Beto O’Rourke 2020 campaign megathread

[libertpaulian]

YAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[libertpaulian]

Beto O'Rourke/Tammy Duckworth would be killer.

[libertpaulian]

snip

I thought Kamala stans were not going after anybody running but Bernie. The fact that there have been more than a half dozen other white men jump in and none of them were accused of white male entitlement shows that they are threatened and trying to tear this man down for no reason. He has every right to state his case to voters. If someone prefers to vote for a woman or candidate of color that is their absolute right to do so but the lame smears are not going to make his supporters coalesce around your girl.

The gender politics around Beto though are worth acknowledging. Any female candidate who left her family to do a solo cross-country trip and write blog posts about it would get crucified. Beto's a strong candidate but he absolutely benefits from some male privilege.

Given that Harris has no children of her own (she's a stepmom I believe), she wouldn't get that treatment.  Neither would Klobuchar and Warren, whose children are grown.

[libertpaulian]

Does anyone think Tammy Baldwin or Tammy Duckworth are good picks?

If it weren't for the fact that she's barely into her first term, I think Gretchen Whitmer would be an excellent pick.

[libertpaulian]

The party of inclusivity.

https://twitter.com/GOP/status/1107314663023353864

Well, the GOP's already burned through other racial dog whistles so many times.  Looks like they now have to resort to attacking those of Irish descent.

If Andrew Cuomo runs for President, I wonder if they'll depict him as a mafia boss?

[libertpaulian]

The two most important states in 2020 will be Florida & Wisconsin. If Beto were to become the nominee I'd like to see him pick the man who came within half a percent of winning the race for governor of Florida, Andrew Gillum. Together, they would comprise a talented (and both youthful and highly energetic) team. Of course, the primary thing lacking on this ticket would be a woman. Amendment 4 (Voting Rights Restoration) having been passed and now implemented in Florida, could create a situation where a narrow loss in '18 becomes a narrow win in '20. Beto would need to constantly campaign in Wisconsin and Gillum would need to double down on Florida. WINNING EITHER STATE SHOULD BE ENOUGH (OVER 270 ELECTORS) TO SEND THEM TO THE WHITE HOUSE. YOUTHFUL AND ENERGETIC DEM TICKETS WIN!

Picking Gillum would be a good way to ensure Trump wins Florida.

Just because you say it, doesn't make it true.

Gillum couldn't win FL in a D+9 year against a man who ran one of the most inept campaigns in history and very likely caused the Democrats to lose yet another Senate seat.

Pence, OTOH, is a very competent VP candidate, and won't make the same mistakes DeSantis did.

[libertpaulian]

I referenced this in another thread...But so many people are sort of acting as if Beto isn't capable of Policy details- just because he doesn't have camplete policy manual ready 3 days after his launch... Beto graduated from the same Ivy League University that Obama did- And Obama also started his campaign with more platitudes/ and filled in details as the campaign progressed.  So I think by the end of the campaign, similar to Obama/ Beto will be seen as very competent when it comes to policy manusha.

This is an advantage that creatures of emotion like Beto, Obama, Macron, Trump, Di Maio, and a whole hoast of others across history, have over creatures of policy. To them, policy is a defensive weapon, used to deflect criticism from rivals, whereas creatures of policy need to use their platform as a offensive and defensive weapon. If the emotional candidate fails to navigate appropriately, they have nothing to stand on and loose all appeal. If they do route well, and it is rather easy to do, the emotional candidate can take a position popular with the voters late and convince you, through their emotion, that they always supported that position.

The thing is, we've seen the flaws with a platitudes-based candidate in this current environment. Hillary lost, Macron's administration is a complete clusterf***, and Trump has accomplished nothing other than giving tax cuts to the rich.

Like her or not Hillary was a major policy wonk- I certainly wouldn't call her a platitude candidate. And for anyone to even include her in the same universe with Trump regarding policy is a best laughable.  (not up on the Macron details... but its probably safe to assume he is nowhere near Trump regarding policy platitudes, etc.  A 7th grade is more in depth policy wise than Trump.

I think he's referring to the Yellow Vest protests.

[libertpaulian]

Real question, when are we actually going to see Beto’s policies? Because right now the only indication are his blue dog endorsements (plus half of his support on here is from #bothsides moderate heroes, Republicans, and libertarians). I want to like Beto, but I really need to know what he’s running as first.

I notice you haven't asked where Harris', Klobuchar's, and Mayor Pete's platforms are.  I wonder why that is...

[libertpaulian]

Beto visited my campus today (PSU), first primary visit to Pennsylvania of 2020.

Did you go to the event?

[libertpaulian]

/in b4 hofoid says something about "neoliberal billionaire housewives"

We got the fundraising numbers:

https://twitter.com/ryanobles/status/1108365181439148037

Id say this is a really great start for Beto, not only because of the fact that he outraised Sanders, but he did so with less people. This means that if Beto's campaign, if he emerges as a frontrunner, could scale rather well, and he may become a fundraising machine.

On the otherhand, this kinda plays into the idea that Beto's numbers were just larger and less plentiful, which may signify a weakness in how large his base is(of course, this is day 1, so I doubt this will stick).

Pretty good day to be a Beto supporter, Id say, and a pretty bad day to be a Sanders/Harris supporter. Now we just need Biden for the full picture.

While those are strong numbers to be sure, I think the fact that Sanders beat him in terms of the number of individual donors by almost 100K is still something to consider. Money does matter, but currently (this could change), it seems like there are more actual voters behind Sanders.

I think that’s a very valid point. It’s cool that Beto’s numbers are under $50 per person, but there’s still more Sanders folks as of now. It does put to rest the idea that all of Beto’s money came from oil tycoons dropping $2,700 per tycoon on his campaign.

Releasing things piecemeal can be a very good way to keep your name in the news. I feel like that might be what the O’Rourke campaign is trying to do.

I actually think it's pretty good news for Beto.  If he can beat Sanders with a smaller base at this point in time, imagine how much he can raise when he expands his base and manages to get the nod.

[libertpaulian]

Unique contributions wasn't unique donors. Of course they dump this on a Friday.

https://twitter.com/PatrickSvitek/status/1109293384005570560

Your fear is showing

It's quite obvious who the Bernie people fear right now.

Likely because Beto will be Obama 2.0 and compromise on every single thing? He already backed off Medicare for All, and don't give me the stupid pragmatism argument.

You have NO idea of what American political culture is like, do you? lol

[libertpaulian]

You can really feel the energy at this rally.  He's definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with. 

I have a feeling if this #Floresgate story has any legs and forces Biden out of running, Beto will pick up a lot of his prospective supporters.

[libertpaulian]

https://www.texastribune.org/2019/03/30/beto-orourke-signed-this-pledge-oil-money-did-he-break-it/

This article really says nothing other than Beto took normal contributions from individuals who worked in the oil and gas industry (at all levels, whether a rig worker or a president of the company).  Texas as more people who have a job related to oil & gas than any other state in the country.  Should those individuals be barred from contributing in their individual capacity?  And how would you even monitor not accepting money from individuals who work in specific industries? 

This also explains why Cruz & Beto were the top 2 recipients in 2018 elections... Because of the size of Texas and the amount of individual who work in a job that is related to oil and gas.

No candidate should ever bar ppl in their individual capacities from contributing to a campaign just because of what job they happen to have.

But, but, but...MUH NARRATIVE!!!!!!!!

[libertpaulian]

Harris raises $12 million in 2.5 months.

Mayor Pete raises $7 million in 2.5 months while his campaign is still technically in exploratory committee form.

The Bern raises $18 million in a month and a half.

Beto raises nearly $9.5 million in 2.5 weeks.

Not bad for a nascent campaign!!

[libertpaulian]

It would be fitting for the woke intersectionality crowd to settle on a WASP candidate who projects what they've judged as the right kind of white guilt over more accomplished competitors whose victories would actually matter in terms of representation.

You have a gay mayor, a Jewish Senator, several female Senators, two black Senators, an Asian entrepreneur, a Hispanic Cabinet Secretary, and others. Even Joe Biden of all people at least has a claim to working class roots.

Telling an audience that slavery is directly connected to mass incarceration of black people for profit and it must be dismantled in its current form is white guilt? K. Just sounds like the truth to me.

Every Democrat talks about that, albeit with varying degrees of subtlety.

O'Rourke's emphasis on his race has been covered as a major campaign theme and there's every reason to believe that his campaign desires this coverage.

I know it sucks, but our next President is going to be to the right of Fidel Castro.  Get used to it.

[libertpaulian]

He's just bought and paid for by big oil interests, isn't he?

Don't forget billionaire suburban housewives.

[libertpaulian]

The past several days have embodied Beto at his worst, not his best. A lack of sincerity has never ranked among the problems besetting this campaign.

Beto's recent stunts remind me of this:

https://www.businessinsider.com/rand-paul-debate-media-middle-finger-2016-1

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/11/19/rand_paul_bullsh**t_they_need_more_surveillance_after_paris_attacks.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/12/13/rand-paul-makes-the-cnn-prime-time-debate-by-a-hair/

[libertpaulian]

His Reddit AMA has been a disaster.

oh man you're not kidding

It also got hijacked by posts referring to him as a furry.

LOL!

He's done.