Beto O’Rourke is a total lightweight compared to Ted Cruz, and he comes nowhere near representing the values and desires of the people of the Great State of Texas. He will never be allowed to turn Texas into Venezuela!
Young and bright star of Democrats, Beto O'Rourke, a 46-year-old former three-term US Representative from West Texas announced to seek "Democratic US presidential nomination" for 2020 election
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| Beto O'Rourke speaks to Oprah Winfrey during a taping of her TV show in Manhattan, N.Y., on Feb. 5, 2019. (Photo: Carlo Allegri/Reuters) |
VietPress USA (March 13, 2019): According to Wikipedia, Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke, born September 26, 1972, is an American businessman and politician who represented Texas's 16th congressional district for three terms in the United States House of Representatives.
A native of El Paso, Texas, O'Rourke served on the El Paso City Council from 2005 to 2011. O'Rourke was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 after defeating incumbent Silvestre Reyes in a Democratic primary. O'Rourke declined to seek re-election to the House in 2018 and instead ran for U.S. Senate. As the 2018 Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, O'Rourke was narrowly defeated by Republican incumbent Senator Ted Cruz.
As O'Rourke was considering entering the 2018 Texas Senate race, political experts considered him a "longshot" candidate. Ben Terris of The Washington Post said he was suffering from a "bug" causing "mass delusions that the old rules of politics no longer apply." He asked, "Can a Democrat really win in this deeply red state—against Cruz, who will be running one of the best-financed campaigns in the country? And can he do so on a positive message about Mexicans in an era when calling them rapists helped make a man president?"
No Democrat had been elected to statewide office in Texas since 1994. On March 31, 2017, O'Rourke formally announced his candidacy for the United States Senate seat held by incumbent Republican Ted Cruz. In March 2018, O'Rourke became the Democratic Party nominee, winning 61.8 percent of the primary vote. O'Rourke campaigned in all of Texas's 254 counties, sometimes drawing large crowds and sometimes speaking to as few as 15 or 20 people.[citation needed] He said he planned to run a positive campaign, not focused on Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.
O'Rourke ran his campaign without professional pollsters or consultants, and relied on volunteers with no experience running a political campaign. His campaign employed the use of mass text messages. According to the 2018 third-quarter report from the FEC, his campaign spent US$7.3 million on digital advertising alone (in contrast with Cruz's $251,000). His first ad was filmed on an iPhone.
He posted to social media daily, including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and livestreamed his activities traveling the state, such as skateboarding in a Whataburger parking lot, washing clothes at a laundromat, and "blockwalking" in his constituents' neighborhoods. He encouraged supporters to post selfies they had taken with him to social media. Some of his videos went viral, including his position on NFL players "taking a knee" and police brutality against unarmed black men. Supporters said O'Rourke's "promise of compassion", more than any specific policy position, drew their support. (Wikipedia).
Today on Wednesday March 13, 2019, Mr O'Rourke, a 46-year-old former three-term US representative from West Texas, announced he will proudly run for U.S. President in 2020.
Beto O'Rourke, the Texan who gained a national following with his long-shot election battle against US Senator Ted Cruz last year, will reportedly seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Mr O'Rourke planned to follow his announcement with a trip to Iowa, the state that will hold the first Democratic nominating contest in February 2020.
"I'm really proud of what El Paso did and what El Paso represents," Mr O'Rourke said of his hometown in a text to TV station KTSM, which first reported his entry into the race. "It's a big part of why I'm running. This city is the best example of this country at its best."
The Telegraph reported that with his presidential effort, Mr O'Rourke is hoping to leverage the fame he gained with his Senate race. He was a heavy underdog when he challenged Mr Cruz, a Republican, in mostly conservative Texas, but he quickly demonstrated an ability to draw capacity crowds and raise money from voters nationwide.
His Senate bid generated a torrent of media attention and excited voters in a party desperate for fresh political faces. He lost the race by less than 3 percentage points, the tightest US Senate contest in the state in four decades.
Early opinion polls on the 2020 race have consistently ranked Mr O'Rourke in the top tier of more than a dozen declared or possible Democratic contenders, behind former Vice President Joe Biden, who has not yet said whether he is running, and US Senator Bernie Sanders, a 2016 presidential contender who announced his 2020 candidacy last month.
Read this news from Yahoo News at:
VietPress USA News
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Beto O'Rourke confirms he is jumping into 2020 presidential race
The former Texas congressman confirmed Wednesday that he will enter the 2020 race for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to a Fox News television affiliate based in El Paso, Texas.
O'Rourke confirmed his plan to formally announce his candidacy on Thursday morning to El Paso NBC affiliate KTSM.
“I’m really proud of what El Paso did and what El Paso represents. It’s a big part of why I’m running,” O’Rourke told KTSM in a text message.
Earlier in the day, Vanity Fair magazine published a story on O’Rourke’s thinking on whether to enter the crowded Democratic field.
“I’m just born to do this,” O’Rourke told the magazine.
O’Rourke catapulted to national prominence during his failed bid to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in the 2018 midterm elections.
President Trump campaigned hard for Cruz, lobbing attacks against O’Rourke as he campaigned in the Lone Star State.
Despite O’Rourke’s narrow loss, his high-profile candidacy helped Democrats retake House seats and control of the chamber.
When it became clear that O’Rourke was considering a run in 2020, Trump again mocked the Democratic phenom.
“I thought you were supposed to win before you run for president,” Trump told reporters in December.
O'Rourke becomes the 15th Democrat to enter the race to decide who will take on Trump in the general election.
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