Beto O’Rourke No Longer Rules Out Potential 2020 Presidential Run

EL PASO, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 06: U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) concedes the race while addressing a 'thank you' party on Election Day at Southwest University Park November 06, 2018 in El Paso, Texas. O... EL PASO, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 06: U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) concedes the race while addressing a 'thank you' party on Election Day at Southwest University Park November 06, 2018 in El Paso, Texas. O'Rourke lost to incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Beto O’Rourke isn’t ruling out a potential 2020 presidential run.

Asked about one at a Monday town hall in his native El Paso, the three-term Democratic congressman described vacationing last week with his family, something he said he wasn’t able to do for the past 18-plus months while challenging Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.

O’Rourke lost by about 3 points, close enough in deep-red Texas to spark speculation he could try for the White House.

He said he’s focused on his family and representing his district until leaving the House on Jan. 3. But after that, he and his wife will “think about what we can do next to contribute to the best of our ability to this community.”

O’Rourke then grinned at his wife, Amy, asking, “Was that OK?”

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  1. And really, whatever his limitations are he will make a much better president than the ignorant troglodyte that we currently have. Even the deplorable will be better off.

  2. Avatar for jtx jtx says:

    Received from Beto today

    It should tell us something about her home country that a mother is willing to travel 2,000 miles with her 4-month-old son to come here. Should tell us something about our country that we only respond to this desperate need once she is at our border. So far, in this administration, that response has included taking kids from their parents, locking them up in cages, and now tear gassing them at the border.

    People are leaving violent countries where they fear for their lives. Without money, they are subsisting on hope for their kids, for themselves, that they can get to safety. After being denied the ability to lawfully petition for asylum for the last 10 days, they are desperate.

    We choose how to respond to this challenge.

    Let’s do this the right way and follow our own laws. Allow asylum seekers to petition for asylum at our ports of entry. They must do so peacefully and follow our laws; but we must also ensure the capacity to effectively and timely process those claims (right now 5,000 waiting in Tijuana and only 40 to 100 are processed a day).

    Those who have a credible fear of returning to their home country (as determined by a U.S. judge) will be able stay until their full asylum request has been determined. Those applicants ultimately granted asylum will then live in the U.S., make us a better country for being here, and those who are not granted asylum will be returned to their home country.

    Longer term: work with the people of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to address underlying conditions that are causing them to flee in the first place. That means addressing effects of our failed past involvement in those countries (in their civil wars, drug trade and drug wars) and the institutional failings in those countries (rule of law).

    It won’t be easy and will involve a much greater investment of time, focus and resources. Or we can continue to ignore those countries and their people until they show up at our border.

    • Beto

    . To reach us via mail, contact us at P.O. Box 3628 El Paso, TX 79923.

  3. I’m not so worried about the Democratic nominee. What I’m REALLY interested in is if anyone has the stones to primary the orange shitgibbon.

  4. BHO’s Doppelgänger? That’ll be good enough.

    Since it can’t be Reincarnation (BHO’s alive, kicking and rocking the world with goodness)
    …at least, Hinduism tells us so.

  5. Avatar for mrf mrf says:

    The other day in my Queens neighborhood I saw a full sized lifted pickup truck aka Bro dozer with out of state plates parked. On the rear window there was a Beto sticker prominently displayed. I thought yeah very cool.

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