Beto O’Rourke Claims Texas Democrats Were Hurt By Republicans’ ’Powerful Memes'
'We have to be far more effective on digital and social media'
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Former Democratic Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke has argued that Democrats suffered in Texas due to “powerful memes” by Republicans.
Screenshots of an email from O’Rourke describing to his supporters why he thought President Donald Trump and Republicans were successful in Texas during the 2020 election.
The screenshots were posted by Primary political correspondent for the Texas Tribune Patrick Svitek.
O’Rourke wrote as per the screenshots:
“We have to be far more effective on digital and social media."
“The anecdotal takeaway from those I’ve listened to, especially in border communities, is that Trump/GOP had a ferocious game (lies and powerful memes, effective targeting of new and young voters) and we had none.”
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The former Texas congressman added that Democrats should “talk to voters year-round” and target “those whose votes have been taken for granted in the past” in “the places that are hard to get to.”
Latest @BetoORourke email to supporters goes long on Dem lessons from last week in Texas: pic.twitter.com/BJJOSXaKon
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) November 12, 2020
O’Rourke noted that Democrats “can’t write anyone off."
He then urged the party to interact with voters in-person, while taking the coronavirus into account.
“Nothing beats meeting with your voters, eyeball to eyeball," he wrote.
"We should always find a way to canvass directly at the voter’s door."
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"There is a safe way to do this, even in a pandemic,” he added.
“The central messaging that many Democratic candidates felt obligated to adopt (because they believed that funding and other support from Democratic organizations were contingent on it) doesn’t work.”
On the subject of memes and the impact on elections, The Atlantic wrote:
"Trump’s impact on the internet is bigger than its weirdest memes or its most prolonged Twitter fights."
"His presidency has changed how Americans communicate with one another on the internet, heightening its tone of divisiveness and suspicion, shaping its norms and rules, and creating an expectation that each day online will be more surreal than the one before."
"Four years in, Americans are only starting to get a sense of how Trump has altered daily American life."
