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What Beto Gets Right
I’ve been pretty tough on Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign so far. A lot of other journalists have too. But campaigns are longer and more fluid than we journalists often acknowledge. And this week’s debates made me realize a real strength of the O’Rourke campaign.
Along with Joe Biden (who has his own challenges), O’Rourke is the only top-tier candidate who isn’t trying to swim against the tide of public opinion on a major policy issue.
For that reason, I can imagine — in a way I hadn’t previously considered — an O’Rourke comeback later this year, as the field of candidates winnows. I’m not saying that outcome is likely. At this point, though, it’s hard to know what is likely.
The first thing to understand is that the debate field is soon going to be narrowed. This week’s debates were the last before the bar for qualifying rises. As of now, only seven candidates have met the requirements — in terms of polling and number of donors — for the September debate: Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/02/opinion/beto-orourke-medicare.html