On Tuesday, after he comfortably won the Republican primary for his Senate seat, Ted Cruz asserted his Lone Star State bona fides by dropping a country music radio ad aimed at educating Texans about what real Texas men are not.
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Cruz’s opponent, Robert O’Rourke, a white man of Irish ancestry from El Paso, goes by the name Beto, a Spanish-language nickname. O’Rourke told CNN that his parents called him Beto on “day one” and that he has gone by the name his whole life.
And so it is that Ted Cruz, Republican senator of Texas, attacked his Democratic opponent, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, for using "Beto," a Spanish nickname for Roberto, when O'Rourke's legal name is Robert. The ad is a country music jingle, and it includes the line "Liberal Robert wanted to fit in, so he changed his name to Beto and hid it with a grin."
You're probably looking at that in confusion. Serious confusion. You're thinking, "Wait, but didn't conservative Rafael change his name to Ted?"
Yes, dear reader, "Ted" did. Rafael Edward Cruz, who uses the non-Hispanic sounding "Ted," as his nom-de-politics is accusing his opponent of crass assimilationism because his opponent is not Hispanic but uses a name that may make some people believe he is.
In response, O'Rourke, who grew up in El Paso, posted to Instagram a photo of himself as a toddler in daycare. He's wearing a sweater with the name BETO spelled out on the chest. "My parents have called me Beto from day one, and it's just -- it's kind of a nickname for Robert in El Paso. It just stuck," he told CNN.
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2018/03/ted_cruz_beto_orourke.html
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Cruz’s opponent, Robert O’Rourke, a white man of Irish ancestry from El Paso, goes by the name Beto, a Spanish-language nickname. O’Rourke told CNN that his parents called him Beto on “day one” and that he has gone by the name his whole life.
And so it is that Ted Cruz, Republican senator of Texas, attacked his Democratic opponent, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, for using "Beto," a Spanish nickname for Roberto, when O'Rourke's legal name is Robert. The ad is a country music jingle, and it includes the line "Liberal Robert wanted to fit in, so he changed his name to Beto and hid it with a grin."
You're probably looking at that in confusion. Serious confusion. You're thinking, "Wait, but didn't conservative Rafael change his name to Ted?"
Yes, dear reader, "Ted" did. Rafael Edward Cruz, who uses the non-Hispanic sounding "Ted," as his nom-de-politics is accusing his opponent of crass assimilationism because his opponent is not Hispanic but uses a name that may make some people believe he is.
In response, O'Rourke, who grew up in El Paso, posted to Instagram a photo of himself as a toddler in daycare. He's wearing a sweater with the name BETO spelled out on the chest. "My parents have called me Beto from day one, and it's just -- it's kind of a nickname for Robert in El Paso. It just stuck," he told CNN.
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2018/03/ted_cruz_beto_orourke.html
