Former three term El Paso, Texas Congressman Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke is the newest entry into the Democratic Presidential race, and is exciting many young voters and others tired of the “establishment” veterans.
O’Rourke is 46, has three children 8, 10, and 12, and his wife Amy Hoover Sanders is 37. If he won the Presidency, it would bring a young family into the White House.
O’Rourke is seen as a moderate centrist, in the line of Joe Biden, but a full 30 years younger.
He came within about two and a half points of Republican Senator Ted Cruz in the Midterm Elections of 2018.
He shares the same first and middle name of Robert Francis Kennedy, the brother of John F. Kennedy, and himself the Attorney General and New York Senator who sought the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1968 before being assassinated on June 6, 1968. And he looks as if he a spitting image of a younger Robert Kennedy but much taller than RFK, although not related to him.
It is an oddity that his wife has the first name of Democratic Presidential rival Amy Klobuchar; a middle name the same as President Herbert Hoover; and a last name the same as Democratic Presidential contender Bernie Sanders. And their older son’s first name is Ulysses, the first name of President Ulysses S. Grant.
O’Rourke has charisma, charm, and personal appeal, and that could just be the right combination for 2020, and opens up the chance that Texas just might go “Blue”, making it easier to win the White House.
There is a long way to go in this Presidential competition, but O’Rourke has made it more exciting, as earlier Barack Obama did in 2008, Jimmy Carter in 1976, Wendell Willkie in 1940, and William Jennings Bryan in 1896.
I’ve heard some pundits saying the Democrats may be wind up having a brokered convention in 2020. What exactly is that?
Southern Liberal, a brokered convention means NO ONE has a majority of the delegates, and there is “horse trading” that goes on behind the scenes.
That would be a true tragedy, and happened too many times, as in 1844, 1852, 1880, 1912, 1924, 1940 and 1968–meaning divisiveness, and promotion of anxiety and anarchy. It could mean multiple ballots, and a drawn out convention, with lots of bitterness and refusal of losing candidates to endorse and support the winner!
Republicans have been rebuking Trump lately. They must be getting worried about their boat sinking.
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/03/14/suddenly-the-gop-is-rebuking-trump-a-lot/
Beto’s policy positions.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/14/politics/beto-orourke-policy-beliefs-2020-campaign/index.html
‘Reinventing Beto: How a GOP Accessory Became a Top Democratic Contender for 2020’
By Norman Soloman (03.22.2019)
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/norman-solomon/83996/reinventing-beto-how-a-gop-accessory-became-a-top-democratic-contender-for-2020
To understand Beto O’Rourke as a candidate, it’s vital to go beneath the surface of his political backstory. News watchers are already well aware of the former Texas congressman’s good looks, charisma, youthful energy and fundraising prowess. But most remain unaware of an inconvenient truth that could undermine the O’Rourke campaign among the people who matter most—the ones who’ll be voting to choose the Democratic presidential nominee next year.
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