O'Rourke's campaign is cratering. But he's got a plan to bring back 'Betomania.'

[DonViejo]

The Texas Democrat spoke to NBC News about why it's too early to count him out.

July 21, 2019, 6:00 AM EDT
By Alex Seitz-Wald

EL PASO, Texas — Beto O'Rourke has gone from phenom to front-runner to flailing in five months, and so he came home to this dusty border town last week to regroup, prepare for the next debate, and try to recast himself as the underdog in a Democratic presidential race in which many have already counted him out.

O'Rourke says that he doesn't plan to change his freewheeling style much, but that a top priority now is to raise the money to keep building his campaign organization so it will be ready to rebound.

"If you remember in Texas, it didn't happen overnight," O'Rourke told NBC News of his Senate race last year against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. "It was a really long process that was against the odds, very often counted down and out."

He said of the current Democratic primary, "I think it's a really small minority of Americans who have made up their mind and maybe a relatively small minority of Americans who are paying close attention."

Dark horse is a mantel O'Rourke has worn well for most of his political career, from his early campaigns for City Council here and for Congress, both against entrenched incumbents in Democratic primaries, to his long shot bid against Cruz that made him a national star, even though he lost.

more
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/o-rourke-s-campaign-cratering-he-s-got-plan-bring-n1031921?cid=public-rss_20190721

[hlthe2b]

1. well, I wish him luck. Anything could happen, but it better happen soon.

[left-of-center2012]

2. I see he's up to 3% n/t

[Docreed2003]

3. I saw him in Nashville two weeks ago

Didn't seem like a campaign that was "flailing".

[ucrdem]

4. He's doing well enough to get #2

And I think he'd be a great choice. Hope he stays positive at the next debate and makes a strong impression. After that all he really has to do is hang on until the end of the summer or so.

[RLG]

5. These "Beto's campaign death knell" stories are annoying.

Where are the "Hickenlooper's campaign is dying" or the "Gillibrand is finished" stories?

[dalton99a]

6. +1. If he's insignificant, why the constant drumbeat to scare off supporters and push him

out of the race?

We've had only one debate, and it's July 2019.

This shit has been going on full blast since he declared. It's obscene, unfair and undemocratic.

[DesertRat]

7. There have been a lot of them about Gillibrand in particular

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/bj9qaw/kirsten-gillibrand-thinks-a-bus-tour-will-help-her-floundering-campaign
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-gillibrand/struggling-in-white-house-bid-democrat-gillibrand-seeks-bump-in-trump-country-idUSKCN1U908Q
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/kirsten-gillibrand-is-2020s-misfit/
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/06/kirsten-gillibrand-2020-plan/591754/
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/05/31/kirsten-gillibrand-2020-democratic-campaign-president-primary-podcast-227032
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2019/07/08/feature/why-america-is-ignoring-kirsten-gillibrand/
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/03/kirsten-gillibrand-2020-endorsements-congress

[RLG]

8. Not as many as Beto.

nt