The quaking Texas debate between Gov. Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke Friday night conveyed a colossal debate between the competitors yet was generally free from too many outbursts – at least on one side.
The debate took place at the College of Texas Rio Grande Valley by Nexstar Media Group, and covered migration, firearms (Beto’s favorite topic), Uvalde, the power network, abortions, policing, instructor deficiencies, and property taxes. Democratic-based challenger O’Rourke is trailing by single digits in many surveys, and political onlookers said he really wanted a pivotal turning point to persuade more citizens to vote for him or pull electors from Abbott – but seriously the only people who are going to be voting for this guy are those who came from California.
O’Rourke’s general subject was to let watchers know that Abbott has been in office for quite some time and the issues confronting Texas today occurred or deteriorated on his watch. Abbott’s center was to paint O’Rourke as an augmentation of President Joe Biden, especially on immigration and the second amendment or guns.
The two candidates competed over the movement to open the debate. Abbott pointed at the exceptional number of illegal aliens who have crossed the border since Biden took office, all the way up until recent months, which has been a complete and utter mess under Biden’s watch. O’Rourke criticized Abbott’s Lone Star Operation and transporting system that has sent a great many travelers to other cities outside of Texas like Washington, D.C., New York City, and Chicago.
However, both agreed on one thing and that was that the Lone Star Operation should be defunded, for various reasons. O’Rourke said the objective of the program isn’t being met, while Abbott said that the national government should take responsibility and cover the tab. Abbott and O’Rourke debated over firearm guidelines in the state, especially around whether the base age for Texans to buy AR-15-type weapons is from 18 to 21 – but we all know if Beto had his way, no one would have AR-15s or any ‘assault’ type of weapon. No matter how old you are.
O’Rourke said he would like to raise the age since that is what the victim’s families are calling for. He said the only place an AR-15 or an AK-47 has a place is in war.
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Additionally, you can bet your beef and spurs they spoke on abortions. Things began with a video showing Abbott saying that the victims of rape and those who wish to have an abortion can access health care and report the pregnancy. They can get the Plan B pill which can help to prevent pregnancy. They first stated that Plan B is too costly to afford and not available to everyone among other things. With that, they followed up by asking Abbott if emergency contraception is a viable option for those seeking abortion for instances such as rape.
Abbott responded by saying that the pill is readily available in the state of Texas, and for those who are victims of sexual assault and need treatment or need Plan B, Texas pays for that whether it is in a hospital, a clinic, or someone who gets a prescription.
Gun-grabbing Beto got a turn at asking the same questions to which he responded by saying this election is about “reproductive freedom.” He made a promise that he will make sure women can make their own choices and kill their babies if they want to. He followed up by saying he wants to return Texas to the standard that women want – Roe v. Wade. Beto then goes on to call Abbott’s thoughts on the pill silly and begins giving out statistics as he claims Abbott is attacking women and their rights.
The full debate can be seen here, and for my fellow Texans, when it’s time to vote make sure you do your part and vote anything other than Beto because he is anything but Texas.