Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), the candidate challenging Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in November, said in an interview published Thursday in the Austin Chronicle that he abides by a self-imposed term limit of four years to avoid become an asshole.
Talking to actor Ethan Hawke, O’Rourke explained how he, with the help of his wife, maintains his humility in Washington.
“When Amy and I were first talking about running for Congress in 2011-2012, we decided that we would do term limits, and not serve more than four years,” O’Rourke said. “In part it was, ‘I just don’t want you to be an asshole; I haven’t met somebody in this line of work who doesn’t become one, that doesn’t think that they are so important only they can do it.’”
He added that his family also keeps him grounded.
“They could care less about Ted Cruz or what we are doing in the campaign right now,” he said of his kids. “It’s hard to do this with little kids, but it also continuously grounds you and reminds you who you are doing it for. I think we have a really good chance to win this. But if we don’t, we’re still going to do our best to help in whatever way we can, and we’re still going to have each other.”
Cruz is still polling ahead of O’Rourke, but his lead is small.
