Texas Democratic senatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke has become a national figure over the past few months for running a shockingly successful campaign against sitting senator Ted Cruz.

Texas hasn’t had a Democratic senator in 25 years, and O’Rourke has more than a fighting chance at bucking the trend. A recent Emmerson College e-poll has Cruz with 38% of the vote, O’Rourke with 37%, and 21% of respondents undecided. 

An NBC News/Marist poll found O’Rourke within four points of Cruz, at 45% to 49%. 

O’Rourke caught national attention earlier in August after giving a thoughtful and heartfelt answer to a question about NFL players kneeling for the national anthem.

On August 29, the Texas Republican Party tweeted what they thought was a dig at O’Rourke by sharing a band photo he took in the ‘90s. The GOP captioned it with “Sorry, can’t debate. We have a gig.” 

Cruz and O’Rourke are currently in negotiations over having televised debates.

 

In the mid ‘90s, O’Rourke played bass in the band Foss, which included Cedric Bixler-Zavala from the seminal bands At the Drive-In and The Mars Volta.

While the Texas GOP may not think playing in a band is cool, the tweet backfired because everyone else thinks it’s awesome.

For contrast, Ted Cruz was a Biblical mime.

 

The tweet was also a great excuse for people to rip on  Ted Cruz. 

Preview image via Beto O’Rourke / Flickr

Share image via Chris Covatta / Getty (O’Rourke) and Erich Schlegel / Getty (Cruz)