Former Democratic presidential hopeful Robert Francis (Beto) O’Rourke had what he believed to be a foolproof plan to deny President Trump the Lone State State’s 36 electoral votes in November, and ultimately prevent his re-election.
O'Rourke's plan failed, along with every other campaign waged against Trump this week.
Beto's scheme involved a grassroots movement to elect a Democratic candidate in a special state House election; it went about as well as well as his own presidential campaign.
"The first critical election of 2020 is happening now in Fort Bend, TX," O’Rourke tweeted Friday. "Victory for Eliz Markowitz means we can win the state house and build the team to defeat Trump in Texas. Join us to knock on doors this last weekend before Election Day."
The special election was set for Tuesday. Markowitz lost, and not by an insignificant margin, either. Republican Gary Gates defeated her by 16 points — a resounding victory.
"They thought this was a seat they could flip," Gates told supporters at a victory celebration, prompting someone to shout, "No way!"
His success at the polls didn’t escape the attention of Gov. Greg Abbott, who referred to it as "hard fought."
"As we look ahead to the 2020 election, we must be prepared to replicate this success across the state if we are to secure a more prosperous future for Texas," Abbott said in a statement. "I look forward to working with Gary as we continue to keep Texas a bastion of freedom and opportunity."
O’Rourke attempted to put a happy face on Markowitz’s loss in a Facebook Live clip he posted while driving home, listening to the rock group Journey’s classic hit, "Don’t Stop Believin."
He told viewers that the special election "may not have turned out exactly the way we wanted [it] to, but I think what we did in preparation for this — the voter registration, the knocking on doors, the building the volunteer base, educating voters — all this is gonna continue to pay forward through November." He added, "And so keep your eyes on the prize."
This wasn’t the only win for Trump this week.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday was apparently the last straw for a liberal California-based immigration judge. He’d previously promised that he would remain on the bench until President Trump was no longer in office, out of fear that the president might replace him with a more conservative-leaning jurist — a reasonable conclusion.
But, the Los Angeles Times reported that, "as the pressure from Washington increased, [Judge Charles] Honeyman started having stomach pains and thinking, 'There are a lot of cases I’m going to have to deny that I’ll feel sick over.'"
One of those "pressures from Washington" may have been a decision the U.S. Supreme Court handed down Monday.
The high court ruled that the Trump administration was free to enforce a new rule that would prevent anyone who would likely be dependent upon the government for their support from immigrating to the United States and obtaining a green card.
A similar rule has been used in the past, but it focused exclusively on cash payments that an immigrant might depend on. The Trump administration wanted to expand that provision to include dependency on non-cash benefits such as food stamps, Medicaid, and public housing.
The administration was prevented from implementing the new rule after New York City, along with a number of states and immigrant rights groups, filed a lawsuit and a lower court issued a nationwide ban.
But everything changed Monday. The Supreme Court lifted the ban and the California judge threw in the towel. And he’ll ultimately be replaced with an immigration judge more closely aligned with Trump’s America First immigration policies.
Meanwhile, the Democrats’ attempt to oust the president isn’t going well, either.
After the first day of defense arguments, CNN analysts declared that "the Republicans are winning here."
ABC News appeared depressed that the House Democratic impeachment managers had botched the process and any chance they may have had to remove Trump.
And it only went downhill from there, with Harvard law Professor Alan Dershowitz explaining to the Senate why the impeachment articles were unconstitutional on their face.
Additionally, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi explained why Joe and Hunter Biden should be called as witnesses.
Maybe O’Rourke should have chosen a different song as a lead in for his Tuesday night Facebook Live post. "Don’t Stop Believin" was the background music used in the final episode of HBO's "The Sopranos," which cut to black just as Tony Soprano, his wife Carmela and children were seated at a diner.
The implication was that the Sopranos were taken out — just as Markowitz was taken out in Texas, Judge Honeyman took himself out in California, and the Democratic presidential nominee will be taken out Nov. 3, 2020.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to BizPac Review and Liberty Unyielding. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter, who can often be found honing his skills at the range. To read more of his reports — Click Here Now.
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