Beto O’Rourke on the campaign trail in Iowa
Since approximately 23 candidates are competing for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination, each candidate must try to stand out from the pack. In that respect, former Texas Congressman Robert “Beto” O’Rourke is making a name for himself by doing things differently. First, O’Rourke rolled out his campaign on a local level, with a flurry of town hall appearances in places like Pacific Junction and Davenport, Iowa, rather than making a national splash with televised rallies in big cities and associated online fundraising.
Only lately, O’Rourke has made the shift to more national appearances, including a CNN town hall and an appearance on ABC‘s “The View.” As O’Rourke stated on “The View” regarding his local campaigning thus far,
I learned so much by being with them, by listening to them, by incorporating their stories into how I’m campaigning. So, with months to go before the first caucus or the first primary, listening to people, showing up everywhere. With 20 candidates, these elections might be decided in these various states by a thousand, a hundred, a dozen votes, so every single one of these conversations counts. I’m going to continue to show up everywhere to ensure that we have them.
O’Rourke has some advantages, including personal charisma and telegenic good looks reminiscent of a taller (6′ 4″) Bobby Kennedy. He is extremely engaging, and he engages in long, detailed policy question and answer sessions with audience members at his local town hall appearances. Additionally, O’Rourke is practicing radical transparency while campaigning, even to the point of livestreaming his dental appointments and haircuts. This might be very appealing to younger voters who like to post mundane details of their lives on social media (O’Rourke is a youthful 46).
Beto is also running a positive, unifying campaign, promoting his solutions to our country’s problems including climate change, affordable healthcare, trade, and equal rights and treatment for women and minorities (including immigrants), rather than focusing on personal attacks. Of course, O’Rourke criticizes Donald Trump, both on policy matters and on Trump’s lawlessness. Beto unequivocally stated at his CNN town hall that “we should begin impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump.” On the Democratic side, however, O’Rourke recently defended presidential front-runner Joe Biden against an unpatriotic off-shore joint attack by Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. O’Rourke tweeted that Biden is “someone who’s dedicated his life to public service for this country.” That is a big difference from some other candidates, notably Bernie Sanders, who spent most of his unsuccessful 2016 presidential run attacking Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party, and who has come out again with a divisive campaign, attacking Biden in recent days. Perhaps not coincidentally, Sanders’ campaign has been losing steam in the polls.
While O’Rourke is not currently a front-runner for the Democratic nomination, he did win the head-to-head matchup against Donald Trump by the widest margin (10 percent) of any candidate. Moreover, as O’Rourke points out, it’s still early in the process, with the first Democratic debate about one month away, and the primaries and caucuses not starting until next February. Thus, we will see whether Beto O’Rourke’s different kind of campaign will catch fire.
Photo by Matt Johnson, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/bjVGU6
