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Beto O’Rourke Quickly Builds War Chest

January 18, 2022 at 8:45 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Beto O’Rourke (D) raised $7.2 million in the first 46 days of his campaign for governor, more than any previous Democratic gubernatorial hopeful in Texas took in “during the opening days of their race,” the Dallas Morning News reports.

Filed Under: 2022 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke, TX-Gov

Beh-to or Bay-to?

November 9, 2021 at 12:10 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram settles on the correct pronunciation of Beto O’Rourke’s name.

Filed Under: 2022 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

Poll Shows Beto O’Rourke Competitive In Senate Race

December 3, 2019 at 12:10 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Dallas Morning News: “The poll also shows him in a near-tie, trailing Sen. John Cornyn 46% to 42% at this point, which is far stronger than others already seeking the nomination.”

“O’Rourke’s campaign operation has gone dormant. He didn’t respond to messages on Monday and hasn’t said lately whether he’s interested… During his presidential campaign, O’Rourke said flatly and repeatedly that he would not even consider running for the Senate in 2020.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke, TX-Sen


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O’Rourke Says Schumer Has Done Nothing on Gun Control

September 20, 2019 at 8:33 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Beto O’Rourke escalated his feud with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, asserting that his fellow Democrat has accomplished “absolutely nothing” on gun control, the Washington Post reports.

Said O’Rourke: “Ask Chuck Schumer what he’s been able to get done. We still don’t have universal background checks. Didn’t have them when he was in the majority, either. So, you know, the game that he’s played, the politics that he’s pursued have given us absolutely nothing and have produced a situation where we lose nearly 40,000 of our fellow Americans every year.”

Filed Under: Gun Control Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke, Chuck Schumer

Schumer Brushes Aside O’Rourke on Guns

September 19, 2019 at 8:11 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) told the Albany Times Union that he doesn’t “know of any other Democrat who agrees” with Beto O’Rourke’s proposal to confiscate automatic weapons.

Said Schumer: “I don’t know of any other Democrat who agrees with Beto O’Rourke, but it’s no excuse not to go forward.”

Meanwhile, O’Rourke told CNN that many Democrats “are complicit in what we see right now” with regards to gun violence.

Filed Under: Gun Control Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke, Chuck Schumer

Bonus Quote of the Day

September 18, 2019 at 3:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Beto’s one human being. He gave his own opinion, OK? I think it was very harmful to make it look like all the Democrats. I can tell you one thing: Beto O’Rourke’s not taking my guns away from me. You tell Beto that, OK?”

— Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), quoted by the Wall Street Journal.

Filed Under: Gun Control Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke, Joe Manchin

What Is Beto O’Rourke Up to Anyway?

September 16, 2019 at 12:08 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Bernstein: “He’s thrown away poll-tested strategies and is wandering around the nation getting increasingly angry. Could it work? Well, all the low-polling candidates need attention, so you never know. But it reminds me of Gary Hart’s post-scandal campaign during the 1988 nomination race. Except with a lot more profanity. That’s … more annoying than anything else. Hart had suspended his campaign, but eventually reentered without much hoopla. At first, his polling numbers surged, but it didn’t last and voters soundly rejected him.”

“Voters claim to hate poll-tested, slickly produced campaigns, but there’s very little evidence they actually want candidates raw without any frills, with the exception of a certain reality-television star in the 2016 Republican primaries (and Donald Trump was more ‘raw’ than raw, his entire persona wrapped up in the weird non-reality of reality TV). As it was with Hart, it’s tempting to think that O’Rourke will beat the consultants and the ad specialists and connect directly with voters. But he probably won’t.”

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

O’Rourke Responds to ‘Death Threat’ from Lawmaker

September 13, 2019 at 8:37 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Beto O’Rourke early Friday morning characterized an incendiary tweet from a Texas state representative as ‘a death threat’ against him, and charged that the Republican lawmaker should be stripped of his assault weapon,” Politico reports.

After O’Rourke’s campaign tweeted, “Hell yes, we’re gonna take your AR-15,” after last night’s debate, Briscoe Cain (R) — who represents the state’s House District 128, east of Houston — wrote online: “My AR is ready for you Robert Francis.”

Filed Under: Gun Control Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

Beto’s ‘Fuck It’ Phase

September 10, 2019 at 9:43 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “What’s interesting about O’Rourke at this moment is not just that he’s saying fuck a whole bunch—he’s always dropped curse words on the stump—but that he’s entered more broadly a new phase of his 2020 bid, which supporters find inspiring and critics consider desperate to the point of pathetic. Up close, though, it feels actually pretty compelling.”

“Let’s go ahead and call it Beto’s ‘fuck-it phase.'”

“The question lurking behind this caution-free style is whether O’Rourke is doing this because he cares less about his stagnant candidacy or because he in fact cares so much more.”

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

Beto Doubles Down on Cursing

September 2, 2019 at 10:42 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Beto O’Rourke is selling campaign t-shirts that say, “This Is Fucked Up.”

It’s followed by the message: “End gun violence now. Beto for America.”

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

O’Rourke Proposes Assault Weapons Ban and Buyback

August 18, 2019 at 8:01 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Beto O’Rourke visited a gun show in Little Rock, Arkansas, one day after releasing a gun control plan that included mandatory buybacks for assault weapons, CBS News reports.

Said O’Rourke: “If I’m president, you wouldn’t be able to buy weapons of war for $395. You wouldn’t be able to buy them at all.”

The NRA responded with a tweet: “If I’m president… Beto: Have you taken a look at the polls?”

To which O’Rourke responded: “Yeah. I’ve seen them. 70% of Americans support an assault weapons ban, including most Republicans.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign, Gun Control Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

O’Rourke Relaunches Campaign as Crusade Against Trump

August 15, 2019 at 9:39 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Beto O’Rourke plans to present himself to the country as a changed candidate on Thursday, with his presidential campaign recast as a moral crusade against President Trump in the aftermath of a mass shooting in El Paso, his hometown,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. O’Rourke, who represented the city in Congress until the start of this year, said he would abandon the relatively traditional approach he has so far taken — with limited success — and largely detach his travel from a primary calendar that tethers most candidates to a handful of early-voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire.”

“Instead, Mr. O’Rourke said he would now plan his political activities around confronting Mr. Trump in direct and personal terms, and highlighting what Mr. O’Rourke views as the injustices of Mr. Trump’s administration. He intends to seek out immigrant-rich towns to campaign in, and to make gun control a central issue.”

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

O’Rourke Will Resume Campaign With Major Speech

August 14, 2019 at 10:17 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Beto O’Rourke will formally rejoin the presidential race on Thursday, resuming a campaign that has been suspended for nearly two weeks with what he promises will be a ‘major address to the nation’ from his hometown of El Paso, Texas, where a mass shooting killed 22 people,” the AP reports.

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

O’Rourke Resumes Presidential Campaign

August 14, 2019 at 7:04 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “For more than a week since the shooting, O’Rourke served as a passionate voice for his border city and for immigrants more generally, with his wrenching criticism of President Donald Trump. And if O’Rourke had wanted to run for Senate, this would have been the time to make the jump — summoned home by tragedy, not limping back amid a sputtering campaign.”

“But O’Rourke has never expressed interest in running for Senate this year, after his near-miss loss to Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018. The El Paso massacre only redoubled his resolve to campaign against Trump, according to sources close to his campaign, while persistent calls for him to run for Senate exasperated his supporters.”

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

Trump Tells Beto O’Rourke to ‘Be Quiet’

August 7, 2019 at 7:08 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump tweeted late Tuesday night questioning the authenticity of Beto O’Rourke’s name and telling the former Texas congressman to “be quiet.”

Said Trump: “Beto (phony name to indicate Hispanic heritage) O’Rourke, who is embarrassed by my last visit to the Great State of Texas, where I trounced him, and is now even more embarrassed by polling at 1% in the Democrat Primary, should respect the victims & law enforcement – & be quiet!”

O’Rourke responds: “22 people in my hometown are dead after an act of terror inspired by your racism. El Paso will not be quiet and neither will I.”

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

Tuesday’s Debate Looms Large for Beto O’Rourke

July 29, 2019 at 6:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “He’s collecting millions of dollars in campaign donations, has hired experienced Democratic operatives and is paying his field organizers eye-popping wages, probably the highest in the primary campaign. O’Rourke has quickly built a large operation in Iowa, with 11 offices scattered throughout the state, and he welcomed crowds of at least 100 during his last two town halls there.”

“But those images belie the struggles he’s facing: spending money more quickly than he is raising it, polling nationally between 1 percent and 3 percent in the past month, and trying to convince voters he has the experience and vision to be president. After a first debate appearance that raised alarm among his major donors, there is ever-increasing pressure on O’Rourke to shine at Tuesday’s debate and remind Democrats why so many thought he could be a front-runner just a few months ago.”

The Atlantic: Searching for Beto.

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

Beto Challenges Staff to Push Up Competition

July 22, 2019 at 11:57 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Caught on video: With his flight delayed out of Sioux City, Iowa, Beto O’Rourke challenged his presidential campaign staff to a push up competition.

Said O’Rourke: “We gotta make use of this time.”

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

Bringing Back ‘Betomania’

July 21, 2019 at 7:51 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Beto O’Rourke has gone from phenom to front-runner to flailing in five months, and so he came home to this dusty border town last week to regroup, prepare for the next debate, and try to recast himself as the underdog in a Democratic presidential race in which many have already counted him out,” NBC News reports.

“O’Rourke says that he doesn’t plan to change his freewheeling style much, but that a top priority now is to raise the money to keep building his campaign organization so it will be ready to rebound.”

Said O’Rourke: “If you remember in Texas, it didn’t happen overnight. It was a really long process that was against the odds, very often counted down and out.”

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

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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.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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