ALDINE – A huge crowd of several thousand supporters turned out for a Beto O’Rourke rally and Town Hall meeting last Saturday, at the Escapade Club on the Eastex Freeway.
Beto, as he likes to be called, is running for the U. S. Senate in the November election, against incumbent Ted Cruz. Beto is on the Democratic ticket, and Cruz on the Republican.
Beto, who is now a Congressman from El Paso, has been campaigning vigorously for months, bringing a grass roots style to his message. He has raised more money than Cruz, all of it on small personal donations. He points out that he has not accepted any PAC or corporate money, which is the mainstay of Cruz’s backing.
Beto told the crowd that this was one of the largest town halls he has had, even though he has appeared in every Texas County.
Some of the issues that he spoke about include getting “big money” out of politics, and not catering to special interest groups.
He has a special message for veterans, wanting to improve their healthcare, disability claims, and housing.
On job creation, Beto says the unemployed and underemployed must be connected with high-value jobs. He wants to invest in training, certification, and apprenticeship programs to allow Texans to keep pace with increasingly specialized professions.
A major issue for Beto and all Democrats is the Healthcare situation. Beto says that good healthcare is a basic human right, not a function of wealth, employment, or luck. He advocates a single-payer healthcare system, similar to Medicare, that covers every single American and works with every hospital, clinic, and doctor’s practice — private, public or non-profit — in the country. He wants Texas to expand Medicaid to protect vulnerable children, Texans with disabilities, and the elderly. He also believes that we must improve our maternal mortality rate, and ensure that women have the right to chose what will happen to their body if they are pregnant.
His message was received enthusiastically by a crowd that seemed very diverse, with all ages and ethnicity represented, and even some Republicans.