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.
