AUSTIN — As he turns 95 this week, Texas native Dan Rather is urging eligible voters to cast ballots in the midterm election in a Facebook post, regardless of their political affiliation.
Here is my message to every eligible voter, whatever your political affiliation: If this worn and battered old journalist at age 94 can get to the polls, then surely so can you.
While the former “CBS Evening News” anchor encouraged all voters to exercise their constitutional right, Rather’s other recent political commentary is openly liberal and sharply critical of President Donald Trump.
He argues that Trump’s policies have worsened the cost of living, that voters experience those effects firsthand and that the midterm elections offer a chance to push back against the president.
‘We’ are not making a fortune. In fact, ‘we’ were in bad financial straits even before the president started his war of choice with Iran and gas prices spiked. Now things are worse. A lot worse.
In an Oct. 22 post, Rather criticized Trump’s rally schedule, campaign promises and attacks on reporters. He argued that Trump’s midterm campaign has become centered on Trump himself and portrayed the president as politically vulnerable.
On November 3 we’ll see if all the broken promises matter, if the corruption is too much, and if the power of Trump’s personality has finally faded. Win or lose, his is now more than ever a one-man show. He hasn’t lost yet, but metaphorically his back is against the wall, his shirttail is on fire, and bill collectors are at the door.
Rather’s Texas roots and CBS exit
Dan Rather, the former anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” was born in Wharton and moved to Houston as a child. He attended Love Elementary School and Hamilton Middle School, then graduated from John H. Reagan High School in 1950. He earned a journalism degree from Sam Houston State Teachers College in Huntsville in 1953…