Writing No One Off: “The most woke presidential candidate in history”
The Beto for America Newsletter
Hey, Team Beto, Rachel here! This week, Beto took a trip out to California - and instead of making traditional campaign stops, Beto met with marginalized communities, those often overlooked, written off, or actively pushed out of our democracy. Alongside his trip, Beto continued to lead the conversation around gun violence prevention, took on President Trump and his failure to act to protect our communities, and refused to let the NRA or Republican talking heads dictate how far we’ll push to get weapons of war off America’s streets.
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Roadrunner
Beto’s trip to California this week exemplified his commitment to reaching out to people who are often overlooked or ignored by our political system. From visiting Skid Row, where one of the largest homeless populations in the country lives, to meeting with individuals locked up in our criminal justice system, or locked out of opportunity because of the War on Drugs, Beto met with those whose stories rarely get told or whose voices rarely get elevated in today’s politics. Beto is committed to ensuring these stories are part of the national conversation because in order to address the challenges our country faces - systemic inequality, lack of affordable housing or a criminal justice system that disproportionately impacts communities of color - we need to bring in the people directly impacted by them and build solutions that won’t further divide us.
Check out a couple headlines from Beto’s trip:
San Francisco Chronicle: Weed dispensary, San Quentin, Skid Row: Beto is going where other Dems won’t
California’s Mercury News: Beto O’Rourke’s California visit: Is he the most woke presidential candidate in history?
Excerpt from the Mercury News
A few highlights on how Beto is running a campaign unlike any other candidate:
✳️On the same day that Trump attacked and disparaged homeless individuals in California, Beto visited the Downtown Women’s Shelter in the Skid Row area of LA, which contains one of the largest homeless populations in the United States. And Beto didn’t just pay this community lip service, he took time to meet with and listen to individuals on Skid Row and discuss how they’re responding to adversity.
Watch this video to learn more about Beto’s visit to Skid Row:
✳️During his visit to California, Beto became one of the first presidential candidates to set foot in a prison, as he visited San Quentin State Prison and spoke with individuals serving time about America’s criminal justice system. When asked why he visited the prison, Beto noted, “I’m running to be the president of everyone in the United States. I’m especially interested in listening to those who have never had a seat at the table, whose stories have never really been told. They’re every bit as American as anyone else in this country. I have an obligation to listen to them.”
Read more about Beto’s visit to San Quentin here.
✳️Beto continues to put forth bold solutions to the issues this country faces, as he’s done throughout his entire career. This week’s California trip coincided with Beto’s announcement of his plan to legalize marijuana and end the War on Drugs. Not only has Beto been calling for marijuana legalization for a decade - long before it was politically popular - but the plan he put forth goes further than any other candidate when it comes to righting the wrongs placed on communities of color by the misguided War on Drugs. During events in Los Angeles and Oakland, Beto discussed programs to ensure those impacted by the War on Drugs can benefit from a legal marijuana economy, as well as his proposal to begin to repair the injustices of the War on Drugs by providing Justice Grants to those who have served time for nonviolent marijuana offenses.
Check out some of the coverage of Beto’s visit and plan:
HuffPost: “The Democratic Party has increasingly moved toward a consensus that Congress should legalize weed. But O’Rourke’s marijuana plan, the most detailed one yet issued by a 2020 candidate, goes further, listing a spate of demands aimed at correcting a century’s worth of prohibition-driven injustices.”
CNN: “Beto O'Rourke's campaign on Thursday unveiled his proposal to legalize and tax marijuana, release and expunge the records of those convicted of marijuana possession and help businesses that sell marijuana use banks. The plan puts down on paper a proposal that has been at the core of the former Texas congressman and 2020 Democratic presidential contender's entire political career.”
Don’t believe me that Beto’s been talking about legalizing marijuana and repairing the injustices of the War on Drugs for a decade? Buy the book he wrote about this in ❗️2011❗️ here:
And you can read Beto’s full plan to legalize marijuana and end the War on Drugs at www.betoorourke.com/marijuana.
✳️Following his trip to California, Beto visited Aurora, Colorado, where he held a town hall and heard from multiple individuals directly impacted by gun violence. As the Colorado Independent headline read, “Beto O’Rourke chose Aurora for a political rally. It was a lot more than that.”
Here’s a quick excerpt from the Independent’s coverage of the event:
“Multiple men who identified themselves as Vietnam vets said they’re worried about seeing weapons they used in war so widely available in American stores.
“I saw what could happen,” said one man. “These are destructive weapons. I don’t know why anybody would want one of these weapons.”
One woman nearly sobbed as she spoke. Opponents of gun reform cite their constitutional rights, she said, “but we have a right to send kids to school, … to have a life without fear.”
When approached by a woman who disagreed with Beto’s support for an assault weapon buyback program, Beto make sure her question was heard and responded, because he knows that solving the crisis of gun violence will require us to talk to those who disagree with us.
And when asked by reporters what he thought of leaders in Congress pushing back on Beto’s call for a mandatory assault weapon buyback program, Beto refused to accept the premise that we can’t fix this crisis with bold solutions.
For his second event in Colorado, Beto held a roundtable on gun violence this morning, where individuals impacted from gun violence shared their stories and voiced support for Beto’s bold action on ending gun violence. Read AP reporter Nick Riccardi’s thread on Twitter to get a deeper look into the conversation.
Here’s where Beto will be in the coming weeks 👀
September 21: Des Moines, IA: Beto will speak first at the Polk County Steak Fry. RSVP here.
September 23: Gary, IN: Join Beto for coffee in Gary.
September 24: Columbus, OH: Beto to hold a town hall at The Ohio State University. Sign up for the event here.
September 25: Kent, OH: Beto to hold a town hall at Kent State University. RSVP here.
September 26: Erie, PA; Beto to hold a town hall in Erie. RSVP here.
🧐Looking to take action with the campaign? You can find an event near you on our map 🗺. And be sure to check the map frequently, as new events are added daily!
Help us get Beto to more places:
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Rise Above
Beto’s bold leadership on ending the epidemic of gun violence continued to drive the 2020 conversation this week. First, Beto took on Trump directly when the president tried to use Beto as an excuse for his own inaction on prevent gun violence from occurring:
Later in the week, we also saw evidence confirming that the American public is with Beto when it comes to removing weapons of war from our streets, even if politicians on both sides of the aisle refuse to acknowledge it. A new UT Tyler poll yesterday showed that 49% of Texans - yes, Texans - support a mandatory assault weapon buyback program:
(That poll also showed that Beto is outperforming the rest of the field in a matchup against Trump in Texas.)
We also saw this week that gun manufacturer Colt will stop producing AR-15s due to flagging demand:
As Beto has shown throughout his career, he won’t back down when it comes to bold solutions that strengthen our communities or keep our neighborhoods safe, and he won’t let Republican pressure or talking points hold us back from achieving real progress. And the American public, the president, and elected officials on both sides of the aisle are taking notice. That’s why we’re continuing to see columns like this one in the Washington Post thanking Beto for driving the conversation around an assault weapon buyback program.
C’mon Everybody
In our poll this week, we want to know what your favorite headline about Beto this week was:
INSERT POLL:
“O’Rourke rips Schumer for doing ‘absolutely nothing’ on guns”
“Thanks, Beto. We need to debate an assault-weapons buyback”
People Have the Power
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See you soon!
Rachel
@rachel_r_thomas