Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke is young and energetic, with the ability to raise unlimited cash, unite factions of the Democratic Party, draw Independents, and attract huge enthusiastic crowds.
Now he wants to be President of the United States.
“This is a defining moment of truth for this country and for every single one of us,” said O’Rourke in a campaign video. “The challenges that we face right now — the interconnected crises in our economy, our democracy and our climate — have never been greater. And they will either consume us, or they will afford us the greatest opportunity to unleash the genius of the United States of America.”
“In other words, this moment of peril produces perhaps the greatest moment of promise for this country and for everyone inside of it.
WATCH HERE:
After his formal announcement this morning, he launched a three-day trip to Iowa, home of the first caucus next February.
To be sure, O’Rourke’s congressional experience could be considered more Hollywood than experience.
But that didn’t work out so bad for Barack Obama in 2008.
And then there’s Texas.
If O’Rourke can manage to put that traditionally big red state in play, it could ease the pressure for Democrats to rebuild their former blue firewall in the rust belt.
His decision jolts an early election season already stuffed with contenders, adding to the mix a relentless campaigner with a small-dollar fund-raising army, the performative instincts of a former punk rocker and a pro-immigrant vision to counteract President Trump’s.
O’Rourke, though, is viewed skeptically by a segment of the left.
Many Bernie Sanders supporters, for instance, openly complain that he is a new version of Obama, a blank canvas on which the hopeful can paint their political dreams, only to be disappointed as he seeks deals with industry or the GOP.
Democrats are confident that Trump can be defeated in 2020, but there are questions as to whether O’Rourke has the drive to defeat Trumpism.
He has hinted in essays from the road about the threat of fascism in America, and said that he recognizes today’s GOP isn’t interested in compromise, yet his ever-hopeful spirit has some progressives worried he’d squander his presidency hoping Republicans change.
And while he has praised the Green New Deal, his roots in Texas — and his public comments themselves, in which he has said fossil fuels can be a part of the solution to climate change — have further worried some Democrats that he may not fully grasp the existential nature of the threat.
Still, there is no question his youth and optimism could provide the best contrast with Trump’s divisiveness and fearmongering.
In a Vanity Fair profile of O’Rourke published yesterday, he hinted at a desire to seek the presidency.
“You can probably tell that I want to run,” he said. “I do. I think I’d be good at it.”
Speculation has swirled around the possibility of O’Rourke announcing a White House run since last year, when he narrowly lost a bid to oust Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) by single digits.
A three-term congressman, O’Rourke left the House in January and has since spent weeks on tour with his advisers while avoiding early primary states.
Everyone will be watching closely this weekend O’Rourke’s appeal in Iowa, especially among college age students who can provide energy for the caucus.
O’Rourke enters a dense Democratic primary field that already includes Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Cory Booker, Sec. Julian Castro, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Gov.Jay Inslee, and Sen. Kamala Harris.