According to KTSM-TV, the local NBC affiliate in El Paso, Texas, former Congressman Beto O'Rourke will throw his hat into the Democratic Party race for the White House tomorrow morning.
Speculation about a presidential run has abounded since O'Rourke narrowly lost last November's Senate race to Ted Cruz.
The question is whether Beto will be a good bet for Democrats in 2020. One on hand, if he couldn't beat Ted Cruz in Texas then how can he beat Donald Trump in the rest of the country? On the other hand, Cruz ought to have won that race by 30 points and instead only bested Beto by three points and got Democrats elected to other state wide offices. Beto is a force that has only begun to find his strength.
Of course, it's one thing for Beto to be competing against Cruz. It's entirely another matter if he's competing against Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren. O'Rourke faces the danger of being labelled "a white male" which is fast becoming the kiss of death in the Democratic Party. It could be worse though. He could be an "old white male" which is going to be Joe Biden's burden and to a lesser extent Bernie Sanders (although his standing as a socialist offsets this somewhat).
At this point, as with most of the Democratic field, I am open to listening to what Beto has to say. He has shown the capacity to grow as was the case where it concerns Israel. After voting against funding for the Iron Dome missile system in 2014 he has since shown greater understanding of what Israel faces. He is no Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib or AOC. Their constituency has grown and pressure might be brought to bear not to cross the freshman triumvirate. It spooked Nancy Pelosi. But O'Rourke has star power of his own and that might be sufficient to withstand that pressure.
With that said, our last two Presidents can be said to have "star power" and look where it has got us. Things do come in threes.
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