[posted by Stephen Fox~~~~ I firmly believe in the power of the editorial page, and the groundwork is laid for newspapers' editorial page endorsements long before those last minute endorsements take place.
Each person who writes a letter to the editor of their local newspapers makes a small but important stride towards the eventual editorial page endorsement of a candidate. It builds and coalesces momentum, and calls attention to early supporters by letting them voice their views in this highly potent and viable forum.
In small towns across America, editorial page letters are usually read more carefully and more enthusiastically than the longer editorials that the writers employed by the paper dutifully crank out and more than the editorial page letters in the big city dailies, which have fiercer criteria for the way they scrutinize individuals' opinions.
You would be surprised how much you can say in 150 words, the average desired length for a letter to the editor. I encourage Texans to write such letters to the editor, and if you aren't from Texas but have friends, relatives, associates, and amigos there, encourage them to do this also, please!
This video focuses on U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke on impeaching Trump and the 2018 elections U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke is nearing the end of a 34-day tour of talking to Texas voters about his race to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz~~~this post is his most recent fundraising letter almost verbatim, which shows a very logical populist of the highest and most sincere order.]
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Beto's letter to his supporters:
We had Christmas dinner at my mom's Monday night. Spent time with uncle Brooks and Tia Patricia who are in town for the holidays. More toys for the kids, and I landed some chocolate covered Oreos (thanks, Charlotte!), a sweater and the Chernow biography of Grant. After helping to clear the table, we collected our loot and drove back home for an early night at the house.
As we were cleaning up the wrapping paper and the remains of our weekend, munching on some of the cookies and scones we'd baked the day before, sparing not the chocolate-covered Oreos even though we had just feasted at my mom's and had no business eating anything else, Amy and I got to thinking about what an amazing year this has been, and how lucky that we've been able to experience so much of it as a family, sometimes physically apart but always together.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the O'Rourkes!
From the early days of the campaign, when I was traveling solo from town to town, just asking to meet with anyone who'd spend some time with me, where I had the chance to first introduce myself and learn from mayors, farmers, students, doctors, Uber drivers, musicians, artists, teachers, librarians -- people from every walk of life -- about what's most important to them in their lives, in their towns, in this state, in our country...
To this summer when Amy and the kids climbed into the Tundra with me and traveled the state, hiking in Big Bend, sleeping under the stars in Fort Davis or Palo Duro, listening to the mariachis in Marfa (who'd traveled up from Presidio), watching the sunset in Canadian, eating BBQ in Fort Stockton, buying farmers' produce by the side of the road in Donley -- the town halls we had in Fort Worth, Amarillo, Brownsville, Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Tyler, Pearland, San Antonio, Garland, Sherman, Wichita Falls, Hondo~~~~it's been incredible.
Incredible that we could find so much optimism, purpose and drive at a time that everything we care about and have worked for in this country is on the line. Incredible that in so many communities so many people had organized on their own, were not waiting for anyone to give them orders, were going to take the future into their own hands and make it a better one for this country.
Listening to you as you shared your stories and perspective on how we need to make sure that the economy in Texas and this country works for everyone -- big town, small town, rural and urban alike. About the need for great public schools, healthcare for everyone, college and job training that's affordable -- and so often from the littlest kiddos in the audience, the importance of clean air, clean water and a planet that's safe enough for them and the generations that follow.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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