In this Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018, photo, Texas Democratic Congressman Beto O’Rourke, right, gives a “thumbs-up” to a supporter following a town hall meeting in Mission, Texas. O’Rourke is forsaking a safe seat in Congress and a rising-star career for the longest of odds in an attempt to unseat Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. High-energy, bilingual and photogenic, with a lanky, 6-foot-4 frame and a mop of dark hair that’s begun turning gray, O’Rourke reminds some in Texas of a Spanish-speaking Kennedy. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

On Saturday, Democrat nominee for Senate in Texas, Robert O’Rourke, who goes by the traditional Gaelic nickname of Beto, was on a panel discussion at the SXSW event in Austin. The subject of gun control came up. O’Rourke bashed Ted Cruz for taking money from the NRA and then offered:

At SXSW, Beto O'Rourke says there's no reason an AR-15 should be sold to civilians. “I have no idea how that polls and I should give a shit what the NRA” thinks about it.

— Michael Calderone (@mlcalderone) March 10, 2018

While advocating banning the most popular rifle type in America will go over big in some places, Texas isn’t one of them. Likewise, O’Rourke might do well to look at what the congressional delegation from Texas thinks about the NRA. Nearly all of them, no matter the party, have an “A” rating from the NRA.

In the Texas primary last week, Ted Cruz ran against very little opposition. O’Rourke barely cleared 60%. Even so, Ted Cruz’s vote tally, in a race with a lot less interest than O’Rourke’s, exceeded that of all Democrats combined.

This all leads one to believe that O’Rourke is much more focused on raising his own personal profile than he is in trying to actually win a Senate seat.

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