Beto O'Rourke Raised $6.1 Million Online in First 24 Hours of Campaign

[TexasTowelie]

WASHINGTON — Beto O’Rourke raised more than $6 million online in the first 24 hours after announcing his presidential campaign last week, according to his campaign, outpacing his rivals for the Democratic nomination and making an emphatic statement about his grass-roots financial strength.

Mr. O’Rourke brought in $6,136,736 after declaring his long-anticipated bid with a web video and trip to Iowa on Thursday morning, raising the sum entirely online and from all 50 states, the campaign said.

He narrowly beat the first-day haul of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who raised $5.9 million after announcing his bid last month and who would go on to raise $10 million before his first week was over.

Mr. O’Rourke’s early burst of fund-raising illustrates how much he has captured the imagination of many Democratic activists around the country, who propelled him to break financial records last year in his ultimately losing bid to unseat Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. There were some doubts as to whether those same grass-roots donors would also contribute to him when he was not facing Mr. Cruz — a figure detested on the left — but rather was one more entrant in a sprawling presidential primary.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/us/politics/beto-o-rourke-fundraising.html

[Drunken Irishman]

1. Weird article to post months after the fact and after he dropped out.

[TexasTowelie]

4. No weirder than the person repeatedly posting about the number of donations

their preferred candidate received.

[Tiggeroshii]

10. This candidate dropped out eons ago.

Bernie is reinforcing his position as ahead in the pack.

[brooklynite]

13. If by "ahead of the pack" you mean "has more contributions than voters"

Sanders had the most donors in 2016. How did it work out?

[Tiggeroshii]

19. 13 million voters in 2016 vs 4 million million donors now.

If you are referring to 2020, keep in mind nobody has voted.

[brooklynite]

25. It's always good to have a healthy fantasy life...but not in politics.

[George II]

73. He doesn't have "4 million donors now", he has 4 million donatIONS! And that's because....

....he encourages his contributors many of whom are the dreaded "big money contributors" to make tiny individual contributions several times a day so he can boast about lots of donatIONS and a low average donation.

Someone who gives $3.00 ~11 times a day with an aggregate of the maximum $2800 (that's more than 800 donatIONS, check out Peloza in the first attachment below) is no different than someone who gives $2800 in one single donation. But it does make it either more difficult to keep track or easier to skirt the FEC regulations.

Cases in point, from the FEC:

https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/098/201908280300047098/201908280300047098.pdf

75 page letter containing flagged contributions.

https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/211/201911140300051211/201911140300051211.pdf

175 page letter containing flagged contributions.

In just six months the FEC has already flagged more than 9,000 contributions worth $951,000 as excessive, prohibited, or impermissible.

Contrast that with Biden's campaign, which has had only 477 contributions flagged.

[NurseJackie]

77. That's a lot of "flagged" contributions. Can you imagine if any other candidate had so many?

That's a lot of "flagged" contributions. Can you imagine if any other candidate had so many? I wonder what the reaction would be.

[George II]

78. He's got FAR more contributions than even contributors, but when someone urges followers to give....

....several tiny contributions a day sure, that candidate will have a LOT of contributions. But 100 $3.00 contributions is $30.00, exactly the same as one $300.00 contribution.

[TexasTowelie]

14. ROTFLMAO.

Bernie can't break 20% in the polls so he is far from being the leader in the pack. On Super Tuesday we will see the effective end of Bernie's campaign despite all of the threads on DU attempting to prop him up.

[sop]

52. If so, I hope he doesn't hang around till just before the convention, talking about rigged primaries

[TexasTowelie]

75. I guess that the bookies will be taking dates for when he will withdraw.

There could be an incentive to withdraw after Super Tuesday and prior to April 1 to avoid having to file an FEC report if he decides that his chance to get the nomination has vanished. However, the Atlantic Coast conferences don't occur until April 28 and that is the last date where a large number of delegates will be awarded if he wants to exceed the 300 delegate minimum requirement to have his name entered into nomination at the convention.

[LanternWaste]

32. His steady surge towards the bottom is become a grim reality.

I hope we're not playing revisionist history again by pretending down is actually up. That would be silly... at best.

[JonLP24]

47. This is wierder

I get it people don't like Bernie so I will stick to other forums.

[TexasTowelie]

50. I think that depends on the point of view.

Repeatedly posting the same information multiple times each day, especially when it is the same person making the OPs seems pretty weird to me.

[JonLP24]

56. I mostly post positive OPs about other candidates in this forum

Im too scared to post a Bernie post in here and sometimes I'm forced to (not literally) because the article mentions Bernie's name like my Aubrey Huff post.

[TexasTowelie]

58. I think that if you look in this forum

you will find that I mostly post positive OPs about other candidates in this forum. I would have already been banned if I wasn't.

[jezebel321]

2. this article is from March??? nt

[TexasTowelie]

5. So?

[jezebel321]

7. oh, I thought you might have mistakenly thought it was new. No problem. nt

[aikoaiko]

3. Glory Days

I wish Beto had focused his momentum on the other Texas Senate seat. That win was a possibility.

And we need people of his stature hitting the Senate seats controlled by Republicans.

[TexasTowelie]

6. It would have been glorious

if the trolls and bots hadn't made such an effort to dismiss and trash Beto since they viewed him as a threat when he announced his campaign.

The good news is that Beto is young enough that he can run for president again if he wishes.

[cwydro]

53. I don't believe anyone saw him as a threat.

I’ve forgotten his highest percentage point, but I think it was pretty low.

[TexasTowelie]

55. I believe that it was either 7% or 8% which is a pretty decent showing in a crowded field.

He was also among the top six candidates in the race (both in national polls and the DU poll) during the entire time his campaign was active. At least one Democrat along with President Trump saw him as a threat.

Inside Bernie-world's war on Beto O'Rourke
December 23, 2018

WASHINGTON — Forces loyal to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are waging an increasingly public war against Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, the new darling of Democratic activists, as the two men weigh whether to seek the party's presidential nomination in 2020.

The main line of attack against O'Rourke is that he isn't progressive enough — that he's been too close to Republicans in Congress, too close to corporate donors and not willing enough to use his star power to help fellow Democrats — and it is being pushed almost exclusively by Sanders supporters online and in print.

It's been the first flashpoint in what promises to be a politically bloody primary — one that has drawn responses from foot soldiers in the Obama and Clinton wings of the party — as Democrats begin to focus on who has the best chance to deny President Donald Trump a second term in the Oval Office.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/inside-bernie-world-s-war-beto-o-rourke-n951016

[melman]

8. lol

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Hassin Bin Sober]

12. Once again, Rubin steps on a rake like Sideshow Bob

Did you ever see the piece written by the former WAPO Ombudsman?

That tweet is indicative of the problems the former Ombudsman laid out. In short, she is awful.

https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/city-desk/blog/13067559/ombo-sauce-advice-for-jeff-bezos-from-the-posts-former-in-house-critic

Dear Jeff:

Congratulations! To paraphrase an old Riggs Bank saying, you’ve just bought the most important media institution in the most important city in the world; don’t screw it up.

As a former ombudsman who heard from hundreds of readers daily through email and phone calls, I cannot stress enough how important the Post is to the proper and effective democratic functioning and accountability of the District of Columbia, the city, county, and state governments in the region, and the federal government, from the presidency to the far-flung reaches of the State and Defense departments and the CIA. It plays a unique and important role in our democracy. Don’t forget it.

...


The Ugly Jennifer Rubin. Have Fred Hiatt, your editorial page editor—who I like, admire, and respect—fire opinion blogger Jennifer Rubin. Not because she’s conservative, but because she’s just plain bad. She doesn’t travel within a hundred miles of Post standards. She parrots and peddles every silly right-wing theory to come down the pike in transparent attempts to get Web hits. Her analysis of the conservative movement, which is a worthwhile and important beat that the Post should treat more seriously on its national pages, is shallow and predictable. Her columns, at best, are political pornography; they get a quick but sure rise out of the right, but you feel bad afterward.

And she is often wrong, and rarely acknowledges it. She was oh-so-wrong about Mitt Romney, week after week writing embarrassing flattery about his 2012 campaign, calling almost every move he made brilliant, and guaranteeing that he would trounce Barack Obama. When he lost, the next day she savaged him and his campaign with treachery, saying he was the worst candidate with the worst staff, ever. She was wrong about the Norway shootings being acts of al-Qaida. She was wrong about Chuck Hagel being an anti-Semite. And does she apologize? Nope.

Rubin was the No. 1 source of complaint mail about any single Post staffer while I was ombudsman, and I’m leaving out the organized email campaigns against her by leftie groups like Media Matters. Thinking conservatives didn’t like her, thinking moderates didn’t like her, government workers who knew her arguments to be unfair didn’t like her. Dump her like a dull tome on the Amazon Bargain Books page.

Patrick B. Pexton was the ombudsman of the Washington Post until March 2013. He blogs at PBPexton.com. Illustration by Jandos Rothstein

[LanternWaste]

33. This is troubling for Bernie.

[Lordquinton]

65. What is?

There was no content in your post, so I must assume you forgot to put in a link or something.

[TidalWave46]

64. Beto did the right thing.

Sanders should follow his lead. Great point bringing that up. All the money in the world can’t overcome their lack of support. Beto will get another shot if he wants.

[msongs]

9. one wonders what he is doing with all the leftover $$ nt

[TexasTowelie]

11. If you will recall,

Beto donated a large chunk of the money that he raised in the Senate campaign to other statewide candidates and he also donated $4.5 million to the Texas Democratic Party.

[brooklynite]

15. Gina Ortiz Jones wasn't one of them

Beto O'Rourke's refusal to endorse against GOP pal Will Hurd still stirs anger

LEBANON, N.H. — Voters say they value bipartisanship. But they also value party loyalty. And sometimes, they can’t have both.

Beto O’Rourke drew lavish praise when he shared a 25-hour drive with Rep. Will Hurd two years ago, livestreaming a marathon conversation that projected a level of civility that has been in short supply in Washington.

But as a candidate for the White House, he’s caught grief for refusing to endorse Hurd’s challenger, Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones, who fell just 926 votes short last fall.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/05/24/beto-o-rourke-s-refusal-to-endorse-against-gop-pal-will-hurd-still-stirs-anger-but-would-it-have-mattered/

[TexasTowelie]

16. Perhaps O'Rourke knows something about Jones

that kept him from endorsing her? Perhaps, it is because he built a friendship will Will Hurd? No matter what the case may be, nobody should be forced to offer an endorsement based .purely upon party affiliation.

[brooklynite]

17. Gina Ortiz Jones will be our 2020 nominee again...

...O'Rourke better let everyone know if she's a flawed candidate, right?

[TexasTowelie]

18. How about some updated information?

By Matt Zdun [e-mail]
Posted Jun 6, 2019 at 12:29 PM
Updated Jun 6, 2019 at 7:00 PM

Beto O’Rourke flip-flops, expresses support for Gina Ortiz Jones

In an abrupt 180-degree reversal, presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke expressed his support for Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones over his friend U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes, in the 2020 race for the 23rd Congressional District.

“I will very likely support the nominee in that race,” O’Rourke said in an interview with CBS News Wednesday. “I’m a big fan of Gina.”

That’s not what the former congressman from El Paso said last year when he, in a move that irked Texas Democrats, declined to endorse Jones in a race in which Jones lost by fewer than 1,000 votes.

Asked why he flipped, O’Rourke said that Hurd has not done enough to confront President Donald Trump.

More at https://www.statesman.com/news/20190606/beto-orourke-flip-flops-expresses-support-for-gina-ortiz-jones

Oops!!!

[Sloumeau]

20. Whenever a Democrat backs a Republican over a fellow Democrat...

I always try to look at the race closely to see if he or she has a good reason for doing so. I think Mr. O'Rourke should have always backed Gina Ortiz Jones, but hey, I'm just a really hard core Democrat.

[TexasTowelie]

21. Let's set the record straight:

Whenever a Democrat backs a Republican over a fellow Democrat...

That statement is not true. Beto did not endorse Will Hurd when he ran against Jones, he remained neutral in that election. It's very important that this distinction be made, otherwise it propagates a falsehood.

O’Rourke spokesman Chris Evans insisted the campaign provided valuable assistance to Jones, by sharing its voter database with her, as it did with other Democrats candidates. He stumped with Jones a half-dozen times, though he avoided trash-talking Hurd and never explicitly urged voters to pick her over him. Nor did his volunteers hand out Jones literature, or pitch her to voters when they knocked on doors.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/05/24/beto-o-rourke-s-refusal-to-endorse-against-gop-pal-will-hurd-still-stirs-anger-but-would-it-have-mattered/

So we are going to get upset with Beto, even though he did share his voter database with the Jones campaign; meanwhile, one of the current presidential candidates refused to share his voter database in the general election? It appears that your disappointment is misplaced.

As far as what effect Beto's neutrality had in the 2018 election we have this comment:

“It always helps, when you're a challenger, for somebody who is going to do well within your district to tell people you'd be a good selection, and to endorse you,” said Matt Angle, a strategist who runs the Lone Star Project, a political action committee focused on aiding Texas Democrats. “Do I think that was difference between her winning and losing? Probably not.”

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/05/24/beto-o-rourke-s-refusal-to-endorse-against-gop-pal-will-hurd-still-stirs-anger-but-would-it-have-mattered/

[BeyondGeography]

22. Is he still neutral on Cuellar/Cisneros?

If so, odd that someone who made gun safety his signature issue isn’t taking a stand against one of the NRA’s favorite Democrats.

[TexasTowelie]

23. I haven't read anything lately.

However, should it really come as a surprise if he favors Cuellar since they were colleagues for six years while he is probably unacquainted with Cisneros? I doubt that Beto is going to waste any of his political capital on a candidate that he sees as a severe underdog in the race.

By the way, Cisneros isn't gathering any momentum in south Texas. The locals know that most of her financial support does not come from within the congressional district and they resent the interference of AOC and Justice Democrats into the race. Less than 3,000 of Cisneros' 14,200 donations came from Texans.

Colin Strother, Cuellar's campaign manager said, "Liberal senators in Massachusetts and Hollywood actresses might be supporting her campaign," he said. "But nobody in the district is supporting her campaign."

https://www.lmtonline.com/local/article/Cisneros-campaign-has-raised-459K-in-bid-to-14501292.php
(Laredo Morning Times)

I expect Cuellar to win the primary by at least fifteen percentage points.

[BeyondGeography]

24. I don't doubt your assessment, but this is how Beto flounders nationally

How do you reconcile his national gun safety crusade with crude pragmatism in his own backyard without concluding that it was at least in part a way to be relevant when nothing else was working?

[TexasTowelie]

27. First of all,

it isn't my job to reconcile Beto's stance on gun safety issues with the endorsements he may or may not make. If you have an issue with those difference, then I suggest that you contact Beto himself.

I think that all of the candidates experience having to reconcile their vision with reality. A politician has no chance of success if they don't show some pragmatism instead of idealism. Politicians also have struggles to remain relevant in the conversations--this was exacerbated in this campaign by the number of candidates. In response, some candidates formed their own media outlets to generate publicity and also created controversy to receive the headlines.

I don't consider endorsements to have any particular value and find them meaningless since I'm capable of thinking and forming my own opinions. I also don't idolize anybody on Instagram or Twitter since the only other social media that I check is Facebook and there are times when I have gone months without checking my account. For the rare instances that I was swayed by an endorsement, it usually caused me to vote against a candidate rather than for one. YMMV.

[Aquaria]

54. It has zero to do with Beto

And everything to do with local peculiarities of this particular contest. The Cuellar name is huge in that part of Texas, particularly Laredo, the primary population center of TX-28.

Just like the Vela family is well-known down in Brownsville, hence why Filemon has his Congressional seat over in TX-34.

Who your family is has a huge impact on how you’ll do in South Texas elections. One of the local political jokes is that the candidate with the most relatives is the one who will win whatever race s/he is running.

As one of eight children, Henry Cuellar has a LOT of relatives.

Seriously, though, most of what keeps him in office is the impact he has had on the local community. He’s been a lawyer, a customs broker in a major border town, and a part-time instructor at the local university. Also, he’s not the only Cuellar to hold public office. His brother is the Sheriff of Webb County (Laredo), and his sister is a municipal judge.

So the name is big there, because he or his family have had an impact on so many people and their lives there. Anyone who runs against him will have to rely on far more than money and supposedly big-name endorsements. South Texans will not be impressed with those things.

It’s a different world on the border, and only fools think that the standard way of doing politics will work down here.

[TexasTowelie]

57. Thanks for providing that response.

I was raised about 100 miles away from Laredo so I know how politics run in that part of Texas. I'm also aware of how Hispanics have a patriarchal approach to politics (which I don't approve) and the influence of the Catholic church among the citizens. Cuellar, Vela, and Vicente Gonzalez share similar positions on many issues. The only reason why I don't see Vela or Gonzalez being suggested as targets by Justice Democrats is because Democrats have a far less secure hold on their respective districts. I have read remarks that some voters wish they could trade out Gonzalez for Cuellar since he is a better representative.

I'll be watching this election closely on Super Tuesday. Cisneros is relatively inexperienced and she doesn't even hold a license to be an attorney in Texas. With the patriarchal attitudes in that congressional district, Cisneros is going to be viewed as the little girl challenging the incumbent congressman who has brought home the pork to the district. The people there are not going to be willing to upset the apple cart by voting out a long serving incumbent for a new face with little experience. And while some say that the border wall is going to be an issue, I can also state that there is a substantial portion of Hispanic voters that approve of the wall being built because they are afraid that the undocumented immigrants are going to take their jobs.

[rainin]

26. Why won't he run for Senate? He was so close last time.

He could be going to every Texas county and registering new voters like he did in his Senate race against Cruz which he almost won. It is looking like he got full of himself and thought he could take the top spot and failing that, he's going home. The country needs him to turn Texas blue. Does he think the Senate is beneath him now?

[TexasTowelie]

28. Because Cornyn is more popular than Ted Cruz in Texas.

People are trying to spin a narrative that Cornyn is vulnerable this cycle while reality indicates otherwise. Cornyn not only supports Trump more strongly than Cruz ever did, but he is also a loyalist to the Bush family.

[rainin]

29. Supporting tRump may not be a positive thing by November.

Plus, I'm not sure Bush Republicans are a guaranteed red vote anymore. Beto's magic was in registering and mobilizing young voters. Texas is changing. He captured the news cycle in a positive way for months! Texans were excited by his candidacy. I don't know if Cornyn has had a town hall in the last 3 years, while Beto had 1-2 a day, standing room only! The one I attended had to open 2 additional large rooms to hold the overflow and I live one of the reddest counties in the country. I absolutely think he has a chance to win. Why isn't he here fighting?

[TexasTowelie]

34. He has children, he has been campaigning for two years,

and he probably needs to recharge his batteries. I trust his judgment not to run if his heart isn't into it. Do you (or anyone else) think that your opinion about what Beto should do is better than Beto's own judgment and why are you (or anyone else) trying to control his life? If so, then isn't that the height of arrogance?

Beto is still young and can shape the political environment in other ways besides being a perennial political candidate. Beto may be offered a cabinet position or he may decide to run for another political office at some future date. Beto is a grown man and he is capable of making his own decisions.

[rainin]

60. What an odd response.

"controlling his life"?

[TexasTowelie]

67. Well if you are referring to odd responses

let's start with post #26:

You disrespected Beto by stating, "It is looking like he got full of himself" and then asked, "Does he think the Senate is beneath him now?"

Afterwards in post #28, you asked, "Why isn't he here fighting?" You then proceed to tell him what you think he should be doing. I would classify that as trying to "control his life" even though he has made it clear that he did not want to run for Senate against Cornyn.

If anybody tried to tell you what you should do, wouldn't you feel like that person is trying to control your life? Personally, if someone attempted to do that to me and they weren't a boss, parent, judge or police officer then I would tell that person to shove it.

Why don't you show more respect to Beto since you are not an authority figure over him?

[rainin]

69. I'm not his mom or his wife so saying "I'm controlling his life" is odd.

Perhaps you've noticed that people have opinions about politicians all the time here on DU. You've just repeated my opinions about his actions. Feel free to share your opinions, too. That's what the comment section is for.

[TexasTowelie]

70. I don't know what the point in communicating with you anymore is worth.

Are you going to tell Steve Bullock what to do since he has withdrawn and isn't going to run for the Senate?

[rainin]

71. Steve Bullock from Montana? I don't live in Montana.

So, probably not, although maybe.

[pinkstarburst]

30. Why aren't people asking the

same thing of Stacey Abrams, who could help us win one of the two open Senate seats in Georgia? Beto has been on the campaign trail since 2017. How many years of missing seeing his kids grow up are you going to ask of him?

Honestly, I think if the media hadn't been so completely unfair and trashed him at every turn from the moment he entered the race, he would have run. The took someone who even if he didn't get the presidential nomination, could have had a bright future in the party, and wrote terrible story after terrible story, no matter what Beto did. It's absolutely no surprise to me that Beto's public support fell after that, and were I him, I'd be in no mood to get out there for more abuse. I'm all for the media calling out the truth when it's deserved, but their coverage of Beto was unbalanced, and now we have no candidates in Texas who can win in 2020 to show for it.

[TexasTowelie]

35. Thank you for that post.

Unfortunately, we may lose most of the gains that we made in the 2018 election, 38 electoral votes, and we will probably have another decade of gerrymandered districts in Texas because of the shortsightedness of some Democrats and the liberal media.

[brooklynite]

48. How does winning a House or Senate seat impact gerrymandering?

[pinkstarburst]

49. When Beto ran in 2018

he got out the democratic vote and especially the young vote in an way Texas hadn't seen in years. He raked in incredible fundraising numbers, and even though he lost, his efforts helped swing many down ballot races over to democrats. (He also donated money from his war chest to those democrats in down ballot races.)

Now we're going into 2020 and we have absolutely no one in Texas anyone has heard of or cares about. We are not likely to see the same "blue wave" effect caused by Beto. We are not likely to see the same 80 million in donations, and I would not be surprised if many of those blue seats Texas gained in 2018 flip back to republican. Allowing the media to destroy Beto was incredibly short-sighted. He might not have been the right presidential candidate for 2020, but we needed him in Texas. Too bad.

[rainin]

63. The media didn't support him as a Presidential candidate.

That doesn't mean he wouldn't be strong in Texas again if he were willing to take on Cornyn. Why he jumped into a crowded democratic field is beyond me. He made a mistake, but no Texan is going to hold that against him. He could come back and reignite his supporters in a heartbeat.

[rainin]

61. Beto was the darling of Texas when he was campaigning against Cruz.

He constantly received favorable coverage during that campaign. He was interviewed on national shows, I even remember one of his videos going viral and getting national attention.

His Presidential campaign coverage hasn't been great, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't do well back in Texas. He was popular, his town halls were overflowing and electric. He absolutely was treated well during the Senate campaign. Have you considered that the coverage during this Presidential primary season hasn't been great because he isn't favored for that job?

And, if you need to spend time with your kids, why oh why oh why did he run for President in the first place? Both elections are in Nov 2020. Running for Senate isn't more time consuming than running for President.

Lastly, I don't want to believe he has taken time off because of the "unfair" media coverage OR because he wants to be home with the kids. If that's the case, he's doesn't belong in either job. Campaigns are hard and you won't be home much during the campaigns.

[rainin]

62. I don't live in Stacey Abrams' state. That's why.

[tritsofme]

59. He would have been a stronger candidate before his ill considered presidential campaign.

Now it is highly doubtful he could be viable as a statewide candidate in Texas, any of the current options are better at this point.

[Autumn]

31. Hmmm. Did you remember to baste the turkey?

[TexasTowelie]

36. No.

It came out all dry, mostly bald, and wrinkled.

[Autumn]

37. Damn, you should have chosen a prime rib.

[TexasTowelie]

39. Well, at least I know where I won't be shopping. nt

[Autumn]

40. Oh, I've known for years where I won't shop.

[TexasTowelie]

41. So have I.

The maple syrup glaze doesn't go well with my diabetes.

[Autumn]

42. I find the maple leaf helps a lot with my medications. nt

[TexasTowelie]

43. Homeopathy is malarkey. nt

[Autumn]

44. There's a lot of whole lot of malarkey going around. The Canadian flag has a maple leaf on it.

[Gothmog]

38. I was a first day donor to Beto

[TidalWave46]

46. I was as well. NT

[TidalWave46]

45. Like Sanders, he was sitting on an enormous and fresh national email list.

The initial enthusiasm slowly went down over the next days as more and more people saw his video announcement.

[MineralMan]

66. And yet, he has dropped out of the race.

All of which goes to show...nothing, really. Early fundraising is not a predictor.

Other factors play a much larger role, as we have seen.

[TexasTowelie]

68. I agree that money is not the sole factor that determines whether a campaign is viable.

Campaigns have become such exhaustive experiences that I don't see how the candidates deal with the ebbs and flows of vetting, media exposure, fundraising, directing campaign staff, and meeting the voters.

[George II]

72. I guess this proves that fundraising isn't everything in these campaigns.

[George II]

74. "Democrat Beto O'Rourke turns his attention to flipping the Texas House"

(this is the entire article)

A month after ending his presidential campaign, Democrat Beto O’Rourke has turned his attention to state politics — namely, an effort to help flip the Texas House of Representatives from Republican control to the Democrats.

With Texas Democrats nine seats away from retaking the majority of seats in the Texas House, O’Rourke is trying to convince his donor base to send money to an organization called Flip The Texas House, which has targeted 17 House Districts in which Republican candidates won by fewer than 10 percentage points last year. More than half are districts in which O’Rourke won the majority of votes as he ran for U.S. Senate.

“In 2018, I carried nine of the 17 districts now represented by Republicans. So we know that we can do this,” O’Rourke said in the email. “We just need your help to make sure that we make the most of this opportunity.”

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Democrat-Beto-O-Rourke-turns-his-attention-to-14876379.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Premium)&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral

[democratisphere]

76. Money has nothing to do with the suitability, qualifications, electability,

likability or wisdom of a potential Presidential candidate.