Political Wire

  • Front Page
  • Sign in
  • Members
    • Monthly – $5 a month
    • Annual – $50 a year
    • Member Benefits
    • Account
    • Exclusive Analysis
    • Member Library
    • My Favorites
  • Resources
    • Political Job Hunt
    • Political Dictionary
    • Electoral Vote Map
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Archives for Beto O’Rourke

O’Rourke Sees Immigration as His Opening

February 20, 2019 at 6:46 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The feud between President Donald Trump and Beto O’Rourke over immigration resumed at a distance on Tuesday, driving the politics of a border wall further into the 2020 presidential campaign,” Politico reports.

“Tying his political identity to this heavily Hispanic, heavily Democratic region of the Southwest, the former Texas congressman has seized on Trump’s border politics to create an opening for himself in the Democratic primary.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

O’Rourke Will Decide By End of Month

February 19, 2019 at 5:14 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Beto O’Rourke acknowledged he is considering runs for president and the Senate in 2020 and said he plans to decide on “what it is we do next” by the end of February, CNN reports.

Said O’Rourke: “I’m trying to figure out how I can best serve this country — where I can do the greatest good for the United States of America. So, yeah, I’m thinking through that and it, you know, may involve running for the presidency. It may involve something else.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

O’Rourke Actively Discussing White House Bid

February 15, 2019 at 6:05 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Two Democratic campaign strategists told Politico that they are in discussions with Beto O’Rourke and his team.

One of the strategists described those conversations as moving to “an operational level” after weeks of discussing 2020 in more theoretical terms.

“O’Rourke’s advisers had been speaking with Democratic strategists for months about a potential campaign, but only at a relatively abstract level… But after a massive rally in his hometown of El Paso this week, O’Rourke is now becoming personally involved in discussions about the shape of a 2020 campaign, the strategists said.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

O’Rourke Plans Visit to Wisconsin

February 14, 2019 at 6:02 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Beto O’Rourke “is coming to the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus Friday for a meet and greet with students and faculty, a closely guarded event that will be the former Texas congressman’s first visit to a key state in the battleground, industrial Midwest,” the AP reports.

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

Beto O’Rourke Finally Looks Like a 2020 Candidate

February 12, 2019 at 3:37 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “If O’Rourke was testing Democrats’ appetite for his potential candidacy, the signs he saw on Monday were reaffirming — beginning with a march to the rally that was so thick with supporters that organizers linked arms in a circle around O’Rourke and his family to keep them moving through the crowd.”

“The speech — and O’Rourke’s promotion of it beforehand — marked a pivot for O’Rourke from a contemplative period of wayfaring to a more traditional brand of campaign politics following his closer-than-expected loss to Republican Ted Cruz in the Texas Senate race last year.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

Trump Compares Crowd Sizes

February 12, 2019 at 8:44 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

When his rally in El Paso, TX got underway last night, President Trump claimed that “69,000 signed up to be here. The arena holds about 8,000,” the El Paso Times reports.

He then thanked the fire department for getting 10,000 people in the El Paso County Coliseum, while noting that “tens of thousands of people are watching the screens outside.”

However, a fire department spokesman said 6,500 people were inside the venue and denied any special accommodations were made.

Trump then mocked the crowd size at Beto O’Rourke’s rally held at the same time saying it was no more than 300 people. However, the Texas Tribune reports the O’Rourke rally drew at least 7,000 people.

First Read: “Trump sure did elevate O’Rourke – by 1) going to El Paso in the first place and 2) deliberately trying to understate his crowd.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

Has Beto O’Rourke Waited Too Long?

February 11, 2019 at 12:27 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Dallas Morning News: “Three months ago, in the afterglow of the Texas Senate contest and with few marquee candidates officially running for president as Democrats, Beto-mania was in full swing. Polls showed Beto O’Rourke in the top three, lagging only a former vice president and the runner-up for the party’s nomination in 2016.”

“The big question then was whether he would run.”

“The big question now: Has he missed his window of opportunity?”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

O’Rourke Will Hold Rally Opposite Trump

February 8, 2019 at 10:35 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Beto O’Rourke is not shying away from the spotlight as President Trump prepares to hold a rally in the El Paso hometown of the former congressman and potential presidential candidate,” the Texas Tribune reports.

“On Monday evening, O’Rourke will lead a march through the city and then speak at a local sports center at 7 p.m. local time — the same time Trump’s rally is set to begin… The events are intended to highlight El Paso’s strength as a binational community — and push back against Trump’s long-sought border wall.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

Bonus Quote of the Day

February 6, 2019 at 8:53 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“It’s hard to believe that I’m saying I met with Barack Obama — and I’m saying it to Oprah Winfrey.”

— Beto O’Rourke, quoted by The Week, discussing a possible presidential run with Oprah Winfrey.

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

Beto O’Rourke Will Decide By End of Month

February 5, 2019 at 7:04 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Beto O’Rourke, the Texas Democrat whose near miss Senate bid last yearcatapulted him to national fame, said on Tuesday that he would decide by the end of February whether to run for president in 2020,” the New York Times reports.

“Unlike many prospective rivals — who have either declared their intentions or are taking more traditional steps toward a run, like building campaigns-in-waiting and assembling early-state teams — Mr. O’Rourke has done little formal preparation for a bid. Instead, he has driven around the country, alone, interacting with strangers and publishing journal entries online about his travels.”

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

Watch Beto O’Rourke Sing ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ in Disguise

January 23, 2019 at 2:06 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Mother Jones found video of former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) singing for a cover band he formed called The Sheeps, which performed punk rock classics.

“Band members apparently wore a variety of disguises on stage—most notably, tight onesies and sheep masks.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

O’Rourke’s Road Trip Drives Home His Message

January 19, 2019 at 9:30 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Beto O’Rourke is five states into his stream-of-consciousness road trip across the American Southwest, unaccompanied as he drops into a small-town diner for cobbler, washes his face in a lake and journals about the need to ‘clear my head,'” Politico reports.

“All of which is unfolding as the rest of the Democratic presidential field has broken into a sprint — Elizabeth Warren to New Hampshire, Kirsten Gillibrand to Iowa, and Bernie Sanders and Cory Booker to South Carolina… His absence from the fray has been noted — and his introspective writing style has been mocked. But amid much snickering, there is also evidence to suggest that if he does run for president, it could help him politically, advancing his off-beat brand.”

“With his online following, O’Rourke remains close to the 2020 conversation regardless of his location. And in the span of several days, he has generated a torrent of media coverage that — unlike Democrats in more public settings — he alone can control.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

O’Rourke Aides Planning for White House Bid

January 16, 2019 at 3:54 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Beto O’Rourke has left Texas, decamping for a highly anticipated road trip, but his former advisers are quietly sketching the outline of a potential presidential run that would replicate — and on a national scale — the grassroots-driven organizing model O’Rourke employed in his Texas Senate campaign,” Politico reports.

“The effort is preliminary, and the imprimatur of O’Rourke was implied — not stated… Unlike many candidates-in-waiting, who have PACs or other organizations to assemble staff, O’Rourke is not yet assembling a campaign team.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

O’Rourke Will Do Oprah Winfrey Interview

January 11, 2019 at 2:43 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) will head to New York next month for a live interview with Oprah Winfrey as he continues to mull a 2020 presidential run, NBC News reports.

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign, Celebrities Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke, Oprah Winfrey

‘So, Here I Am at the Dentist’

January 10, 2019 at 2:20 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Thus began Beto O’Rourke’s latest dispatch from El Paso, Texas, where the potential presidential contender filmed himself in a green bib — and with dental tools in his mouth — talking with his dental hygienist about life on the U.S.-Mexico border.”

“The unusual video, posted on Instagram, left jaws agape in Washington on Thursday. But it is in keeping with O’Rourke’s practice of livestreaming virtually anything — and, more recently, of focusing attention on the lives of people living along the U.S.-Mexico border.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

O’Rourke Leaning Towards Running for President

January 8, 2019 at 7:33 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Beto O’Rourke “is leaning toward running for president, according to four people who have spoken with him or his advisers in recent days,” Politico reports.

“But for a presidential contender, his radio silence is becoming increasingly awkward.”

“In Iowa and New Hampshire — where Democrats are accustomed to being courted aggressively by presidential contenders — calls from Democratic Party organizers to O’Rourke’s advisers go unreturned. And a report in the Wall Street Journal on Monday that O’Rourke won’t make any decision before February and is preparing for a solo road trip — but avoiding early nominating states — bewildered even his supporters.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

Republicans Dig for Dirt on O’Rourke

January 8, 2019 at 6:18 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Republicans are feverishly digging into Beto O’Rourke’s past, a sign they view the former Texas congressman as a potential threat if he wins the Democratic presidential nomination,” The Hill reports.

“GOP organizations and political action committees have spent recent weeks delving into multiple areas of O’Rourke’s life, from his voting record to a drunken driving arrest in 1998.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

O’Rourke Plans Solo Road Trip to Meet Democrats

January 7, 2019 at 6:05 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) “is asking aides to create an itinerary for him to take a solo road trip outside of Texas where he would ‘pop into places’ such as community college campuses, as he considers whether to enter the 2020 Democratic presidential primary,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Mr. O’Rourke’s trip would begin from his El Paso home and keep him away from Iowa and other early-voting states.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next Page »

Your Account

Sign in

Latest for Members

  • Introducing ‘Spitball: The New Rules of Our Broken Politics’
  • Don’t Dismiss Bernie Sanders

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Praise for Political Wire

"There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them."

-- Chuck Todd, host of "Meet the Press"

"Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all."

-- Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report

"Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”

-- Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report

"The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom -- nicely packaged, constantly updated... What political junkie could ask for more?"

-- Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia

“Political Wire is a great, great site.”

— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”

“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”

— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”

— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”

— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.

Copyright © 2019 · Goddard Media LLC | Privacy Policy