U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, advised the Democratic Nationwide Conference that his opponent in November, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, and former President Donald Trump will be described with a phrase he as soon as heard bandied about NFL locker rooms: “Me guys.”
“ the kind: speak a giant sport, solely care about themselves, however you don’t need to be caught with them at a barbecue,” Allred mentioned Thursday evening. “The reality is, America has by no means been about ‘me.’ As President Obama mentioned, the one strongest phrase in our democracy is the phrase ‘we.’”
Allred’s remarks had been temporary, clocking in simply over 2 minutes, however they had been delivered to his largest viewers but in his bid to defeat Cruz, R-Texas.
The listing of closing-night audio system additionally included Vice President Kamala Harris because the social gathering wrapped up a four-day rally behind the nominee not too long ago picked to exchange President Joe Biden atop the ticket.
It was a possibility for Allred to achieve past Texas and lift his nationwide profile in a direct enchantment to hundreds of thousands of People, all of them potential small-dollar donors who might assist financially supercharge the closing levels of his marketing campaign.
Allred mentioned he had a message for “me guys” like Cruz.
“‘We’ is extra highly effective than ‘me,’” Allred mentioned. “We are going to defend and restore reproductive freedom. We are going to safe the border. We are going to defend Medicare and Social Safety. And we’ll flip the web page and write a brand new chapter for this nation, elect Kamala Harris to be the subsequent president and beat Ted Cruz.”
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, launched Allred as somebody who, like Harris and operating mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, grew up in a household the place each greenback mattered.
Allred shared a pared-down abstract of his biography, noting that like Harris he was raised by a single mom.
“Mother was a public college instructor who typically labored two jobs to make ends meet,” he mentioned. “So once we speak about reducing prices, I take into consideration the instances once we went to the grocery retailer once I was rising up and swiped the debit card and mentioned a bit prayer.”
Allred performed soccer at Baylor College and within the NFL earlier than changing into a civil rights legal professional and successful a congressional seat in 2018.
Broadly considered as an underdog in his race in opposition to Cruz, Allred advised Texas delegates over breakfast Thursday morning that he’s confronted lengthy odds earlier than and nationwide observers are underestimating him.
“They don’t know the way sick we’re of getting a senator who we’re embarrassed by,” Allred mentioned on the breakfast gathering. “However the excellent news is you don’t must be embarrassed by your senator. You will get a brand new one.”
Allred has centered his marketing campaign round his skill to work throughout the aisle, touting his rating by the nonprofit Widespread Floor Committee as probably the most bipartisan member of the Texas delegation. He additionally has highlighted his work to cross measures corresponding to a serious infrastructure invoice that has funded tasks in Texas and the CHIPS and Science Act.
The Biden administration not too long ago introduced as much as $1.6 billion from the CHIPS regulation to assist development of two semiconductor fabrication plans in Sherman.
Cruz voted in opposition to the CHIPS invoice, citing what he known as insufficient safeguards to make sure spending was saved in the US.
Throughout his breakfast remarks, Allred criticized Cruz’s position in questioning the 2020 presidential election outcomes, his aborted journey to Cancun in the course of the brutal 2021 winter storm and his assist for the state’s abortion ban.
Allred’s criticism of Cruz as a “me man” additionally was a part of his speech on the state Democratic conference in June. He mentioned Cruz is extra involved in constructing his political model by his podcast than engaged on bipartisan options to main challenges going through the nation.
Cruz devoted most of his speech ultimately month’s Republican Nationwide Conference to tearing President Joe Biden’s immigration insurance policies, highlighting high-profile instances of People killed by individuals who had entered the nation illegally.
Cruz didn’t point out Allred by title in that speech however has linked Allred to Biden administration insurance policies on immigration, the financial system and different points to painting him as too liberal for the state.
The Cruz marketing campaign this week continued that theme, saying Allred’s participation within the conference reveals he’s a “far-left progressive who will work in opposition to Texans, not for them.”
Reporter Louis Jacobson contributed to this report.
