Beto O’Rourke: on a slow news day…
…Beto O’Rourke instagramming his dental cleaning is a big story.
I kid you not.
This sort of thing promises to be the wave of the future in political campaigns.
Right now O’Rourke’s main activity since losing his Senate race seems to be running for president in 2020. Or maybe vice president, but nobody actually owns up to running for vice president. I would take O’Rourke very seriously, based on his 2018 Senate campaign, in which social media was a big deal in his gaining support:
O’Rourke ran his [2018 Senate] campaign without professional pollsters or consultants, and relied on volunteers with no experience running a political campaign. His campaign employed the use of mass text messages. According to the 2018 third-quarter report from the FEC, his campaign spent US$7.3 million on digital advertising alone (in contrast with Cruz’s $251,000). His first ad was filmed on an iPhone.
He posted to social media daily, including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and livestreamed his activities traveling the state, such as skateboarding in a Whataburger parking lot, washing clothes at a laundromat, and “blockwalking” in his constituents’ neighborhoods. He encouraged supporters to post selfies they had taken with him to social media. Some of his videos went viral, including his position on NFL players “taking a knee” and police brutality against unarmed black men. Supporters said O’Rourke’s “promise of compassion”, more than any specific policy position, drew their support.
O’Rourke understands the shallow nature of modern-day campaigning, the importance of social media, and his own appeal, which seems to be based on appearance, demeanor, and (dare I say it?) charisma.
O’Rourke was running against Ted Cruz, who sorely lacks those particular strengths. You might say that this was a contest of opposites. Cruz won, but Texas is somewhat different than the US, and O’Rourke’s charms might do well on a national stage (Trudeau comes to mind).
He certainly had no problem with fundraising;
O’Rourke raised more than $38 million in the third quarter, three times Cruz’s totals for the same period. It is the most raised in a U.S. Senate race in history. According to his campaign, the donations came from 802,836 individual contributions, mostly from Texas. When asked if he would share the funds with Democrats in other races, he declined, saying that he wanted to honor “the commitment that those who’ve contributed to this campaign have made to me.”
That kind of devotion seems Obamaesque.
Cruz seems to have gotten the message. He is growing a beard.
I see him as a nominee action to replace Thomas when he retires. He would be a better USSC justice than politician. Amy Barrett will be the RBG replacement.
Let’s hope that Beto declines the livestreaming of his colonoscopy.
Let’s hope that Beto declines the livestreaming of his colonoscopy.<
Katie Couric already did that.
I’d rather see Katie’s bum than Beto’s. Personal preference.
O’Rourke’s “promise of compassion”, more than any specific policy position, drew their support.
I was out driving yesterday on the coast purely to enjoy the brief lack of rain and got caught behind a large tanker truck. The big print PSTS label was an abbreviation for Peninsula Septic Tank Services. Below that label was a sizable caution label that said “Caution: This truck may transporting politician’s promises.”
O’Rourke was a lefty marketing campaign that combined with Cruz’s money spent more on a senatorial election than any other election in US history and great looking, smile and shine O’Rourke lost to Cruz who is perhaps the least liked Texan politician of all time in a state that gave us LBJ. This time around voters were not as impressed with presentation and smoothness of the vanilla Obama as the big out of state donors thought they would be.
Texas has been different in the past but in the last two decades we have watched the metro areas make a shift from conservative Republicans to Democrats and the Southern Mexican border counties could always be counted to deliver as many votes as were needed to assure a Democratic win, an old Texas tradition. Won’t be long before we import enough new Democrats to make a major shift and Beto is perfectly located in the right area with the right demographic O’Rourke using Beto as his trade name might be considered genius and that has me concerned for the future.
We are getting close to a Zaphod Beeblebrox candidate. Someone who can attract attention so no one wonders who’s really in charge.
H/T Douglas Adams and ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.’
Powerline is running an article that explains why Beto has a shot at being President. Name of article is “The Great Issue of Our Time . . . is whether, as a people, we are too dumb to sustain a democracy.” Link below.
The Daily Mail ran the story “Twitter user stuns the internet with math that proves one 18-inch pizza has more in it than TWO 12-inch helpings.” Apparently, many people were stunned by this “bizarre theory” — a/k/a 10th grade geometry.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/01/the-great-issue-of-our-time.php
I think Bobby (will not succumb to identity politics marketing and call him “Beto”) could be a dangerous opponent for Trump in the general, not least because he puts Texas in play forcing Republicans to divert resources there. However his road to the Dem nomination could be rocky because 1) no identity boxes checked and 2) not perceived as left enough. He is already being attacked on 2) by BernieBros.
One problem Texas has is the number of California refugees to Austin who bring their politics with them. New Hampshire had a similar problem with refugees from Taxachusetts.
Colorado was ruined by rich lefties who wanted “Rocky Mountain Highs.” I read an analysis of who those people were a few years ago.
What has he ever done in his life other than marry someone from a filthy rich family in the real estate business.
O’Rourke has gone to the dentist and changed his name and spent a lot of dollars on a political race and,,,,, never mind.
It’s amazing what you can accomplish with marketing these days (see the careers of Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama). Beto was actually employed in business concerns for a number of years, including one he founded. His candidacy isn’t any sillier than BO’s. That’s the problem with our times.
“If you are asking what has gone so wrong with modern politics, Kennedy’s 1960 election campaign is a good place to start.”
CapnRusty above takes us to Mr. Hinderaker’s remarks on a remarkably obscure fact about the relative areas of different sizes of pizza.
Steve Hayward gently reminds John:
Ann, thanks for the article. Gee, the writer does not fake a love he doesn’t feel, does he!
Not a huge fan of young Mr. Kennedy myself. Not at the time, nor since.
From yesterday’s Charisma discussion, Sen. Lieberman on JFK and more recent Dems, whom he thinks have lowered the tone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iSujjGS074
My guess is that my CO Gov, Hickenlooper, is fairly well positioned to be VP. Of course that depends on Harris if she wants a tall white man on the ticket with her. Robert O’ will not make it. Harris will cut his you know whats off.
Who remembers this?
Beto: “I’m gonna get a candy bar! I’m gonna get a candy bar!”
The BBC article on Kennedy was pretty good. Today, of course, he would be a Republican or have to fake it more carefully. His election in 1960 depended more on cheating in Illinois and Texas. Lyndon Johnson was a big part of the Texas theft. William Rogers, Ike’s Attorney General, told Nixon he had enough evidence of vote fraud to overturn the election but Nixon declined to challenge it. He thought the instability would be dangerous in the Cold War.