Sen. Ted Cruz’s, R-Texas, Democratic challenger isn’t serious about unseating the incumbent Republican.
That is, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, (née Rob O’Rourke) all but admitted Monday during an address at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, that he’s not serious about winning.
O’Rourke first got some applause when he told the crowd that there’s no reason why an AR-15 should be sold to civilians, according to the Huffington Post’s Michael Calderon. He added, “I have no idea how that polls and I should give a shit what the [National Rifle Association thinks about it].”
Thing is, the NRA is pretty popular in the Lone Star State, according to the most recent Texas Politics Project polling data. Forty-eight percent of Texas voters say they have a “favorable” opinion of the guns rights group, according to 2015 data. In contrast, only 31 percent of voters in the state said they hold an “unfavorable” opinion of the group.
The question that needs asking here is whether you need to take a guy seriously who runs statewide in Texas as the gun control candidate.
First, the AR-15 isn’t an unusual or especially scary gun — it’s actually the most popular rifle in the U.S. It’s a civilian version of the M-16 — your basic .223 sporting rifle, but with purely cosmetic differences from less-controversial models. Why single it out, except to try to give the appearance of seriousness in a larger and consequential debate? The operative words here are “try to give the appearance.” If you want to ban or restrict guns, that’s one thing, but singling out the AR-15 is just lip service.
As I asked last month after Dick’s Sporting Goods announced its sister company, Field & Stream, would discontinue the sale of AR-15 rifles: Why stop there? After all, handguns are responsible for the overwhelming majority of gun-related killings in the U.S., according to FBI crime statistics. If Dick’s or O’Rourke really want to put an end to gun violence, why not take it a step further and go after the type of firearm used in the Virginia Tech shooting? Concentrating all attention on the AR-15 only signals to the informed that you haven’t put a lot of thought into this debate.
Second, how serious a candidate can O’Rourke be if he’s running in Texas on a platform that includes a ban on the most popular rifle in America? He can get a lot more done for gun control from inside the U.S. Senate than from the outside, which is where he’ll be if he keeps this up. Banning the AR-15 is not a serious proposal — especially not in Texas — and the unseriousness of his position is compounded by the fact that he claims he’s not even sure where the polling is on the issue.
Which is, of course, also ridiculous. If you believe O’Rourke isn’t checking the polls on this and all other issues every single day as part of his Senate candidacy, then I have a bridge to sell you.
