Last week, I was flying to Washington DC on Southwest Airlines with a layover in Dallas. I was en route to the Hispanic Wealth Project Policy Forum at the Urban Institute and looking forward to seeing my friends and colleagues from around the country. While I was boarding in Dallas, my daughter, who was flying with me, jabbed her elbow into my side and subtly pointed towards a skinny guy in a baseball cap that was also boarding. It was none other than Beto O’Rourke the former senatorial candidate from Texas, who even though did not win, ran such an inspiring campaign that he became a nationwide household name. O’Rourke, who is Irish, grew up in heavily Hispanic El Paso, speaks fluent Spanish and was given the common Mexican nickname of “Beto” when he was a child. His political rivals accused him of “pretending to be Latino” in order to win favor with Hispanic voters, which was ridiculous. In my view, his nickname had almost nothing to do with his popularity. Beto was simply the antithesis of everything that is wrong with politics today. He was genuine, intelligent, and refused to get into the gutter with personal attacks. His speech on why he supports Colin Kaepernick’s right to protest was vintage Beto. O’Rourke lost to Ted Cruz in a solid red state by less than two percentage points. As he was walking through the airplane aisle, I stopped him and congratulated him on running an amazing campaign and let him know that I hope to see him competing again soon. He put his bag down, shook my hand and thanked me. Later I read on Twitter that he was in town to meet with Barack Obama. Some think he is gearing up for a 2020 presidential run. Whether it is Beto or someone else, I just hope we get a candidate who campaigns on a message that brings people together rather than tearing them apart, who speaks to our virtues rather than our fears, and who understands that the fate of the planet relies directly on the United States of America being the moral leader of the free world.
Never in U.S. history have we had two older or less popular candidates running for president of the United States than we do today. We repeatedly hear the question, “How can these two candidates be the best our country has to offer?”.
if you are primarily fearful of living in a society that is racist and discriminatory, you should be very concerned with what is happening with the political far left. If your primary fear is moving our society towards socialism and communism, then you should be mostly fearful of the political far right. That statement may seem counterintuitive, but it is absolutely true.
People on the political right believe that people on the extreme left are the biggest problems in our nation. People on the political left think that people on the extreme right pose the biggest threat. This is one occasion when both sides are correct.