Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke ends months of speculation, announces 2020 White House bid
- Political up-and-comer has used grass roots organising and social media savvy to mobilise young voters and minorities
Former Texas Representative Beto O’Rourke formally announced on Thursday that he will seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, ending months of intense speculation over whether he’d try to translate his new-found political celebrity into a White House bid.
Until he challenged Republican Senator Ted Cruz last year, O’Rourke was little known outside his hometown of El Paso. But the Spanish-speaking 46-year-old former punk rocker became a sensation during a campaign that used grass roots organising and social media savvy to mobilise young voters and minorities. He got within 3 percentage points of upsetting Cruz in the nation’s largest red state – and shattered national fundraising records in the process – immediately fuelling chatter that he could have higher ambitions.
Now O’Rourke must prove whether the energy he brought to the Texas campaign will resonate on a much larger stage. For all the buzz associated with his candidacy, the former three-term congressman has not demonstrated much skill in domestic or foreign policy. And, as a white man, he is entering a field that has been celebrated for its diverse roster of women and people and colour.
O’Rourke joins a large and unsettled 2020 field in which his fundraising prowess, bipartisan optimism, southwestern Texas charm and anti-establishment attitude could quickly make him a political force. His lack of governing experience could hurt, but President Donald Trump’s rise suggests that the US electorate might welcome a charismatic outsider.
The sports and entertainment world already had its eye on O’Rourke during the Senate campaign: NBA star LeBron James wore an O’Rourke hat after video of the Texan defending NFL players’ right to protest during the national anthem went viral. Beyonce, a Houston native, endorsed O’Rourke.
And he was the only presidential prospect interviewed in February by Oprah Winfrey, who appeared genuinely excited about the prospect of an O’Rourke White House run.
Should he parlay a 2018 Senate defeat into a successful 2020 White House campaign, O’Rourke would be the first US politician to do so since Abraham Lincoln lost his Senate bid to Stephen Douglas in Illinois in 1858, then was elected president two years later.