As Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) contemplates translating his wild midterm popularity into a presidential bid, the usual machinery of 2020 primary prep has ground to a halt as top party players wait to see what the charismatic Texan will do.
According to a Monday Politico report, O’Rourke’s historical fundraising prowess and electric popularity has fundraisers and operatives holding back from other probable candidates in the hopes of signing on with the “new Barack Obama.”
“They’re not wanting to sign on to other presidential campaigns until they know whether Beto is going,” Mikal Watts, Democratic money bundler, told Politico. “And if Beto is running, what good progressive Democrat wouldn’t want to work for Beto O’Rourke? I can tell you that there has not been this kind of level of electric excitement about a candidate since [Obama].”
O’Rourke told TMZ Friday that he hasn’t “made any decisions about anything” in regards to a presidential bid.
Don’t do this again, Democrats. Don’t put all our resources behind a single candidate before the primary has even started, like we did with Clinton. We need a vigorous, robust primary to make sure we get the best candidate for the general election.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Beto. But I don’t know enough about him, or any of the potential Democratic presidential candidates, to have the nomination decided before we’ve even begun the race.
He did very well in Texas. He has explained how, and credibly.
Next he should (1) explain the loss; (2) lay out some options; and (3) pick the best option. Some but not all of this needs to happen in public. His rivals will not simply sit back and give him the time he needs, but them’s the breaks.
Beto’s current political capital has a shelf life, meaning he needs to run for John Cornyn’s senate seat, or for US president, in 2020.
I dunno. Last time a defeated Senate candidate ran for president and won was waayyy back in 1860. His name was Lincoln.
(Abe had less experience in elective office than Beto–having served one term in Congress and, if memory serves, one in the Illinois House.)
No chance of that happening.