The following Letter to the Editor was penned by Kathie Greer and was submitted for publication by Carole McDaniel
Panhandle citizens might find a small degree of encouragement, along with their shock at the news that Ted Cruz is finally going to show up in Canyon.
Cruz spent his first term running for president. He was in New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, and all 99 counties of Iowa. But he hasn't bothered to hold town halls to hear Texans' concerns or to represent our interests. Serving our state is secondary to his presidential aspirations.
Last summer, Indivisible Amarillo invited him to Amarillo for a Town Hall. He didn't even have enough courtesy to respond. Using his position as a ladder to higher office not only left our needs behind, but it cost us a seat at the table. The record shows that he missed hundreds of votes in the Senate and refused to work with anyone -- even those of his own party. He doesn't care about Texas or Texans.
So why is he suddenly showing up now? Perhaps he’s feeling the Beto heat. Since launching his campaign a year ago, Congressman Beto O'Rourke has been traveling the state to hold town halls and listen to Texans. He has been to Amarillo and Canyon four times. He's been to more than 225 of our counties, including the Panhandle counties. He, and his family camped out at Palo Duro Canyon and attended TEXAS. Beto cares about the people of this area and wants to know what's on our minds. He's not only shared his ideas for healthcare, jobs, and education, but he's answered our questions and returned for additional visits where we could hold him accountable for the way he promised to run his campaign -- without PACs and special interests and focused on the big, bold, important things we want for our state. Beto didn't just show up to ask for our vote.
Now Cruz thinks he can just drop into town, hold a meeting that doesn't include direct interaction with constituents and expect our vote. I don't think so. We only get two senators, and I want them to be focused on us, accountable to us, and willing to go to work every day for us.
Beto is the kind of representative Texas deserves, and he's the kind of Senator we need at such an important time in our country's history.
