Beto O'Rourke hogs the Democrats' money and refuses to share
If a voter ever needed a reason not to vote for Beto O'Rourke, the Texas Democrat challenging Ted Cruz for his Senate seat, pay no attention to that famous drunk driving hit-and-run in his record, and take a look at how he treats his fellow Democrats.
One, he's hogging the campaign cash, to the detriment of the others. According to the New York Times:
Aggravating Democrats further are reports that Mr. O'Rourke – not through any direction of his own – is receiving money from grass-roots supporters in states that also have competitive races. This has included word of an upcoming O'Rourke fund-raiser in Missouri, where Senator Claire McCaskill, the incumbent Democrat, is straining to survive a challenge from Josh Hawley, the state's Republican attorney general.
He's got the whole Bernie Sanders machine beefing up his political coffers and an impressive social media fundraising operation with small donors, too, according to Texas Monthly, and now he's raised some $38.1 million for his campaign. Democrat donors are, like money, kind of fungible, and when they give to one, they have less money to give to another. With money accumulating in Beto's pot, already the other Democrats in the tight-state races are complaining that they are starving.
As Republicans snicker:
"I'm delighted they're wasting their money here," said Matt Mackowiak, the chairman of the Travis County Republican Party. "Take $30 million of that and the Democrats could have won the Senate."
Two, he's declining to share his $38-million pot with others, in the event he doesn't spend it or actually loses, which increasingly looks likely. According to the Washington Examiner:
SAN ANTONIO – Rep. Beto O'Rourke announced Monday that he will not share any of his $38.1 million war chest, even though Democratic bosses want the cash for more competitive states.
The Texas Democrat told reporters after a campaign rally that he will not spare any expense in his own race and plans to leave all the money he has raised out on the field ahead of Election Day. He said if people who contributed to him want to do so for another campaign, they should do that. O'Rourke raised an eye-watering $38.1 million from July to September.
"No," O'Rourke told a reporter when asked if he would commit to sharing funds with Senate Democratic candidates who are in closer races. "I'm focused on Texas. Most of our contributions have come from Texas. All of them have come from people. Not a dime from PACs."
Redistribution for thee, but, as with any commie, not for he.
That's got Democrats cheesed off and Republicans amused. The Dems should be furious. Beto has a long record of looking out for himself to the detriment of others. If that means leaving some injured person he drunkenly rammed into with his vehicle at the side of the road, or leaving his fellow Democrats in the lurch without funds, he's game.
What a guy. Sounds like a real winner for Texas's battered Democrats.