AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — With Mike Pence and Donald Trump Jr. already visiting Texas and the president himself coming Monday, Ted Cruz is convening a veritable parade of Republican powerbrokers to ensure Democrat Beto O’Rourke doesn’t upset him.
O’Rourke is countering with the opposite, blowing off top Democratic brass for celebrity-style cool he hopes transcends politics.
That means rocking with Willie Nelson, securing shout-outs from star rappers and road-tripping with a 38-year-old Kennedy whose family name still has its mystique.
Their approaches seem divergent, but both overlap in wanting to fire up bases that they see as key to victory.
They’re doing that even if it means slighting moderates and undecideds — energizing the right and left while ignoring the political middle.
