Sometimes it's really hard for people to remember that an illusion is not reality. A good example of this comes with the presidential campaign of Robert O'Rourke. He is a creature of illusion, but reality has now gone far towards destroying him.
Let me explain. O'Rourke was a three term Democrat congressman from El Paso, Texas. He decided not to run for re-election but instead to seek a senate seat. He ran against Ted Cruz and he lost. To a great extent, he lost because Texans didn't want to elect a guy who had been arrested for burglary in his early 20's and then arrested for DUI and leaving the scene of an accident a few years later. He got off on the second arrest by entering a program for DUI offenders that required education and public service and keeping clean for a period of time. O'Rourke was also blessed with a very unlikeable opponent in senator Cruz. Cruz is clearly smart, but few people would ever call him likeable.
Despite losing his race, O'Rourke managed with the help of the media to create an illusion about who he truly is. Start with his name. Instead of Robert, O'Rourke used Beto, a Spanish nickname for Robert. The national media pronounced Beto a "sensation" on the campaign trail. He skateboarded into speaking engagements. He jumped on tables to speak. He was, according to the media, young, hip and "adored". He was the John Kennedy of a new generation. Except he wasn't really, but it didn't matter. Hollywood liberals who hated Ted Cruz rushed to pour money into Beto's campaign for the senate, so he raised big, big bucks. His popularity with the Hollywood left made his panache even greater for the national media.
The problem for Beto is that he began to believe his own press. He truly was God's gift to the nation, or so he thought. As a result, this little known, unaccomplished former congressman decided he should run for the presidential nomination. That was a mistake. Once he became a candidate, O'Rourke didn't only get glowing press coverage. Some of the truth of who he actually is came out. There were videos of him speaking to small crowds that showed his habit of always moving his arms as he speaks. O'Rourke looks more like some flightless bird trying nevertheless to take off as he flaps his arms through a speech. It's not a good look. O'Rourke's opponents made sure that Beto's arrest record became public, another blow to the illusion built by the media. He took wild positions like support for tearing down all walls and fences at the border so as to leave the USA with truly open borders. Sadly for Beto, many people actually listened to what he had to say rather than focusing on glowing articles from media syncophants trying to preserve the illusion created around Beto.
As reality has set in, Beto's poll numbers have crashed. He never got into double digits in the national polls, but lately he can't even seem to get 4%.
So how does Beto deal with this problem? Not surprisingly, he is going to "reintroduce" himself to America. In other words, Beto is going to try to create yet another new illusion about who he truly is. For someone like Beto, it's all about the image, not the reality.
Beto will soon learn that once you lose the illusion, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to get it back. He could save himself a lot of pain by pulling out of the race now. What is the point of campaigning for eight months only to get scant support in the primaries?
Let me explain. O'Rourke was a three term Democrat congressman from El Paso, Texas. He decided not to run for re-election but instead to seek a senate seat. He ran against Ted Cruz and he lost. To a great extent, he lost because Texans didn't want to elect a guy who had been arrested for burglary in his early 20's and then arrested for DUI and leaving the scene of an accident a few years later. He got off on the second arrest by entering a program for DUI offenders that required education and public service and keeping clean for a period of time. O'Rourke was also blessed with a very unlikeable opponent in senator Cruz. Cruz is clearly smart, but few people would ever call him likeable.
Despite losing his race, O'Rourke managed with the help of the media to create an illusion about who he truly is. Start with his name. Instead of Robert, O'Rourke used Beto, a Spanish nickname for Robert. The national media pronounced Beto a "sensation" on the campaign trail. He skateboarded into speaking engagements. He jumped on tables to speak. He was, according to the media, young, hip and "adored". He was the John Kennedy of a new generation. Except he wasn't really, but it didn't matter. Hollywood liberals who hated Ted Cruz rushed to pour money into Beto's campaign for the senate, so he raised big, big bucks. His popularity with the Hollywood left made his panache even greater for the national media.
The problem for Beto is that he began to believe his own press. He truly was God's gift to the nation, or so he thought. As a result, this little known, unaccomplished former congressman decided he should run for the presidential nomination. That was a mistake. Once he became a candidate, O'Rourke didn't only get glowing press coverage. Some of the truth of who he actually is came out. There were videos of him speaking to small crowds that showed his habit of always moving his arms as he speaks. O'Rourke looks more like some flightless bird trying nevertheless to take off as he flaps his arms through a speech. It's not a good look. O'Rourke's opponents made sure that Beto's arrest record became public, another blow to the illusion built by the media. He took wild positions like support for tearing down all walls and fences at the border so as to leave the USA with truly open borders. Sadly for Beto, many people actually listened to what he had to say rather than focusing on glowing articles from media syncophants trying to preserve the illusion created around Beto.
As reality has set in, Beto's poll numbers have crashed. He never got into double digits in the national polls, but lately he can't even seem to get 4%.
So how does Beto deal with this problem? Not surprisingly, he is going to "reintroduce" himself to America. In other words, Beto is going to try to create yet another new illusion about who he truly is. For someone like Beto, it's all about the image, not the reality.
Beto will soon learn that once you lose the illusion, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to get it back. He could save himself a lot of pain by pulling out of the race now. What is the point of campaigning for eight months only to get scant support in the primaries?
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