A recent Emerson poll ranks Texas Rep. Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke as a top-tier potential Democrat candidate in the running for the 2020 presidential nod. But the looming question is whether Beto O’Rourke can rescue the party from the liberal extremism that has disconnected it from mainstream voters or if he is just a fall guy?
The recent poll places O’Rourke at a 15-percent approval rating behind Vermont Sen. Bernie Sander at 22 percent and former Obama-era V.P. Joe Biden at 26 percent. Sen. Sanders would be 79 and Biden 78 years old when taking the oath if they won the presidency.
The study targeted 800 registered voters and put O’Rourke ahead of leading party hopefuls such as California Sen. Kamala Harris and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Both were considered front-runners among active politicians until Sen. Warren suffered a national backlash after a DNA test came up short about her self-proclaimed Native American heritage. Playing into President Donald Trump taunts over the issue also positions her as weak.
Sen. Harris, a former moderate, has increasingly taken a hard-left turn to ingratiate herself with the radical element driving the party. The move has also begun to put her further away from connecting with moderate voters likely to determine the 2020 presidential election.
Other presumed favorites such as Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker have all floated presidential aspirations that have garnered little traction with registered Democrat voters.
O’Rourke reportedly raised more than $70 million in his insurgent campaign against incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz. The pair broke the senate campaign spending record of $92 million set by Hillary Clinton and Rick Lazio in New York during the 2000 elections. Despite Sen. Cruz’s strong conservative standing in the reliable red state, O’Rourke came within 3 points of winning the seat.
Although left-leaning media outlets touted O’Rourke’s ability to garner individual donations, big national-level donors poured millions into the Texas race. That fact has the DNC and party backers eyeing O’Rourke with heightened interest and a recent media report indicates he is conducting his due diligence.
“Beto O’Rourke hasn’t made up his mind about a possible presidential run in 2020, but behind the scenes, he’s speaking to potential kingmakers among a constituency whose support he’ll need in a Democratic primary: African-Americans,” NBC reported. “In the last two weeks, the soon-to-be-former Texas congressmen met with former President Barack Obama at his Washington office, a source familiar with the meeting confirmed to NBC News, and spoke by phone with the Rev. Al Sharpton and fellow 2018 progressive darling Andrew Gillum.”
In the last election, Democrats were determined to put a woman in the White House after breaking a perceived race barrier with the election of African-American Pres. Obama. A white male from Texas would stand in stark contrast to the identity politics Democrats have been pushing for more than a decade. There’s little doubt far-left members would cry foul should the upstart secure the presidential nod.
But is O’Rourke’s possible mainstream appeal the party’s saving grace? Democrat primaries indicate that liberal extremism carries the day in states that weigh heavily on the outcome such as California and New York. Texans would likely get in lockstep to vote for one of their own, but O’Rourke carries the mantle of a white male that party rhetoric continues to attack as the enemy of American minorities and immigrants alike.
Another consideration is whether sitting President Trump is vulnerable heading into the 2020 election? The America First policies have the economy on fire, unemployment at historic lows and wages rising. The president delivered tax cuts, a new NAFTA deal and has China on the ropes. His string of political and economic wins is almost unprecedented.
African-Americans and Latino-Americans are enjoying possibly the best prosperity in history and polls show they are trending Trump. Moderate voters and energized minorities will be presented with the choice of going back to Obama-era liberal policies or growing their financial health. People tend to vote their wallet, and that doesn’t bode well for the left in 2020.
So, is O’Rourke the fall guy for the 2020 election cycle? Quite possibly. The upstart has lost his congressional seat after challenging Sen. Cruz, and this may be an opportunity for the likes of a relatively young Kamala Harris to lay the groundwork for a 2024 bid. Americans learned from the 2016 elections that the DNC rigs the primary after it impeded Bernie Sanders. Democrats could strategically throw Beto O’Rourke to the wolves.
