Rep. Beto O’Rourke may have lost the Texas Senate race last month but that doesn’t mean his future as a rising star in the Democratic Party is over. To the contrary, Beto-mania is picking up steam as we inch closer to 2020, with many on the left hoping he will run against President Trump.
“U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke is getting more buzz as a potential White House contender than people who've served as governor, senator or even vice president and secretary of state, even though he's still stinging from falling short last month to Sen. Ted Cruz,” The Dallas Morning News reports.
When he was asked, however, whether someone who couldn’t win a Senate race deserves to be president, O’Rourke said he thinks “that’s a great question.”
“I ask that question myself,” he added, reports The Dallas Morning News.
Standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, discussing a future he insists he hasn't sorted out yet, House colleagues walk past calling out "Beto! Beto!" or "Go 2020!" — razzing the El Paso Democrat who raised a stunning $80 million in his near-miss in Texas.
He's avoided interviews since Election Day, and insists that he hasn't even begun the process of deciding whether to heed the siren song, though that hasn't stopped him from consulting with the likes of Barack Obama and the Rev. Al Sharpton. (The Dallas Morning News)
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"I just don't feel comfortable talking to anybody in Iowa or New Hampshire, because I don't want to stoke," he said. "I just truly have not made a decision or even really begun the serious work of making a decision, so I just don't want to lead anyone to think that we're doing something or not doing something."
A recently released Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom survey found that 11 percent of Democratic voters in Iowa want O'Rourke on the ticket. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders were the favored candidates, however.
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