Latest Sign of Beto O'Rourke's Flameout: Opposition Research Requests Have 'Died Off'

[brooklynite]

Daily Beast

In the days leading up to Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign, a top Republican opposition research firm was brimming with requests from political reporters angling for dirt.

America Rising, a political action committee that shared details of its internal inquiries with The Daily Beast, said the asks came from a dozen or more reporters and ranged from broad questions to more tailored points of interest.

But 10 weeks after O’Rourke’s official launch, those requests are virtually nonexistent.

“The requests for oppo on him have completely died off,” a staffer at the oppo group said.

The lack of oppo requests suggests a larger problem looming over O’Rourke’s campaign: a visible decline in public interest. Once elevated to the top of Democratic watch-lists, the former congressman is now registering in single digits in several national polls, nosediving from 12 percent in a Quinnipiac poll conducted in March to just 5 percent in the same survey in April.

[dalton99a]

1. Says a Republican opposition research firm

But the troll army was out in full force last night

[brooklynite]

3. Quinnipiac: 2% Morning Consult: 4% Fox News: 4% Emerson: 3%

Perhaps the Democratic voters have said the same thing...

[dalton99a]

4. Democratic voters already voted?

[brooklynite]

6. Are you prepared to say that Mike Gravel has a serious chance to win the nomination?

Nobody's voted so how can you really know for sure?

[dalton99a]

9. Let the voters decide.

I support everyone's right to run - even the ones I dislike.

[brooklynite]

13. Nobody's stopping the voters from deciding...

...just as nobody's stopping people from using available data to make reasonable assessments of the likelihood of a particular candidate to succeed.

[True Dough]

27. You reserve the right to keep John Hickenlooper as your preferred candidate

despite practically zero traction. Beto supporters seem to have more hope than that, even if it is remote.

[ret5hd]

30. Hick's merely an obscurant.

[BannonsLiver]

18. About the same as Hickenlooper's.

0.0

[LanternWaste]

31. And yet here you are... so sure of what can't happen.

"Nobody's voted so how can you really know for sure?"
And yet here you are... so sure of what can't happen while indicting others for the same. Much as when you alleged Biden's opening day announcement was so poorly done despite zero evidence supporting your premise.

Though it's convenient to hold others to a lower standard than we hold ourselves to, doing so is often far more obvious than we'd like to think (as are so many things).

[ananda]

2. Beto was a Texas phenom .. young, fresh, Kennedyesque.

And Cruz in comparison looked SO bad.

In the presidential race, Biden, Warren, Harris, and Mayor Pete
look very good and seem to have a way of touching people on
the national level.

Maybe Beto needs to rethink his future. I like him a lot, so I
think he can do this.

[dalton99a]

5. You mean Beto should stay in Texas?

[patricia92243]

7. What an absolutely horrible way to measure how a candidate is doing. It may

be accurate but it is still terrible that it is done this way.

[brooklynite]

14. What would you prefer?

Facebook posts? Rally crowd sizes?

Market research and polling have been a part of our society for decades and in aggregate provide an accurate indicator of likely future success.

[LanternWaste]

32. Seems an irrelevant predicate on which to base sentiment.

"Market research and polling have been a part of our society for decades..."

So has greed. Seems an irrelevant predicate on which to base sentiment.

[oldsoftie]

36. You should've finished; "..in aggregate provide an accurate indicator of likely future success."

Which means its a valid tool to use to help predict an outcome more accurately than just hoping.

[Jarqui]

8. I didn't see all of his town hall last night on CNN

From what I did see, I thought he did pretty well.

His delivery was improved though his answers came off as somewhat prepped (even though they all prepare ..).

I think a good town hall has helped Warren and Buttigieg, for example, so I'm interested in whether O'Rourke did well enough to elevate his standing. I suspect he did. How he does in the upcoming polls should indicate how well he resonated.

Either way, the debates are not far off and like the others, he'll get a shot to improve his position then.

I still feel that we are blessed with a number of good, impressive candidates. They will nibble at Biden's lead and Sanders support as the country gets to learn more about them.

[LakeArenal]

10. Or...Maybe.....

There was just no dirt to find and they gave up digging.

Sure matters how the narrative is framed.

I feel like Beto is being Howard Deaned.
Nothing else to find so they hype crap.

[True Dough]

28. Good point

[zonkers]

34. Me too.Howard Deaned, 4 sure. Cortez/ O"Rourke 2020. Now wouldnt' that frost some folks?

Just kiddig of course but you know some folks just scare the crap of of "them".

[hlthe2b]

11. Sounds like the efforts to push out candidates has started in earnest.

Lack of Oppo research? Really? Seems a bit, well, tenuous an outcome measure at best.

[Nitram]

21. "...effort to push candidates out" or effort to discern the viable from the unviable?

Lack of Oppo research is as good a measure as any in assessing a candidate's popularity and momentum.

[hlthe2b]

25. lolol: "Lack of Opportunity research is as good a measure as any in assessing"

Were you able to even TYPE that with a straight face?

[Nitram]

26. LOL!

Gotta love automatic spellcheck.

[IndyOp]

12. I'd be grateful if he would run for Senate! I know Cornyn

will be tough to beat - that is, tougher than Ted Cruz - but if Beto could do that and mature into the role of Senator, I see a "Bobby Kennedy" spark in him. If he could help turn local Texas races blue - like he did in his last run - that could transform Texas politics for decades. We neeeeeeeeed the Senate!!! McConnell's got to go.

[Indygram]

19. MJ Hegar is running for that seat, people need to STOP with this Russian Bot Maga Troll comment

[kag]

35. I did not know that Hegar had announced for that Senate seat.

I hope to HELL she wins. I have a LOT of family members in Texas who are going to vote for her.

[cwydro]

20. I think there's a perfectly qualified woman running for that seat.

Let Beto find something else.

[IndyOp]

33. I totally forgot about MJ Hegar. I was impressed with her when she ran for Congress -

and I hope she kicks Cornyn's ass in the upcoming election. If MJ gets into the Senate then we get another powerful "Ann Richards" figure.

Seriously - there is enough going on these days that I forget stuff. Did not mean to overlook MJ. I don't have a preference of Beto over MJ.

I am a woman, I actively support potential and current female leaders, and I forget stuff.

Sorry.

[JI7]

15. oppo research was done during the Senate race just last year. they have everything already

[dalton99a]

16. Exactly. He went through the Texas GOP meat grinder

a machine designed by Karl Rove

[Renew Deal]

17. Reporters need to keep that horse race going

[EveHammond13]

22. he has a massive Instagram presence - that means young voters

[Partisan D]

24. ...who don't vote.

And still support Biden and Sanders more.

[EveHammond13]

40. they did vote in Texas, but corrupt voting machines foiled them

[Indygram]

43. Beto actually was able to mobilize the youth vote up by 500%

And they aren't getting polled because they are out knocking on doors for Beto already.

[Partisan D]

23. 2-3% in the polls...

This is a good case study for someone, someday. I don't know what happened. Enthusiasm and support was actually... something else??

[pangaia]

29. Sounds like a little gloating to me.

But, I could be wrong.

[Skittles]

37. Beto was THOROUGHLY VETTED when he started being a threat to Cruz

[JGug1]

38. Beto O'Rourke

Funny how hard to know what is real and what is bs. One poll has O'Rourke showing best of any of them against Trump, double digit lead. I missed his CNN town hall last night, unfortunately but reports I read had him doing very well. I kind of suspect that reports of his demise are more than a bit premature.

[Tarheel_Dem]

46. Can you cite the poll that showed him beating Trump by double digits? n/t

[MrsCoffee]

47. Probably this one:

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/441950-orourke-holds-double-digit-lead-on-trump-in-head-to-head-matchup-cnn-poll

[Tarheel_Dem]

48. Thank you.

[Amimnoch]

39. Sticking with Beto..

Still think he's our BEST chance of winning.

-The ONLY candidate that actually puts Texas in play.
-Not only does it put Texas in play for the presidency, his being on the national ticket would be mutually beneficial for both us nationally, and taking Cornyn out of the Senate seat in Texas. Hegar is drumming up some energy. Beto on the national ticket would get Texans out to vote for him helping Hegar out, and the energy Hegar is raising would help him get over that threshold to pull in Texas' 38 electoral votes.

If we get the Texas 38, it's over for Trump.. don't need anyone else.. don't need those trump states in the mid-west, don't need florida. If we can get some of those too.. then bonus.

[crazytown]

41. Beto is a threat all right.

The fact that this Daily Beast article exists, and is reposted here is proof positive of that. Beto was impressive on CNN. Unlike the 0%'er candidates, he is still in with a shot.

[Gothmog]

42. Carnival Cruz had done a ton of OPPO on Beto and so I am not sure what was left

Beto did have a good town hall on CNN. No matter what, Beto should get more votes than sanders in the Texas primary and may keep sanders under the 15% threshold for delegates

[Indygram]

44. They've already thrown all there is at him and those who support him don't care

eom

[RLG]

45. You seem to take great glee in another candidate's misfortune.

Shouldn't you be pushing your candidate instead of posting negative stories?

What does your guy stand for and where is he in the polls?