Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke is getting a boost this week from a viral video in which he shows his support for kneeling NFL players, but what impact will it have on his still longshot attempt to unseat Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"I can think of nothing more American than to peacefully stand up and take a knee for your rights any time and any place," O'Rourke says to cheering supporters in a video which has been viewed tens of thousands of times, and praised by, among others, LeBron James.
But will it be a boost for O'Rourke's Senate race?
Jim Henson, who heads the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, says it will probably, like much that is said on the campaign trail these days, please those who already support him, and anger those who already oppose him.
"We know from our polling that attitudes toward the NFL have been very much influenced by the protests," Henson told News Radio 1200 WOAI. "They have made the NFL something of a partisan issue, with Republicans having negative feelings toward the NFL, and Democrats being more supportive."
But Henson does think this has significantly raised O'Rourke's profile, helping him in the critical 'name recognition' battle, and could mean that he would be a more effective Senator.
"He would likely become a national figure almost overnight, given the response to this," Henson said.
But despite the fact that in some polls, O'Rourke is only two to four percentage points behind Cruz, Henson and other political analysts say they don't think O'Rourke will defeat Cruz.
One thing analysts point to that is not included in candidate polls is the straight-ticket vote, which accounts for as much as one third of the Republican vote.
It was the straight ticket voting that helped push Greg Abbott to a 21 point victory in the 2014 race for governor, even though polls at the time showed his race against Wendy Davis to be far tighter.