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After the El Paso hate crime, I thought a lot about what comes next. To me, the next major reckoning of the political moment was 6 weeks after the attack, when Democratic candidates get to present their opposing vision to Trump’s message, which is already crystal clear.
For @CesarJBlanco , a TX House rep & Navy vet, the shooting is personal. It took place in his district; many of those killed were his constituents; his family shops at the targeted Walmart; & the vigil after the shooting took place on the same field where he played Little League. 
Sen. candidate @cristinafortx wants Dems to point to the El Paso massacre as the “tragic climax of the hate- and race-fueled politics that propelled Trump into the White House,” likening his policies to poll taxes and literacy tests.
I spoke to @JulianCastro who told me Trump’s response to El Paso, his repeated signaling that he was open to universal background checks for gun purchases, before backing off after a phone call from NRA, should be criticized, but it goes beyond that.
“The vast majority of Americans are not racist, but some are, including this president” @JulianCastro told me from Des Moines. “The [Democratic] party should not be afraid of embracing the truth, and unfortunately, the truth is that Trump is a bigot. There’s power in that truth.”
Crucially, Texas Latinos are also insistent that ABC News make the El Paso attack, as well as its connections to immigration policy and white supremacy, a centerpiece of the debate. Jorge Ramos will be one of the three moderators, so all good right?
He’s influential and respected as the DNC told me, but I’ve heard from senior Univision sources that the debate is being considered an ABC News debate, which is taking the lead on the Qs, and getting first crack at candidate interviews, with Univision in a wait and see approach.
Issues w/ moderators are simmering behind the scenes. In an August 12 meeting of party operatives @ DNC HQ, Maria Urbina political director for Indivisible pressed chairman Tom Perez on what was being done about moderators presenting Qs thru a GOP frame on issues like immigration
At issue was the immigration section from the CNN debate where moderators didn’t touch on Donald Trump policies or family separations, but repeatedly peppered candidates about whether their proposals would encourage more illegal immigration.
“I love that you always ask the tough questions,” Pérez responded to Urbina, according to a meeting attendee, before adding that the DNC has voiced its concerns to the networks about how they frame questions around immigration before and after debates and will continue to do so.
As he did after El Paso @BetoORourke told me it’s also up to media to ”connect the dots for people about the president’s racism and rhetoric and invitation to violence and what we saw in El Paso and the way that so many Latinos and immigrants feel targeted today in this country.”
State rep @RafaelAnchia chair of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus,
told me candidates need to show they understand Texas’ place in the country, how you might talk about gun safety and not gun control, or understanding the role of NAFTA in a binational state.
told me candidates need to show they understand Texas’ place in the country, how you might talk about gun safety and not gun control, or understanding the role of NAFTA in a binational state.
“Will Kamala [Harris], for example, have the lexicon to contextualize Texas in the national discussion?” @RafaelAnchia asked. “No one has had to develop that lexicon because we’ve been a ruby red state, but now we’re a swing state.”
After a long interview, @MannyGarciaTX, the exec director of the Texas Dems was candid. He said the combination of gun violence and anti-Latino hate is a “grave” situation that absent meaningful policy change could result in more mass shootings in Texas before 2021.
A constant in my interviews was a reminder from Texans that Mexican-Americans have been victims of mass murder in Texas for centuries. One horrifying # was from 1848-1928 at least 232 people of Mexican descent were killed by mob violence or lynchings, including by law enforcement
But this dark history is important because it informs what they would all say next: That the Mexican-American and Latino community in Texas is “resilient,” not an empty word, really resilient. And here to stay.
“It’s important to look at how El Paso has responded in the aftermath of the massacre. We are responding no different than black Americans responded pre-civil rights,” @CesarJBlanco said.
While we are afraid, there is hope that we will overcome, @CesarJBlanco continued. “There is hope that the country will change for the better. El Paso is taking the approach that we know there are good people in the country that will help us overcome this hatred.”
