Rolling Stone interviewed U.S. Senate candidate, MJ Hegar (D. TX), about her upcoming race against incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R. TX). Here;s a little taste of the interview that’s worth the whole read:
I want to talk about the campaign of course. But I want to first talk about the pandemic and what’s going on in Texas. It’s starting to decline now, but it’s been a hotspot recently. I’ve been riding out the pandemic in Austin. I’ve seen it for myself. Half a million Texans have been infected with the virus and 9,000 deaths right now. Who do you hold responsible for this?
You know, I hold a lot of people responsible for it. Obviously, my focus is on John Cornyn. Obviously, [Texas Governor] Greg Abbott has failed us. Obviously people who have come before them have failed us. We had a health care crisis in Texas before the pandemic hit. We have nearly one out of every five of us without access to health insurance. We have rural areas that don’t have any physical access to health care. And we have politicians who consistently prioritize politics over public health, whether they are fighting for the insurance agencies and fighting to make it possible to discriminate against people for pre-existing conditions or sell us junk plans, or attacking women’s health care clinics because they provide abortion services. We’ve got to stop playing politics with people’s lives and start bringing people together.
John Cornyn has consistently downplayed the crisis. He doesn’t listen to experts, he spreads misinformation, saying things like, “We’re not sure if kids can even get it.” I mean, that’s so irresponsible, and clearly he’s being fed talking points and not doing his own research. I have such a lack of respect for people who don’t come to their own conclusions and make up their own minds. I mean when my team brings me an issue and says, “Here’s where we think you should be on this issue,” I’m like, “Oh, great, thanks for your thoughts on what I should think.” Then I go and do my own research. And I don’t see that with John Cornyn. I see a lap dog that just kind of does as he’s told.
He’s also failing us on the economic side of it. And that’s a big part of why I’m running against him. I think we need more regular people in office that have faced the challenges of regular people, because our legislators have been charged with finding solutions to those challenges. For example, he’s on three taxpayer-funded pensions right now. And that’s why he’s not fighting so hard to protect Social Security. Not just because it doesn’t impact him, but because he projects onto us that he’s never worried about Social Security, so why should we? And we do worry about Social Security.
Give the whole piece a read. Also, click here to watch Hegar’s interview on MSNBC about protecting Trump fucking with the Post Office.
Also, times have certainly changed for Cornyn:
Cornyn spent the next several months not worrying about the Democrat running against him — who he easily defeated — but instead trying to diversify his base, running ads on TV and radio in five different languages, sending campaign staff to naturalization ceremonies, Holi festivals and more.
The efforts drew national attention, and there’s evidence they worked. Exit polls show Cornyn narrowly won the Hispanic vote, closing what had once been a 20-percentage point gap.
But that was 2014.
As Cornyn seeks his fourth term in the Senate, early polling indicates he is down again among minority voters — and this time his opponent, Democrat MJ Hegar, has plans to invest heavily in outreach to Black and Latino voters including targeted advertising, with spots on Black radio stations in the coming weeks.
And she has made attacking Cornyn for “xenophobic” and “bigoted” comments — such as wrongly blaming Chinese “cultural practices” for the coronavirus outbreak — a central part of her campaign, hoping to diminish his standing among Asian-American voters, a rapidly growing and increasingly important voting bloc, especially in the suburbs.
Let’s get ready to flip Texas Blue. Click below to donate and get involved with Hegar & Biden’s campaigns:
MJ Hegar
Joe Biden
Also, received this e-mail from Beto O’Rourke’s Powered By People:
We're now just about at the halfway point of August, and the Democratic National Convention kicks off on Monday. The clock is ticking for us to reach out to Democratic voters in Texas before the November election and encourage them to take to the polls to vote for Democrats up and down the ticket.
Research shows that consistent outreach is the number-one way to get people to take action. And with the Democratic National Convention now fast approaching, this November is top of mind for many folks.
Now, it's on us to take advantage of this moment and remind people why their vote matters, especially during this election year. That's why we're asking you for 90 minutes of your time before the convention coverage begins to make calls with Beto and other Powered by People volunteers. Will you join us?
This election is too important and the stakes are too great for us to not do everything we can in order to win. How we do in November — especially in Texas — can mean the difference between the start of our nation's healing from the last four years or another four years of Trump and his racist policies.
Victory is within our reach — and there's never been a better time to bring more people on board with our mission. All we need from you is a couple hours of your time this upcoming week to help us get one step closer.
See you on the dialer,
The Powered by People team
Click here to RSVP for the August 17th event.
Click here to RSVP for the August 19th event.
