Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez campaigned Saturday in San Antonio on behalf of two young progressives. Early voting in Texas for primary races begins March 1. AOC was there to pump up the crowd and get out the vote. What better way than to say that it is inevitable that Texas becomes a blue state and that is how “we flip the country?”

The timing alone of this focus on Texas by the leader of The Squad is interesting. Given that there is a red tsunami predicted in the 2022 midterm elections across the country, giving loyal Democrats, especially those of the far-left wing of the party, false hope almost seems cruel. November 2022 will be Lucy and the football all over again for Beto-maniacs and other loony leftists in Texas. It doesn’t matter how much the media swoons over Beto rallies or outsiders like AOC campaign for progressive candidates, Republican candidates in Texas will do well. Beto will not be the next governor of Texas and, if I have to guess, I’d say that Rep. Henry Cuellar wins his race, despite the dirty politics that likely are the engine behind the investigation he finds himself in right now. Just my opinion.

The young progressive running against Cuellar, Jessica Cisneros, received AOC’s endorsement in her last attempt to unseat Cuellar. It isn’t surprising that this is a repeat performance. Her agenda aligns perfectly with AOC’s. Greg Casar, the other progressive who campaigned with AOC at Saturday’s rally ia a former Austin city council member. He is one of four Democrats running in Texas’ 35th district. That district goes from Austin to San Antonio. The seat is currently held by longtime Rep. Lloyd Doggett who is running in a newly formed district centered around Austin.

The crowd at the rally were reported as being “hundreds” and they were masked. I’ll note that photos in newspaper accounts show an unmasked AOC standing in the middle with her arms around the waists of the two candidates who are raising clinched fists. None of the three were wearing masks. Maybe they just took theirs off for the photos. Ironically, the venue was called the Paper Tiger.

Among the reasons for supporting them, AOC listed their shared interests. Those interests are in Medicare for all, union jobs, and of course, they are pro-abortion.

“Here’s what’s exciting about Jessica’s race and Greg’s race, is that if we flip Texas, we flip the country,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “…Texas turning blue is inevitable. The only question is when. We are going to fight for a living wage, we are going to make sure we unionize the hell out of this state… and we’re going to make sure that not one dime is made exploitatively across any worker, especially the undocumented.”

Jessica Cisneros is an immigration attorney. She uses the personal story of her parents’ immigration to Texas on the campaign trail.

Cisneros said citizens deserve someone who fights for their rights. She noted her upbringing and the sacrifices her parents made during that time as the reason she became an immigration attorney.

“I knew that I wanted to help families like my parents have their shot as well,” Cisneros said. “It was because of a pro bono attorney that helped my parents navigate that abhorrence of an immigration system. And is the reason why I’m in front of you all today.”

Is 2022 the best year to be calling the immigration system “abhorrent” when the Biden border crisis is a top issue with Texas voters? It’s abhorrent but not for the reasons she thinks. Open borders isn’t the solution, the border must be secured and the leader of her party, Joe Biden, has no intention of doing that. Texans are angry about his lack of leadership on the border.

A name like AOC brings in national media, too, and that happened with this rally. CBS News covered the rally, which included mariachi music and bilingual speeches. There were also some protesters who showed up and chanted “take their masks off” and “F**k Biden.” It wasn’t a big crowd of protesters, only about 30 to 50 of them yet it was another opportunity for an anti-Biden chant to be heard.

It’s true that the big cities in Texas are blue. However, there’s a whole lot of Texans who do not live in the big cities and they are mostly Republican voters. South Texas areas that were once strongholds for Democrats are showing signs of change – especially areas like Hidalgo County where Republican Javier Villalobos won the race for Mayor in McAllen in 2021. Trump’s influence on Hispanic voters in Texas cannot be dismissed. Biden won the county by 17 points in November 2020 but Hillary won it by 40 points in 2016. The trend toward conservative candidates is apparent.

Texas may go blue again but not this year. It’s been a red state since 1996, though. All statewide elections have been won by Republicans since 1996. Democrats are fired up to turn the state blue and Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke has something to do with that enthusiasm. He’s running for governor now and we’ll see how he does. He won’t win but I’ll be curious to see what the final margin of victory is for Republicans in statewide offices.

“Texas will turn blue,” @AOC says to the crowd as they cheer her on. “It's inevitable!” pic.twitter.com/YZBJHCbx1n

— Priscilla Aguirre (@CillaAguirre) February 12, 2022