"We're solidly behind the senator, and I would like to think most Texans are. I believe they are," said Mitchell, an active member of the Koch political network who, with his wife, Tandy, has donated a total of $1 million to a pro-Cruz super PAC. "But there's a tremendous amount of [Democratic] money being poured in here to change people's opinions."
Mitchell and other Cruz supporters don't seem to have a glimmer of understanding how and why Beto has achieved what he has accomplished thus far, through a totally grass roots populist campaign reaching out to Texans that Cruz ignored for a whole term, and doing so by his Town Hall Meetings in every county seat in Texas. All the Cruz supporters seem to comprehend is shown in how they cast Beto's successes thus far: "outside" Democrat money, as if money can buy anything in political influences.
Cruz has filled his political schedule with fundraisers. He's turning to veteran Washington players like Wayne Berman to host several fundraising events for the Texas senator. Berman is on the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition, and has reached out to givers from the pro-Israel and financial industries.
"Cruz has made a concerted effort over the last year and a half to listen and work with many of us around town," said U.S. Chamber of Commerce chief political strategist Scott Reed, who attended a Cruz fundraiser last week.
Baffling that the desperate Cruz has even turned to his old "enemy," Donald Trump. During the 2016 primary race, Cruz called Trump a "sniveling coward" and pointedly refused to endorse him onstage at the Republican National Convention; Trump then responded by giving Cruz the nickname "Lyin' Ted" and linking Cruz's father to JFK's assassination.
Now, the president's son Donald Trump Jr. is expected to host multiple events for the senator in the Houston area on Oct. 3. Trump was eager to help, drafting the tweet in which he announced the rally, which he wrote would be held in "the biggest stadium in Texas we can find."
Administration officials are among those who've privately expressed concern about the senator's prospects. Those worries burst out into the open over the weekend, when Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, told Republican National Committee meeting donors that Cruz could lose; this was reported in the NY Times.
After being elected in 2012, Cruz clashed repeatedly with GOP leadership -- he once took to the Senate floor to call McConnell, the majority leader, a liar. But senior Republicans are putting all that behind them.
Cornyn, who expects to hit the trail for Cruz in October, lavished praise on his Texas colleague, saying that since the 2016 election he'd become a "team player" who worked collaboratively with fellow senators. Although in 2014, Cruz snubbed Cornyn and refused to endorse the senior senator in his primary election. Now, Cornyn's story is quite different: "We're all adults, and I'd like to think that we're professionals. We understand what's at stake."
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Texans must watch for campaign hoaxesThe Labor Day holiday traditionally begins the serious phase of political campaigns, and right on time, Texans got their first major hoax in the U.S. Senate race.
Someone who doesn't like Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke sent out a mass text message saying that his campaign staffers "are in search of volunteers to help transport undocumented immigrants to polling booths."
For the record, that's illegal, and O'Rourke's campaign wasn't proposing any such thing. It should also be obvious, but we hope that no one working with the campaign for Sen. Ted Cruz had anything to do with this either.
Clearly, this was a hot button that someone pushed to drum up opposition to O'Rourke and support for Cruz. The obvious goal here was to rile up Texans by suggesting that O'Rourke would benefit from a wave of voting from people who might be registered on the other side of the Rio Grande.
Texans, and voters in all states, for that matter, need to be wary of stunts like this. The 2016 presidential campaign saw too much of it from Russian meddlers, according to U.S. intelligence agencies, and lately even Iran's government has been accused of the same shenanigans.
The formula is pretty simple: Use fake accounts on social media like Facebook or Twitter to spread false reports or incendiary charges. Some are targeted to stir up conservatives, some are aimed at liberals. The larger goal is disruption and distraction.
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