Hey girl....just not yet. Maybe later hon.

[Bucky]

236. 1) No, Beto IS in House now. 2) It's not like he asked for a draft movement. He was surprised too

When people started calling on him to run for president. He generated a LOT of national buzz with his campaign. But the chatter of him running for president emerged after he lost the senate run. It didn't come from him or his campaign. It didn't even come from Texas. No one was expecting this. A draft is sexy.

And you ask how he's different from Abrams or Gillum. That's a good question. Here's how he's different:

1- fundraising reach - Beto brought in $79 million from all around the country, the vast majority in small donations. Gillum raised about $55m, but over 20% came from "generous billionaires." I don't fault that, governors play by different rules. Abrams raised $22m, but obviously was running in a smaller state. But O'Rourke's fundraising performance is more impressive by any measure.

2- election performance - O'Rourke was THE high water mark for Democrats in Texas - 48.3%. Other Democrats have won state-wide in Florida in years past. No Democrat has won state-wide in a quarter century. It's not even been close. Our last senate candidate got 34%. Six years ago, Ted Cruz's opponent got 40.6%. Our 2008 senate candidate got 42.8%. Stacy Abrams's performance was more impressive than Gillum's. Coming out neck and neck in Georgia is comparable to doing so in Texas. But governor's elections are less partisan overall (how many Republicans have been elected governor of Massachusetts since 1990? At least 3) than Congressional elections.

3 - different office means different focus - Beto was running for Congress, not governor. The issues he was addressing were national in character, not local. What he talked about on the stump is applicable to all corners of the nation. It's essentially the same public conversation he'd have if running for president. Governors deal with more local issues, which aren't as sexy, and lend themselves less to sweeping inspirational visions.

4- actual experience - There are traditionally two routes to the White House -- being governor or serving in Congress. Neither Abrams or Gillum has served in congress. Race is almost certainly a factor there, but that's the breaks. But also Beto has spend enough years in Congress to be credible and authoritative as a candidate for national office. Neither Abrams nor Gillum has actually spent time as governor.

Both will be considered for cabinet offices in the near future. But whatever the magic threshold for presidentiality is, he's met it and they haven't. I don't doubt that race is a factor in that, but it's far from the only factor.