Former El Paso congressman and famous 2018 Texas Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke has declared candidacy for President as of yesterday. He is the 10th major candidate to do so.
Beto is a young, charismatic candidate who came within 3 points of unseating Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018, despite Texas’ republican lean. His opinions on any given issue range from very liberal (impeach trump) to centrist (trade). He doesn’t really have any glaringly bad scandals or past statements hanging over him, unlike many of the other candidates for president. The worst thing his opponents could really go after without blatantly constructing falsehoods about him would be his DWI arrest in 1998 after crashing into a truck and supposedly attempting to leave the scene. Think Beto is a strange name? It’s actually a nickname made from his first and middle name, Robert Francis.
So what are his chances? If his strong 2018 performance is any indicator, I’d say pretty good. He has appeal to all corners of the Democratic electorate, especially millennials. He’s essentially a B-list celebrity at this point, and thus has the big advantage of national name-recognition from the start. He’ll likely do well in early polling because of his fame, and I expect that to continue as his campaign gets going. Beto O’Rourke is a force to be reckoned with. I’ll put him number 3, behind Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders, on the Best Shot Tracker.
