will never back down in the face of Trump’s attacks on me.

I didn’t run for Congress to sit on the sidelines. I ran to restore moral clarity to Congress and to fight for and defend our democracy. And that is exactly what I plan to continue doing. Donald Trump lashing out at Alexandria, Ayanna, Rashida, and me shows that he is threatened and angry about our progressive, for-the-people movement.

One Republican congressman finally spoke up. Maryland's one Republican, far right crackpot Andy Harris, defended Señor Trumpanzee‘s tweets, telling a Baltimore radio station, WBAL, that they were not racist. "They’re obviously not racist. But again, when anyone disagrees with someone now the default is to call them a racist, and this no exception." So there you go! Harris' gerrymandered district-- by the Democratic-controlled legislature-- packs every Republican within reason into one big red district in otherwise all-blue Maryland. The state's PVI is a nice healthy D+12-- and Harris' is R+14. Trump beat Hillary there 62.0% to 33.4%, while statewide, she beat Trump 1,677,928 (60.33%) to 943,169 (33.91%).

Has anyone connected Trump's penchant for putting women and children into concentration camps with his German ancestry? Maybe instead of slamming these 4 women of color working for all of us in Congress, Trump should join Ted Cruz in condemning therapist Republican governor of Tennessee for honoring the founder of the KKK. Because of Bill Lee's proclamation, Saturday was officially Nathan Bedford Forrest Day in Tennessee, as it has been since 1921.

If if Trump refuses to condemn the Tennessee governor, Rep. Steve Cohen, who represents Memphis in Congress, sure did: "We should not be honoring Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and the perpetrator of the massacre at Fort Pillow. Gov. Lee should be bringing Tennessee into the 21st century not backsliding into the 19th."

In Trump's world Forrest is the "real" American while AOC and her colleagues are not. Here's a biographical sketch of Forrest-- so you can decide for yourself:

Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the most polarizing figures of the Civil War era, was born July 13, 1821 in Chapel Hill, Tennessee-- a small town on the Duck River. When his father, a blacksmith, died when he was 16, Forrest moved to the Memphis Delta and eventually became a successful businessman-- indeed a millionaire-- dealing in cotton, land and slaves.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Forrest volunteered as a private before deciding to raise and equip an entire unit at his own expense. He was commissioned lieutenant colonel, and issued this call to arms in June, 1861:

“I wish none but those who desire to be actively engaged. COME ON BOYS, IF YOU WANT A HEAP OF FUN AND TO KILL SOME YANKEES”

In February 1862, Forrest’s unit was stationed at Fort Donelson on the Cumberland when Gen. Ulysses S. Grant forced its surrender. Rather than accept Gen. Buckner’s decision to capitulate, Forrest and his men slipped away, through the snow, and fought at the Battle of Shiloh less than two months later. That summer he began to make the kind of lightning raids that made him perhaps the single most feared cavalry commander of the entire war and earned him the nickname “the wizard of the saddle.”

He was promoted to brigadier general and at the close of the year made himself a thorn in the side of Grant’s Vicksburg campaign, disrupting his lines of communication and attacking his supply depots. During a skirmish at Parker’s Crossroads on New Year’s Eve, Forrest and his men were totally surprised when a Union force suddenly appeared in their rear and threatened to surround them. “Charge ‘em both ways,” Forrest famously ordered. They did, and were able to escape the trap and to fight another day. Constantly on the move, bold on the attack and swift in retreat, no Union commander was able to effectively come to grips with Forrest’s cavalry during the war.  In September, they took part in the great battle of the Western Theater: Chickamauga. Forrest’s men pursued the retreating Union army into Chattanooga and took hundreds of prisoners. In December, 1863 he was again promoted to major general.

The following spring, in April 1864, Forrest and his men were involved in one of the most controversial episodes of the Civil War. After surrounding Fort Pillow, near Memphis, Forrest demanded the surrender of the garrison, which included 262 soldiers of the U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery. When the Union forces refused, Forrest’s men easily overran the fort. Then, according to several eyewitness accounts, the Confederates, enraged by the sight of black men in Federal uniform, executed many of the colored troops after they had surrendered: an unambiguous war crime.  Though accounts varied, the incident stands as one of the most gruesome of the Civil War era; “Remember Fort Pillow” became a rallying-cry for African-American soldiers throughout the Union Army.

Later in the summer, Forrest won one of his greatest victories at Brice’s Cross Roads, defeating a force twice the size of his own. His legend was constantly growing. That year, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman declared: “that devil Forrest must be hunted down and killed if it costs ten thousand lives and bankrupts the federal treasury.”

Forrest continued to torment the Union high command as the war entered its fourth year. In February, 1865 Forrest was again promoted, to lieutenant general, becoming the only man on either side to rise so far. When Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant in April, Forrest surrendered as well, declaring that, “any man who is in favor of a further prosecution of this war is a fit subject for a lunatic asylum.” Over the course of the conflict, Forrest had given as much as probably any man for the cause.  He had 29 horses shot from under him, killed or seriously wounded at least thirty enemy soldiers in hand-to-hand combat, and had been himself wounded four times.

After the war, Forrest is best known as having been a prominent figure in the foundation of the Ku Klux Klan, a group composed of mostly Confederate veterans committed to violent intimidation of blacks, northerners and republicans. He was “Grand Wizard” until he ordered the dissolution of the organization in 1869. Forrest died of diabetes in Memphis on October 29, 1877.

UPDATE: Mike Siegel's follow up:

I stand with Ilhan.

If you’ve been on this list for a while, you know I don’t spend much energy talking about the President. You hear enough about Trump elsewhere, I’m sure, and I prefer to focus on the concrete work we are doing here in the Texas 10th to improve the lives of the people.

But what the President said yesterday deserves comment. In essence, Trump told four members of Congress-- all women, from diverse racial backgrounds-- to “go back to where you came from.” A racist message, based on the assumption that only white people are “from here.”  Nonsensical, to an extent, given that three of the Representatives are American-born. But also targeted: in particular at Rep. Ilhan Omar, a naturalized U.S. citizen who arrived here as a refugee from Somalia.

Trump thinks that attacking Omar, who is Muslim, Black, and progressive, is good politics.

We need to show the world he is dead wrong.

Mike's young family

I was lucky enough to be born in this country. But I come from a family that includes Jewish ancestors, who came here as refugees; much of our family was not so lucky, unfortunately, and perished in the Holocaust. I also come from a family that includes Protestant ancestors, who came here as refugees, fleeing religious persecution. And so many of us have similar histories: how we came here, recently or generations ago, for sanctuary and opportunity.

And that, truly, is what makes America great. Despite the structural flaws in this country, the history of injustice and inequality, there is also a recurring theme: of families from around the world, from hundreds of countries and cultures, who arrived here to build a better life, not just for themselves, but for all of us.

And the attack on Rep. Omar-- at the same time we are locking up asylum seekers in concentration camps, and announcing nationwide “raids” to terrorize immigrant communities-- is an attack on the promise of America itself. Trump knows he cannot win if the diverse, open-hearted people of this country come together. His regime only prospers through division, fear and hatred.

We must fight back. We must stand up for Rep. Omar-- not just because she is an important voice and leader, a loving community member and sincere and committed representative, but also because she represents the best of this country. The promise of a better life. The poetry inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, that all will be welcome within these borders.

So let’s stand up for Ilhan. Let’s stand up for refugees. Let’s stand up for all of the marginalized communities in this country. Let’s unite across cultures and differences.

Together, we are strong. Unbeatable, even. And Trump knows that. Let’s make sure his days are numbered.

Early Voting Numbers Continue To Astound

This is the first week of early voting in the city of Racine. Turn-out is not just higher than for the last midterm (2014), but higher than for the 2016 presidential election. District-wide, Democratic parts of Wisconsin's first district-- like Janesville and Kenosha as well as Racine-- are over 2016 levels, while Republican areas-- Waukesha, for example-- are lagging. This is good news for Randy Bryce and for statewide Democrats Tammy Baldwin and Tony Evers.

Yesterday, NBC reported that midterm voter enthusiasm, nationally, is reaching the same kind of historic levels that it its in WI-01. Dante Chinni and Sally Bronston wrote that for all the uncertainty pundits and journalists may be seeing regarding the outcome, "one thing seems clear: A lot of people are going to go to be voting. From poll data to actual early ballots, the signs point to 2018 as a blockbuster midterm in terms of turnout. Last week’s NBC News/Wall Street Journal showed truly notable numbers for the percentage of voters who are highly interested in the election.

Overall, 65 percent of those surveyed said they had high interest in this midterm election. That figure is higher than any number seen recently. The closest election was 2006, when 61 percent said they were highly interested in that midterm. Furthermore, the trend in the data holds true for a wide range of demographic groups from women to Democrats and Republicans to white, African–American and Hispanic voters.

Beyond the polls, there’s more concrete evidence that voters are revved up for November. Looking at early ballots that have already been cast, the number two weeks out was actually ahead of where they were in 2016. More than 8.1 million people have already voted in 2018, according to data from TargetSmart. Two weeks before Election Day in 2016, the figure was 7.9 million.

...Georgia, Tennessee and Texas have each seen an increase of more than 500,000 early votes compared to the same point in the 2014 election. In each of those states the early 2018 vote has more than doubled compared to the same point in 2014, according to TargetSmart data.

And the ballot in all of those states this year looks similar to 2014-- they each have a Senate and gubernatorial race this year just as they did in 2014.

Arizona, Florida and Nevada, three other states with important Senate races this year that didn’t have one in 2014, are also seeing big boosts in their early vote-- all double-digits in terms of percentages.

...Whatever happens when everything is tallied, whoever wins and loses, it will be difficult for anyone to cite voter apathy as a cause. These numbers show an electorate that is involved in the 2018 election and ready to show it at the ballot box. This is what an engaged citizenry looks like.

Kendra Fershee probably has the steeped path to victory of any of the candidates we've endorsed. Her district's PVI is R+19 and Trump crushed Hillary there 68-26%. But... Bernie not only beat Hillary in the district on primary day, in many of the district's 20 counties he also beat Trump! Take Monongalia County: Bernie 8,096; Trump 5,971. Or Wetzel : Bernie 1,744; Trump 1,096. And Marion: 5,324; Trump: 4,035. Kendra is not running the kind of Republican-lite campaign the DCCC prefers to lose with. She's running on progressive populist issues that appeal to voters in northern West Virginia. "Our voter turnout appears to be up significantly," she told me today, "with Dems outnumbering Republicans by a 55-45 margin (that data specificity is limited to day 1 of early voting). As compared to other midterm general elections, my home county appears to have already exceeded, after four days of early voting, the average number of votes for the entire ten days of early voting."

Way up in the northwest corner of California sits one of the reddest pockets in the state, CA-01, where progressive champion Audrey Denney is challenging Trump rubber stamp, Doug LaMalfa. She told me yesterday that her staff had dug into the PDI data late last week and saw that the district had one of the highest-- or the highest-- rate of Latino and millennial returned ballots anywhere in the state.

According to the Texas Tribune "As of day five of early voting, 2,146,117 Texans have cast in-person ballots and 280,444 have cast mail-in ballots in the 30 counties where most registered voters in the state-- 78 percent-- live. That preliminary turnout has surpassed the total votes cast in those counties during the entire two-week early voting period in the last midterm election in 2014. So far this year, 19.8 percent of the 12.3 million registered voters in those 30 counties have voted."

Let's look at Dallas County, which has turned very blue in recent years. Two years ago Hillary eviscerated Trump there-- 458,845 (61.1%) to 261,865 (34.9%). The higher than normal early voter turnout is headed towards beating the 2016 presidential year, which augers very well for Beto and is likely going to see Colin Allred replace Pete Sessions in Congress-- and if not for the sheer incompetence of the DCCC would see Democrats in serious contention against Kenny Marchant and for the open 5th district Hensarling seat.

Dayna Steele's campaign manager, Mitch Zaiman, told me that the turn-out in TX-36, east of Houston, "has been extremely high. Early voting and vote by mail totals have surpassed '14 totals. While several counties have reporting delays, we currently have '85,516 voted' reported, putting us well above 2014 totals. District wide turnout is at 19.3% with nearly a week left to go until the end of early voting. Harris County itself is at 20% turnout through yesterday. The electorate has been exceedingly white and senior citizens so far but this keeps with previous trends. Yesterday, the first weekend of early voting did see more younger voters and people color turnout out as expected."



"Sustained turnout at these levels," he continued, "would be extremely positive for the campaign and Dems in general. There have been no indications of turnout dropping of yet. The question is whether these are voters who would have voted on election day regardless or if early voting allowed them to vote when they otherwise would not have. My guess is that the older, white voters would have voted anyway and that some people of color who are turning out on the weekends are taking advantage of early voting to cast a vote they might have otherwise missed. If this is the case, a relatively small percentage of crossover vote among traditional GOP voters would be enough to push us across the edge and win. If we see these levels of turnout continue through early voting and, if turnout on election day is 40-50% of the total vote, then we will have achieved the turnout to win. None of this is far outside the norm nationally but has never been seen in this district. Assuming all these things happen and trends from previous elections are not skewed we can win in a remarkably red district."

The DCCC-- and therefor the pundits and journalists who take stenography from them-- wrote off Texas' 10th district even before the primary. But because the DCCC wasn't paying attention, a full-on reformer and progressive, Mike Siegel, won (with 70% of the vote) and has turned the gerrymandered district competitive. Early voting has been eye-popping. 80% of the voters live in Harris and Travis counties and there is record turnout for a midterm already-- with more women (52-48%) voting than men and unexpectedly big numbers for millennials. Contrary to past elections, there have been more voters in the Travis County parts of the district (Austin) than in the Harris County parts. Travis is bluer and Harris has a vote suppressing Republican county clerk who closes the earlier voting polls at 4:30, before most people get out of work, while Travis county is open 'til 7pm. Travis County has now registered 94.5% of eligible voters, something I've never heard of in my life. A quarter of all registered voters have already cast their ballots after just a week of early voting! Meanwhile, Mike has huge field operations not just in Travis and Harris counties, but also in Bastrop County and in Waller County, where standing up to local voter suppression and racism-- and two nights on Maddow-- have made him a hero in a traditionally red county. And, of course, one statewide Texas race seems to be helping every Democrat running down-ballot:

Will Texas Move Bluer On November 6th?

Who would ever have imagined Texas would have one of the most closely watched Senate races of 2018? Certainly not the DSCC, which hasn't spent a nickel in Texas. But the race has captured the hearts of so many Texans-- and, in truth so many Americans from coast to coast-- because of what an exceptional candidate Beto is and because of how exceptional bad Ted Cruz is.How much would you pay to hear Trump's put downs of Cruz a week from next Wednesday if Cruz loses! But the race is totally too close to call. The polls are mostly within the margin of error and swing back and forth.

The last public poll was by Ipsos for Reuters on Wednesday. Among all registered voters, Beto led by 2 points. Among "likely voters," Cruz was up 5. Let's hope Beto has a great ground game. FiveThirtyEight doesn't give him much of a shot-- just 1 in 5.

Although Beto has raised $60,773,550 to Cruz's $34,963,054, outside spending on behalf of Cruz is mind-boggling. The billionaire class is pouring money into the state. Over six and a half million dollars in negative ads against Beto have polluted the Texas airwaves paid for by donors to right-wing outfits like Club for Growth, the NRA, McConnell's SuperPAC and, most of all, the newly formed Texans Are PAC financed by a few fascist billionaires like Dick Uihlein, Charles Saulsbury, Tandy and Lee Roy Mitchell (Cinemark USA), Robert Rowling and Wall Street criminal Hushang Ansary-- to the tune of $4,386,762.

This week the Dallas Morning News, a conservative newspaper that had endorsed all Republicans since 1940 (until Trump came along) urged its readers to dump Cruz-- who they had endorsed in 2012-- and vote for Beto. "When," wrote the editors, "in the course of human events, a people become so divided among themselves that they can no longer engage in meaningful political discourse or even remain civil to one another, it is time to take bold steps forward. In looking at the race for United States Senate in Texas, we recognize that this country stands on a precipice.  Whether we fall off the edge depends on how we answer this question: Can we set policy differences aside, even for a moment, and agree to treat each other with the respect befitting a great nation, with acknowledgment of the humanity of each person?" You can see already this isn't going in a direction that's turning in Cruz's ultra-divisive and extremist direction.

We have been at divisive political moments before, and we know those often end when leaders emerge who find ways to get along personally even when they are engaged in grand, tectonic political debates. That is one of the underappreciated stories of the 1980s, when President Ronald Reagan and House Speaker Tip O’Neill worked together.  Even when they fought it out on tough issues, they fostered an enduring friendship.

For this reason more than any other, we favor U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke for U.S. Senate.  The pivotal issue before our country is public leadership, and here we believe O’Rourke’s tone aligns with what is required now. This inclusive and hopeful tone, along with O’Rourke’s approach of starting with shared principles and working toward solutions, offset any policy differences we have with him. Leadership is more than policy, and whether we are addressing the very real challenges before us now turns on our ability to find points of agreement.

In this respect, O’Rourke is the stronger candidate.  In conducting his campaign, he has displayed a demeanor that offers respect for each person and a humbleness that will allow him to open the door to working with those who hold political views different from his. We believe O’Rourke is right in calling for rejoining the Paris climate accord, supporting the vast potential of renewable energy in Texas, and calling for universal background checks on guns. He is also right to reject the call for construction of a border wall and to call for comprehensive and fair immigration reform.

By contrast, through his actions in Washington and his rhetoric from Iowa to New Hampshire and beyond, incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz has distinguished himself as a cutting figure in today’s politics. Lincoln, echoing the Gospel of Mark, cautioned us long ago that a house divided against itself cannot stand. And we believe that at this moment, we cannot afford such an approach.

That is not to say that Cruz doesn’t arrive to this debate with a host of policy positions that we are deeply devoted to.  On economic policy, for example, we supported the president’s tax cuts that Cruz voted for. And we stand with Cruz in looking to remove federal regulations that stifle job creation.  Removing barriers to American employment and prosperity is itself an act of compassion.

We were also moved by Cruz when he told us about meeting with the students from Santa Fe High School after the shooting there.  In those comments he listed a number of ideas on how to curb such attacks, including an idea we supported this year to create a unit in the Justice Department to find holes in the background system before they are exploited by the next shooter. He also supports political dissidents who push for human freedom abroad, support that we share as we look for ways to ground American foreign policy in a set of guiding principles that will rally others to our cause.

But there is a set of principles we would like to restore in domestic politics that starts with building political bridges.  Before he became Cruz’s challenger, O’Rourke was a congressman best known outside of El Paso for road-tripping across Texas and up to Washington with Republican Congressman Will Hurd.  The two had serious differences, but their camaraderie and their willingness to discuss compromise were a brief antidote to the political poison seeping out of the capital.

O’Rourke largely framed his campaign around the spirit of the road trip with just a few notable exceptions.  Those include saying he would vote to impeach the president, thereby putting himself in favor of what would be one of the most divisive fights in politics. At the end of the campaign he also broke with his approach to repeat an insulting nickname Donald Trump once slapped on Cruz. These are blemishes on his campaign.

O’Rourke is no conservative Democrat.  His positions on taxes, immigration, the judiciary, federal regulations and health care are further to the left than many statewide voters would like.  But he is shattering expectations in a state where Democrats haven’t won a statewide race in decades. The dollars he has raised and the number of supporters he has garnered are evidence of an embedded hunger in this state and country for a campaign that’s based on unifying communities.

In the divisive times in which we live, we believe that tone and leadership are the top issues with which to judge these candidates' tenures in office.  So we’re placing a bet on Beto.

The DSCC has stayed out of Beto's race. They would rather spend their money on right-of-center challengers Kyrstsen Sinema (Blue Dog-AZ), Jacky Rosen (NV) and Phil Bredesen (TN) and in protecting conservative incumbents who have alienated the Democratic base with their voting patterns (Manchin, Donnelly, Heitkamp, etc) And the DCCC never even bothered appointing a regional vice chair once Jared Polis resigned last year. They did that so they could run the show in Texas from DC. They did so-- terribly and have a real pile of crap for candidates, most of whom will certainly lose. The Blue America-endorsed Texas candidates-- none of whom are backed by the Democratic DC establishment-- can be viewed by tapping on the Turning Texas Blue thermometer on the right. [Note to the DCCC and DSCC: "blue" is different from "purplish pink" or whatever crap color you're crafting back in Washington for your putrid candidates.]

UPDATE: Ft. Worth

Yesterday evening, the Ft Worth Star-Telegram also endorsed Beto. It sounds nuts when they begin-- a smear of a very moderate New Dem: "U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz represent the hard left and right of American politics. Neither stands in the middle ground, where the real work is done to lead America." Wow! Brainwashed by Fox and hate talk radio! But they were still determined to not endorse Cruz again:

But only O’Rourke seems interested in making deals or finding middle ground. That is why the El Paso Democrat would make the best senator for Tarrant County’s future, and the future of Texas... [M]uch of what he says, particularly about immigration and healthcare, sounds like what Texas business conservatives used to say before the emergence of New York Republican Donald Trump.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn says we shouldn’t deport Dreamer students over their parents’ mistakes. Former Gov. Rick Perry, now energy secretary, has said a border wall “doesn’t make sense.” President George W. Bush endorsed a path to legal status for those who came illegally but worked peacefully, supported the economy and showed good character.

These are the same Texas values that O’Rourke now defends.

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus wanted to beef up spending on public schools and find a “Texas solution” to improve healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

O’Rourke now champions both.

Cruz and O’Rourke both support free trade, which is essential for success in Fort Worth and Texas. Our city is emerging as a leading global distribution center, and Mexico is Texas’ No. 1 trade partner.

But O’Rourke would have more room to oppose the president’s questionable trade and tariff decisions, which threaten Texas.


...This endorsement did not come without some disagreement. Cruz is closer to Texas’ and Tarrant County’s views on issues related to faith and values, and also on energy policy.

But Cruz was elected with no experience in any council or legislature, and it shows. His intransigence prevents him from currying support or negotiating deals to help Texas.

This Editorial Board has recommended conservative Republicans such as George W. Bush and Mitt Romney for president, along with U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison.

But Cruz does not measure up. This office needs a reset.

The Star-Telegram Editorial Board endorses Beto O’Rourke for U.S. senator.

No One Likes Ted Cruz-- Can He Be Defeated By A Congressman People DO Like?

When Ted Cruz first ran for the Senate six years ago, the Houston Chronicle endorsed him. Friday, they made up for that mistake with a scorcher of an endorsement for BETO against him. Yes, "with eyes clear but certainly not starry," they enthusiastically endorsed Beto. "Eyes clear" means they know how tough it is for a Democrat to win in a red state where far too many Democrats don't vote.

The DSCC isn't helping Beto at all and the Chronicle didn't endorse him despite his progressive positions but because of them... something the DSCC would do well to try to understand.

I guess it wasn't close

The collective swoon that U.S. Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke has aroused among victory-starved Democrats nationwide recalls, even as it far exceeds, the fleeting infatuation that attached itself to another Texas politician not long ago. A Democratic gubernatorial candidate known for her 13-hour filibuster on the floor of the state Senate against stringent anti-abortion legislation, as well as for her watermelon-hued running shoes, she drew the same sort of clamorous attention that O'Rourke is getting this year.

As it turned out, of course, the Wendy Davis crush couldn't survive another sort of crush-- an ignominious 22-point loss to her 2014 Republican opponent, then-Attorney General Greg Abbott.

A similar fate may await O'Rourke in this still-fervid red state, despite the charismatic El Pasoan's attention-getting and indefatigable campaign, the ubiquitous black-and-white "BETO" signs in yards across the state and an astounding fund-raising operation that has raised close to $40 million while eschewing money from political action committees. Impressive, yes, but Lone Star State Democrats have learned not to get starry-eyed during their nearly quarter-century sojourn in the political wilderness.

With eyes clear but certainly not starry, we enthusiastically endorse Beto O'Rourke for U.S. Senate. The West Texas congressman's command of issues that matter to this state, his unaffected eloquence and his eagerness to reach out to all Texans make him one of the most impressive candidates this editorial board has encountered in many years. Despite the long odds he faces-- pollster nonpareil Nate Silver gives O'Rourke a 20 percent chance of winning-- a "Beto" victory would be good for Texas, not only because of his skills, both personal and political, but also because of the manifest inadequacies of the man he would replace.

Ted Cruz-- a candidate the Chronicle endorsed in 2012, by the way-- is the junior senator from Texas in name only. Exhibiting little interest in addressing the needs of his fellow Texans during his six years in office, he has kept his eyes on a higher prize. He's been running for president since he took the oath of office-- more likely since he picked up his class schedule as a 15-year-old ninth-grader at Houston's Second Baptist High School more than three decades ago. For Cruz, public office is a private quest; the needs of his constituents are secondary.

It was the rookie Cruz, riding high after a double-digit win in 2012, who brazenly took the lead in a 2013 federal government shutdown, an exercise in self-aggrandizement that he hoped would lead to the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Cruz, instead, undercut the economy, cost taxpayers an estimated $2 billion (and inflicted his reading of Dr. Seuss's "Green Eggs and Ham" on an unamused nation). Maybe the senator succeeded in cementing in his obstructionist tea party bona fides, but we don't recall Texans clamoring for such an ill-considered, self-serving stunt.

Cruz's very first vote as senator was a "nay" on the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, a bill authorizing $60 billion for relief agencies working to address the needs of Hurricane Sandy victims. More than a few of Cruz's congressional colleagues reminded him of that vote when he came seeking support for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. Cruz's Texas cohort, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, was effective in those efforts; the junior senator was not.

Voters don't send representatives to Washington to win popularity contests, and yet the bipartisan disdain the Republican incumbent elicits from his colleagues, remarkable in its intensity, deserves noting. His repellent personality hamstrings his ability to do the job.

"Lucifer in the flesh," is how Republican former House Speaker John Boehner described Cruz, adding: "I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life."

Lindsey Graham, Republican senator from South Carolina, famously said: "If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you."

Graham, of course, was being facetious-- we think-- and yet Cruz's off-putting approach works to the detriment of his constituents. His colleagues know that Cruz works for Cruz, first and foremost.

Former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Texas Republican who was adept at tending to Texan needs and who worked tirelessly on the state's behalf, once reminded the Chronicle editorial board that Cruz would have to decide where his loyalties lay when he got to Washington: with fellow Texans or fellow obstructionist ideologues. Six years later, it's obvious he's decided.

Cruz's challenger is running as an unapologetic progressive. He supports comprehensive immigration reform, including a solution to the Dreamer dilemma; health care for all; an end to the war on drugs (including legalizing marijuana); sensible (and constitutional) gun control, and other issues that place him in the Democratic mainstream this political season.

What sets O'Rourke apart, aside from the remarkable campaign he's running, are policy positions in keeping with a candidate duly aware of the traditionally conservative Texas voter he would be representing in the U.S. Senate. Representing a congressional district that includes Fort Bliss and numerous military retirees, he has focused on improving the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, with special attention to mental health. He's a strong believer in free trade and global markets, an economic position that should appeal to pragmatic Houston business interests.

As a lifelong border resident, O'Rourke supports our trade ties with Mexico and our need to sustain and encourage those ties (despite the anti-Mexican malice that emanates from the White House). In fact, he once partnered with Cornyn on a bill to improve those economically critical border crossings. He opposes Trump's wall, not only because it's an absurd and colossal waste, but also because he objects to the government's use of eminent domain.

"While he may look like the second coming of Bobby Kennedy to D.C. pundits," political scientist Jay Aiyer of Texas Southern University has written, "Texans can see that O'Rourke has more in common with the politics and approach of former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, who advocated for modernizing Texas through bipartisan cooperation during his time leading the Texas Senate."

Aiyer also compares O'Rourke to Lloyd Bentsen, Ann Richards and Mark White-- reform-minded Democrats all, "who recognized the need to expand opportunities systematically when leading a conservative state."

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.