After being defeated by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in 2018, Robert Francis O'Rourke announced his 2020 campaign for presidency today in another attempt for a DC politician to fail upwards. O'Rourke, touted by some as "Tex Kennedy" with a driving record to compliment the actual Ted Kennedy, was met with little applaud from far left media personalities due to a variety of reasons -- chief among them his lack of progressive accomplishments.
Beto was criticized by Slate's Josh Voorhees in a piece titled, "Beto 2020 Has No Reason to Exist: Of all the major candidates, he brings the least to the Democratic primary." Voorhees writes that despite national support and name recognition, "Beto is missing one important thing, though: an actual reason to run. O’Rourke would enter the race as a man without a clear political ideology, a signature legislative achievement, a major policy issue, or a concrete agenda for the country."
Likewise, Salon notes that far left environmentalists question whether the candidate can truly grind it out with other liberal candidates when it comes to the issue of climate change.
"There’s a lot in O'Rourke's record we’re wary of," Janet Redman, Climate Director at Greenpeace USA, told Slate. "Most notably his comment during a Senate debate last year that it's a false choice between fossil fuels and renewable energy. It’s easy for politicians to simply acknowledge the existence of climate change in public remarks, the same way it’s easy to talk up solar panels. What’s harder is a real plan that acknowledges the urgency of the crisis, including a detailed vision for how to stand up to the fossil fuel industry in transitioning to a 100% clean energy economy. We hope to see that from Beto O'Rourke in the coming weeks.”
However, perhaps these critics can be assured that Beto is surrounded by comrades with the right collectivist credentials. Joe Simonson of the Washington Examiner reports that the newest Democratic candidate's top advisor is "an avowed socialist who blasted the leftist father of community organizing Saul Alinsky as a 'paternalistic' moderate who 'disparaged the idea of revolutionary change'." As Simonson notes, Bond's hire "sends a message to Democratic primary voters who have previously questioned O'Rourke's left-wing credentials."
Beto joins a field of 15 other candidates so far with more expected to join the crowded field for the Democratic nominee.