I’ve never heard Beto swear to be vulgar; it is always to emphasize a point in raw, authentic terms that matches how many regular people actually talk.
During the 2018 Senate race, Ted Cruz thought putting out an ad showcasing Beto swearing would be a good idea. Instead this only increased Beto’s popularity and was free publicity courtesy of the Cruz campaign.
adage.com/...
Cue a shot of a smiling, athletic-looking O'Rourke jogging down the street, as the announcer closes with "Beto O'Rourke: He's showing the [bleep] up" (those same words appear on screen with "#@%*" instead of the bleep).
I don't know what Cruz’s team was thinking when deciding it would be a good idea to put out an ad saying that Beto is showing the fuck up.
Wait a second. A politician "showing up across Texas" sounds like a good thing—
Would this work for all politicians? If others try to copy Beto and swear just to swear, it might come across as contrived. But here are examples of other politicians such as Rashida Tlaib, Biden, and Kamala effectively using variations of “fuck” to emphasize what they are saying. What matters is authenticity.
www.vox.com/…
Tlaib — the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress — said, “When your son looks at you and said ‘Mamma, look, you won — bullies don’t win.’ And I said, ‘Baby they don’t, because we’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna impeach the motherfucker!’”
www.huffpost.com/...
Vice President Joe Biden, perhaps overcome with excitement during his speech congratulating President Obama on the passage of health care reform, dropped an F-bomb on live television when he turned to Obama and said, “This is a big fucking deal.”
Beto’s most viral movement, his NFL response, had nary a single curse word. But it carried the same raw, unfiltered truth. Most Democratic politicians in blue states had been silent on this issue while Trump tweet-raged against the NFL players. Many people at the time proclaimed that Beto boldly speaking out like this in support of the NFL players while campaigning in Texas would sink his poll numbers, but instead this moment really kick started his campaign.
Just like mandatory gun buybacks are polling pretty well now that Beto is out there leading and shaping the conversation:
abcnews.go.com/…
Beyond banning assault weapons sales, 52 percent support a mandatory buyback program in which the government would require owners to turn in their assault weapons in exchange for payment
Beto has never been one to wait to follow polls. Instead he leads and shapes public opinion to influence the polls.
In 2017 & 2018 while campaigning in red Texas, when asked if he would vote to impeach Trump, instead of dodging the question, Beto was the first of the current presidential candidates to call for Trump’s impeachment. Check out tobie’s diary on this www.dailykos.com/...
He was ahead of the curve on marijuana legalization also-- being from a border town he recognized the cost of the drug war and this was a key issue for him when he successfully challenged incumbent Silvestre Reyes for his seat in Congress back in 2012.
Please also check out this diary by scamperdo highlighting Beto taking a stand in 2011 against the Catholic Church in favor of gay rights benefits while serving on the El Paso City Council www.dailykos.com/…
With some politicians (think about Romney’s infamous 47 % comment at a fundraiser behind closed doors), you have to wonder what they really believe and if it matches what they are saying.
But Beto’s life over the past couple years has been been one of the most transparent with frequent live streams. He speaks the same message no matter who he’s talking to. With Beto, what you see is what you get.
To close, I'll circle back to swearing. I was unable to find a video clip of the Cruz ad (maybe he was smart enough to get it taken down), but here is a montage put together in 2018 by the Texas Tribune for your enjoyment:
And yes, I’m aware of the video and tweets from just yesterday that fit perfectly with the theme of this diary. But because of the potential for pie fights in the comments, I decided not to include. Unity.
UPDATED with comment from tobie:
You know who also liked to curse? Obama. I’ve always loved this story from 2011 about his debate prep and how frustrated he was with stupid questions:
The debates unnerved both candidates. When he was preparing for them during the Democratic primaries, Obama was recorded saying, “I don’t consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, ‘You know, this is a stupid question, but let me ... answer it.’ So when Brian Williams is asking me about what’s a personal thing that you’ve done [that’s green], and I say, you know, ‘Well, I planted a bunch of trees.’ And he says, ‘I’m talking about personal.’ What I’m thinking in my head is, ‘Well, the truth is, Brian, we can’t solve global warming because I f—-ing changed light bulbs in my house. It’s because of something collective’.”
The whole story seems very a propos to this moment.
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BFD Swear Jar for Beto
Reminder: Beto’s birthday is on 9/26, and we’re trying to reach 26 donations.