The arena only holds 18k in Houston.

Let that sink in and I only saw this reported on Fox.

This man has tons of support and his Rs will win bigly.

I think Ted Cruz will win, but I’d be cautious about judging Trump’s popularity based on crowd-size.

Goldwater drew bigger crowds than LBJ.
McGovern drew bigger crowds than Nixon.
Mondale (sometimes) drew bigger crowds than Reagan.

Cruz thanking his lucky star for Trump.

Cruz has run a terrible campaign. I really think he is trying to out-Claytie Claytie Williams. Beto does not represent the views of the majority of Texans, by a wide margin, but nobody knows that because Cruz has not pressed the issue.

(10-20-2018 07:26 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  I think Ted Cruz will win, but I’d be cautious about judging Trump’s popularity based on crowd-size.

Goldwater drew bigger crowds than LBJ.
McGovern drew bigger crowds than Nixon.
Mondale (sometimes) drew bigger crowds than Reagan.

Trump drew bigger crowds than HilLIARy.

(10-20-2018 07:14 PM)DFWMINER Wrote:  The arena only holds 18k in Houston.

Let that sink in and I only saw this reported on Fox.

This man has tons of support and his Rs will win bigly.

Unreal...

(10-20-2018 11:43 PM)umbluegray Wrote:  

(10-20-2018 07:26 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  I think Ted Cruz will win, but I’d be cautious about judging Trump’s popularity based on crowd-size.

Goldwater drew bigger crowds than LBJ.
McGovern drew bigger crowds than Nixon.
Mondale (sometimes) drew bigger crowds than Reagan.

Trump drew bigger crowds than HilLIARy.

And that didn’t correspond with the popular vote, either.

But anyway, Cruz is in good shape.

Clinton got 43.2% in Texas in 2016. Wendy Davis got 38.9% in 2014. Will be interesting to compare how O’Rourke does in comparison.

(10-20-2018 07:26 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  I think Ted Cruz will win, but I’d be cautious about judging Trump’s popularity based on crowd-size.

Goldwater drew bigger crowds than LBJ.
McGovern drew bigger crowds than Nixon.
Mondale (sometimes) drew bigger crowds than Reagan.

Not sure those are very good comparisons. None of them ever won the presidency like Trump did.

Why do you keep saying Cruz is running a terrible campaign? What specifically are you referring to? The only thing I can see is that he just isn't as energetic in going around the state and drumming up support? Although in reading the Rice spin board, maybe you're saying Cruz isn't being negative enough on O'Rourke? It seems to me he's letting the Super PAC's do his work for him in that regard at least.

I'm trying to figure out why they couldn't book NRG Stadium. The only thing I can think of is the Texans host an NFL game there Thursday night but that seems to be a feeble reason why they can't reserve it for Monday. Surely it can't be a cost issue? My wife works downtown fairly close to Toyota - traffic is going to be a big time pain on her commute home Monday night. Monday is also supposed to be another wet afternoon/evening so I'm not convinced there will be as many people around there as you might think. It's not easy to get to downtown that time of evening during the middle of the commute home, and if the weather sucks, a lot of people will blow it off. Parking will be tough to find anywhere close to Toyota too.

O'Rourke's campaign is missing a golden opportunity to have its own massive rally. But it would need someone like Obama to step up and campaign for him, and that hasn't happened yet. As others have pointed out, he's been MIA for the most part outside of an appearance or two in California and was there one in Chicago?

O'Rourke has nothing but a toothy grin and a fake Hispanic nickname. I have been amazed at just how many people he has fooled into actually believing that he is somehow Hispanic. Elizabeth Warren is more Native American than he is Hispanic. It's all identity politics.

I simply cannot believe that the positions that he supports on issues are those of a majority of Texans, and perhaps not even a majority of those who will ultimately vote for him. But I have not seen Cruz adverts, either his own or PAC ones, that take Beto properly to task for his issue positions.

The bottom line, a vote for Cruz is a vote for a belligerent a-hole. A vote for O'Rourke is a vote for Chuck Schumer, who is also a belligerent a-hole. But at least a belligerent a-hole who votes in line with Texas values is better than one who does not.

I'm not sure you can compare the crowds at a modern president's rally to the crowds from Goldwater, LBJ or Mondale.
Life in the US is much changed over 35+ years ago.

Both parents work now. Free time is more scarce than it was 35 years ago and definitely more than 50-60 years ago.

Additionally you can view these campaign events on TV or online now. You don't have to be there in person like you would have 50 years ago. You could stay home.

If Trump is drawing huge crowds those are folks making time to be there in person. That demonstrates a level of passion and interest beyond casual.

O'Rourke is speaking tonight in Sugar Land at the Marriott Town Square hotel. More than 1500 people have signed up for the event already (and I suspect the hotel ballroom can't hold anywhere close to that number of folks). Considering he does an event like this pretty much every day and has been in and around Houston a bunch in the past few weeks, I'm just as impressed with that number as I am with the 77,000 RSVP total for Trump.

Again, I sure would like to find out why they couldn't book NRG Stadium. Isn't Bob McNair a Republican? You'd think he'd make sure they could get the stadium at a discount. That seems to be the biggest story behind the story here. Either Cruz is super cheap (and I thought he's raised a decent amount of money too?) or the Texans are denying them the stadium for some reason. Too bad our media outlets around here aren't on the ball enough to get to the bottom of it.

(10-21-2018 09:43 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Again, I sure would like to find out why they couldn't book NRG Stadium. Isn't Bob McNair a Republican? You'd think he'd make sure they could get the stadium at a discount. That seems to be the biggest story behind the story here. Either Cruz is super cheap (and I thought he's raised a decent amount of money too?) or the Texans are denying them the stadium for some reason. Too bad our media outlets around here aren't on the ball enough to get to the bottom of it.

My guess is that you are only interested if it reveals something negative about Cruz or his campaign. This event was originally scheduled for a smaller venue that Toyota, and was moved once. I can think of any number of logistic reasons why a second move would not make sense.

The fact is that they didn't book NRG, not necessarily that they couldn't.

(10-21-2018 01:49 AM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(10-20-2018 11:43 PM)umbluegray Wrote:  

(10-20-2018 07:26 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  I think Ted Cruz will win, but I’d be cautious about judging Trump’s popularity based on crowd-size.

Goldwater drew bigger crowds than LBJ.
McGovern drew bigger crowds than Nixon.
Mondale (sometimes) drew bigger crowds than Reagan.

Trump drew bigger crowds than HilLIARy.

And that didn’t correspond with the popular vote, either.

But anyway, Cruz is in good shape.

Clinton got 43.2% in Texas in 2016. Wendy Davis got 38.9% in 2014. Will be interesting to compare how O’Rourke does in comparison.

It most definitely did correspond with the popular vote.

In the US we have 51 popular votes -- all 50 states plus DC.

Popular Votes Won
Trump - 30
Clinton - 21

(10-20-2018 11:43 PM)umbluegray Wrote:  

(10-20-2018 07:26 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  I think Ted Cruz will win, but I’d be cautious about judging Trump’s popularity based on crowd-size.

Goldwater drew bigger crowds than LBJ.
McGovern drew bigger crowds than Nixon.
Mondale (sometimes) drew bigger crowds than Reagan.

Trump drew bigger crowds than HilLIARy.

Mike Pence at a solo campaign stop was outdrawing Hillary + Kaine together.

(10-20-2018 08:31 PM)HuskyU Wrote:  Cruz thanking his lucky star for Trump.

Nope, he’s already got it wrapped up.

(10-21-2018 01:55 PM)Kronke Wrote:  

(10-20-2018 08:31 PM)HuskyU Wrote:  Cruz thanking his lucky star for Trump.

Nope, he’s already got it wrapped up.

Ya. Because Trump tweeted his endorsement a long time ago.