Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright. The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light, and somewhere men are laughing, and little children
In the last twelve months, O’Rourke has risen to fame as the poster child for what many hope is the future of the Democratic Party. He’s been compared to former President Barack
O’Rourke was tragically defeated in his home state of Texas, despite doing everything in his power to look appealing to die-hard conservatives, but, at his core, people knew that he was a progressive through and through. In less than two years, O’Rourke went from a general nobody, who also happened to be a congressional representative, to a national superstar.
“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.”
–Rep. Beto O’Rourke
Interestingly enough, Beto’s words following his announcement contain language not typically found in the ideologies of the Democratic Party. When he talks about America’s crisis working as a fuel for the greatest moment in our history, it almost sounds like a speech that President Trump would give at a stump rally. The 46-year-old politician has been lauded, as well as ridiculed, for being Congress’ resident bad boy.
He is, by no means, a conventional candidate for president, mainly because people just cannot seem to get a read on him. He proved conservative enough to convince a significant portion of Texans to rally behind him in his Senate race, despite losing. On the other hand, O’Rourke has regularly called for the impeachment of President Trump, publicly advocated for Medicare, and made “calls to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.”
Given his pure, unadulterated charisma demonstrated in the Texas Senate race, many Democratic fundraisers are interested in giving Beto O’Rourke the resources necessary to be a serious candidate for the 2020 Presidential Election. O’Rourke raised $38 million in the third quarter of his race alone, and donors and political operatives around the country want to know if he will, in fact, be running for a spot on the Democratic ticket.
Naturally, President Donald Trump couldn’t bare to see someone have their name on the media’s marquee, so immediately after O’Rourke announced his candidacy, Trump made a jokingly insulting comment about the fact that O’Rourke speaks with hand gestures during speeches. Trump said that O’Rourke has “a lot of hand movement,” and asked if “he is crazy, or is that just the way he acts.”
Regardless of what Trump thinks of Beto O’Rourke’s hands, what it all really boils down to is whether or not he has what it takes to secure the Democratic nomination and defeat the Republican candidate, which may very well end up being President Trump. It is the opinion of this court that O’Rourke represents a political energy that has been missing since the days of Jimmy Carter and John F. Kennedy.
