.
.
.
Here’s some unsolicited advice — the only sort of advice I’d likely get to offer — to Rep. Gil Cisneros if he really wants to excite his base this November.
Dear Gil,
Given that you’re the best member of Congress I’ve had representing me in my roughly 30 years in OC (as I wasn’t in Jerry Patterson’s district), I have a strong suggestion for you:
Endorse Jessica Cisneros for Congress in Texas’s 28th District, NOW!
Jessica Cisneros is a 26-year old civil rights attorney in Laredo, Texas. She’s the kind of candidate that would excite young progressive Latinos — the sorts you need to activate to win in your tough district — anywhere in the country.
Gil Cisneros is well-positioned to help himself by endorsing young civil-rights attorney Jessica Cisneros in her March 3 primary in and near Laredo. Texas against pro-gun, anti-choice, and Koch-web-supported incumbent Henry Cuellar — but he’d have to act really fast!
She’s more liberal than you are, sure. But her high profile (being one of the top candidates recruited by AOC‘s “Justice Democrats”) — and the happy accident of her sharing your surname — means that when you bring her out to fund-raise for herself, and get out the vote for you, )no doubt praising you for your courage and good taste!), you’ll be swimming in cred.
I wouldn’t even bring up possibility to you except for one thing: her opponent is more conservative than you on issues that you care about. Henry Cuellar is a member of the moderate New Democrat Coalition, as are you — and living in your district, I can understand that — but he’s also a member of the much more conservative Blue Dog Coalition — which, thankfully, you are not. He’s also been accepting money from the Koch Brothers PAC.
Most importantly, he’s got an almost perfect record with the NRA and is anti-choice — so standing up for Cisneros over him makes you a kind of a hero with the suburban set! The beauty of that is that if anyone challenges you on your decision, your being pro-gun control and pro-choice gives you a great reason why! (You’d be joining Julian Castro in endorsing her, by the way.)
She is raising gobs of money, by the way, and is considered to be a serious threat to defeat Cuellar. Your stepping in now, while it can still help, gets you in good with the first Mexican-American member of “The Squad” and gives you a talking point to fend off criticism when you have to do something in Congress to show that you’re moderate enough for your district. (We understand that you do have to, in most cases — but cred with the left helps you survive that.)
Best of all, it gives you a little more independence from Nancy Pelosi and the head of the DCCC (really good article there!) who support Cuellar for no more apparent reason than that endorsing incumbents is what your colleagues, over your early objections, put them in place to do.
You don’t have that restriction on you. I doubt that you, and the rest of the Hispanic Caucus, and maybe even the House Leadership that feels bound to support an incumbent, would feel that bad about losing a burr in their side and gaining another smart and appealing young member who favors the path in which Democratic primary voters — especially Latinos! — have already shown they want to go.
I think that this could be a master stroke for you. Maybe, for all I know, you’re friends with Cuellar — but don’t worry, you’d end up being better friends with Jessica, and you wouldn’t have to explain away votes that drag you down in your suburban district.
Just to help you along, I’m starting a #CisnerosEndorseCisneros hashtag and will try — as best I can without a Twitter account — to get it circulating. Hope you agree with me, Rep. G. Cisneros (not to be confused with Rep. J. Cisneros)!
Leave a Reply