Beto and the Spanish name-game in the Texas governor's race

[Jilly_in_VA]

Within hours of former congressman Beto O’Rourke announcing his intent to run for governor of Texas against incumbent Greg Abbott, the Republican party apparatus began tweeting about “Robert Francis O’Rourke.”

It harkened back to the days the GOP referred to “Barack Hussein Obama”. But instead of suggesting to the American people that Obama might be some kind of foreigner, the recent GOP maneuver has the opposite goal: reminding voters of O’Rourke’s all-American, all Anglo pedigree.

“Robert Francis O’Rourke thinks it is ‘dangerous’ for you to have a gun to defend yourself,” Abbott tweeted of the Democrat on his campaign account after the acquittal of murder suspect Kyle Rittenhouse in Wisconsin. “Texans know that self-defense is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution. We won’t let dangerous progressive policies hijack your God-given rights.”

It should be an interesting maneuver by Abbott who, pre-O’Rourke, was waging an aggressive anti-immigrant campaign that many view as anti-Hispanic. Now, with O’Rourke in the race, Abbott appears to be following the Ted Cruz campaign model of trying to appeal to Hispanic sentiment by accusing the Democratic challenger of cultural appropriation.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/29/beto-o-rourke-greg-abbott-texas-governor
____________________________________________________________________________
But narya word about their own Rafael E. Cruz?

[LakeArenal]

1. Because he uses Beto as a nickname?

Is Beto Spanish for something?

This seems digging pretty deep for a smear.

[dsc]

2. It is likely a shortening of Roberto

[Jilly_in_VA]

3. It's the common Spanish nickname for Roberto

and wouldn't be unusual for a kid named "Robert" growing up in El Paso. Gov. Hot Wheels is just being an a-hole, as usual for him.

[LakeArenal]

6. Lame. Stooped. If Hispanics vote for Abbott then they and Texas are screwed.

[yellowdogintexas]

5. He was nicknamed Beto at a very early age. There is a picture of him with his

siblings, wearing a sweater with a large 'B' on the front - for Beto. Not R for Robert

He looks to be about 4 or 5.

El Paso is a border city - one of the largest if not the largest. Of course he had friends of Mexican heritage; of course he played with them. Not much of a stretch he would be called Beto.

This is an old smear that I hoped had worn out its usefulness. I should have known better

[MagickMuffin]

4. "hijack your God-given rights."

Greg you ignorant slut, god has nothing to do with gun rights. Jesus would NOT be a gun advocate, just a hunch.

[yellowdogintexas]

7. That shooting in El Paso really impacted him

Even if he had been riding high in the presidential primary I do not think he would have stayed in the race after that.

TFG goes down and does a disgusting photo op. Beto is back home meeting with families, giving comfort where he can.

He would make a great governor and if he is teamed with Mike Collier as Lt Gov it will be wonderful.

Everyone has to vote; there are no acceptable reasons to skip this election