Our campaign has always been about seeing clearly, speaking honestly, and acting decisively.
In that spirit: I am announcing that my service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee. https://t.co/8jrBPGuX4t
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) November 1, 2019
Let us continue to fearlessly champion the issues and causes that brought us together. Whether it is ending the epidemic of gun violence or dismantling structural racism or successfully confronting climate change, we will continue to organize and mobilize and act.
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) November 1, 2019
Thank you for making this campaign possible, and for continuing to believe that we can turn this moment of great peril into a moment of great promise for America and the world.
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) November 1, 2019
Elizabelle
I wish he would run for the Senate. I know he is taking a big chance of being a two-time loser for a Senate seat, but Texas is changing and he could do well with a blue wave. And who knows what other mud Trump is going to drag his Senate supporters through.
trollhattan
Repeating myself from downstairs, I liked his forthright opposition to assault weapons. I hope he gets a second act.
Marcopolo
@Elizabelle: That’s my first thought as well, though I am also aware there are already a few promising candidates running. I wouldn’t want to dump on their efforts, necessarily, though I’d imagine Beto might have a leg up in terms of already built campaign infrastructure & fundraising ability.
hells littlest angel
@Elizabelle: He probably made himself unelectable in Texas with, “Hell, yes, we’re going to take away your AR15.” He’s a good guy, but Texas (and a lot of other states) is just too fucked up.
Marcopolo
@trollhattan: I am wondering how some of his Prez positions ( which were a little left of his Senate run) might affect running again for Senate in TX.
Mike in DC
17 left. Half of them white dudes. Perhaps in the near future, white dudes won’t be overrepresented among our presidential contenders.
MisterForkbeard
@trollhattan: I feel like he was successful just for that. He didn’t win, but he made a real difference.
Mnemosyne
Hickenlooper has already pivoted to a Senate campaign in Colorado, so I hope that several of the other no-hopers will do the same. It would be great for Castro to make a run at that Texas senate seat as well.
James E Powell
Thank you, Beto! Now go back to Texas and run for something you can win. If you’re not sure what to do, call Stacey Abrams.
JPL
@James E Powell: You know Stacey decided not to run for Senate. GA might be changing, but not yet and she doesn’t want to be a two time loser anymore than Beto does.
trollhattan
How is MJ Hegar’s campaign for Cornyn’s seat going? Anybody know?
West of the Rockies
I welcome his voice and energy and effort going forward. I’m also glad he dropped out because I don’t believe he yet has the needed experience.
trollhattan
Ain’t much, but a win is a win.
Mary G
Ella in New Mexico
I liked Beto when he represented El Paso, and I still do. But he got way out over his skies with his Presidential bid, yes, because he’s got an ego but more because he’s got a lot of heart and genuinely wants great things for America.
I hope he regroups and does some good stuff for a few years before he tries again for a big office.
artem1s
really hope he continues with the GOTV efforts in TX. Dems need state level seats more than we need another WH candidate.
West of the Rockies
Now if only Tulsi and Steyer and Williamson took the hint.
jk
@Elizabelle:
I second that emotion. John Cornyn is a major league asshole and Democrats need to field someone other than a no-name non entity to make him work to keep his seat.
Beto was never my first choice, but it’s very frustrating that the two oldest candidates Biden and Sanders are still in this damn race. They both need to get the fuck out.
Marcopolo
@artem1s: THIS! In my dream world Beto takes the rest of the year off to spend with his wife & kids, Tom Steyer calls him and says, “Hey Beto, here’s $20-50 million,” he then set up a PAC, reaches out to all the folks who worked for him in 2018 & challenges them to help him turn TX blue in 2020. Then he can run for TX GV in 2022 (I think it is up then).
JanieM
@James E Powell:
@JPL:
I thought the whole point of James E. Powell’s comment was the fact that Stacey Abrams decided not to run for the Senate again, and is instead working on voting rights, among other things.
Good for her, too. I would love to have a chance to vote for her for president someday.
chris
Damn.
Martin
So, there was a bit of a report that Warren’s wealth tax would take $7B from Jeff Bezos. That sounds like a lot. The median black household, if they weren’t exempt, would pay $250 for a similar percentage of their wealth.
Tazj
@Ella in New Mexico: I liked the way he talked honestly about the brutality and horror of gun violence and the press was like “it doesn’t matter that what he was saying was true, he used bad language and was insulting (only crazy) gun owners!”
He also was good at talking to white people (like myself) about their privilege in this country.
Drunkenhausfrau
I genuinely like him. I think he is a good person. I’d like him as Cabinet member, DHS? He’s young, but as the mother of two millennials, they want seats at the table NOW. There’s a reason “Boomer” is an epithet.
JanieM
A better link for Fair Fight 2020, which Stacey Abrams is spearheading. The other linkI posted is related to the recount.
TS (the original)
@trollhattan:
At the end of the day, the people of America pay for the wrong that trump wants to force upon them. Does impeachment come with trump having to pay all the costs?
guachi
Harris going “all in on Iowa” probably means she’ll drop out after Iowa.
O’Rourke’s been stuck at about 2% for months. Two percent isn’t much, but it’ll be interesting to see where his supporters go, especially in Texas where he was polling well enough to get delegates.
Tazj
@Mary G: Yes, that was great. Something that should be said more often to the press.
I often listen to the radio in the car while waiting to pick up my kids. Yesterday while discussing the impeachment proceedings, a journalist said it was so exhilarating covering the impeachment because no one knows how it will turn out. In the end will it be good for Democrats or Trump and the Republicans? This is just great entertainment for them.
NotMax
Out of his league since day one. Forget about the Senate this time around.There must be a currently R held House seat he might be able to pick up; his mercurial nature would play better in that type of match-up.
notoriousJRT
@trollhattan:
I like Beto. He seems a decent guy. I hope he gets a second act, too.
FelonyGovt
Too bad. I like him better than Buttigieg, who’s still in (and apparently surging). Beto has energy and charisma, definitely assets for a politician, and had some thoughtful comments about immigration and about guns. Hopefully he has a bright future.
zhena gogolia
@Mary G:
Yeah, that was my favorite moment. I thought he was good in some of the debates.
Fair Economist
@Marcopolo: Having been in the Presidential race so long, Beto would look bad dropping in on MJ Hegar so late. Cornyn also still has high favorables. I agree Beto would be better off supporting Democratic efforts in 2020 and then running for Governor or Lt. Governor in 2022.
Cheryl Rofer
notoriousJRT
@Drunkenhausfrau:
FWIW, Biden and Bernie are not Boomers. They are members of the Silent Generation.
Elizabelle
@guachi: I wish Kamala could skip Iowa and go straight to South Carolina. I hope she does not drop out.
Iowa and NH are terrible “go first” states. Very unrepresentative.
Mary G
@zhena gogolia: He was great, and he pushed the window with the “”hell, yes, we’re going to take your guns.” But that would have lost this race at this time.
Calouste
Good, an unqualified white guy drops out of the race. Just another half a dozen or so to go, and that’s just the Democratic side.
NotMax
@Fair Economist
Are you in Texas? While haven’t seen anything about it (admittedly also haven’t sought it out) I presume it is an open secret that George P.G. Bush will run for governor then. Tough to come up up with a race of more stark contrast then O’Rourke v. Bush.
Baud
@notoriousJRT:
I’ve noticed that “Boomer” has become a synonym of The Olds and “Millennial” for The Youngs.
Fair Economist
@NotMax: I’m in California; I’m just a politics junkie now so I’ve been following Texas. I’m making the Texas statehouse a big donation target of mine this cycle. I think it’s flippable, and statehouse races get so much less oxygen and money than national races, so I figure I’ll make more of a difference.
NotMax
OT. They can’t afford a freakin’ calendar to keep abreast of things?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud:
It’s as if Gen-X doesn’t exist, sort of like George W. Bush among Republicans.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@guachi:
No way she’d drop before South Carolina. I think it’s smart for her to skip New Hampshire, let Bernie and Liz fight it out there.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax:
(Looks at NotMax, shakes head.)
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Who?
Mary G
mandalay
@Elizabelle:
I don’t, for several reasons:
– For his political future he really needs to avoid getting three-time loser stink, which he would if he lost to Cornyn.
– The Democrats already have a fine candidate: MJ Hegar.
– More than any other Democratic candidate, O’Rourke made some very volatile comments during his presidential campaign. They probably sit well with most folks here, but Cornyn’s team could produce some devastating hit-job ads out of them.
JPL
I hope that Abrams campaigns for the other democrats running for Senate in GA, and I hope that Beto campaigns in Texas. They are both able to excite their base and turn out votes.
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
Now allow me to tell you about the rest of my patent pending exercise program.
On second thought, that’s it in toto.
;)
Calouste
@Mary G: You’d think that at one point the Intelligence Services are going to do a hatchet job back. It’s not like they are unaware of what’s going on.
Mike in DC
@Elizabelle: I sorta wonder whether Booker and Castro dropping out could benefit Harris. Seems…simplistic, obviously. But it may be that having one solid candidate of color on the stage is better than several when things narrow down, at least this go round.
Mary G
Good kitty Halloween:
Terrible parent Halloween:
Elizabelle
@Mike in DC: I think you are right.
Again, I am surprised that Kamala is not getting more traction. She’s a very attractive candidate, should be formidable, and would be great as POTUS, VP, Attorney General (which is now an even more important job than when she turned down Obama’s offer; Barr stink on the DOJ.)
Way too many candidates, and Bernie and Biden should not be in.
Lot can happen in the next few months. It has to.
JAFD
@NotMax: “OT. They can’t afford a freakin’ calendar to keep abreast of things?”
They were just trying it on for thighs.
pinacacci
This increases my respect for Beto tenfold. Not just an idealist, but a realist. Sets the example of clearing the field and in the process warmly recommends all of his fellow candidates. I like this! I too hope he does much good work on GOTV. I confess, I’ve always admired his sailor talk but was leery of a vanity candidacy…to me this shows he really does want to serve the people, not just massage his own ego. Two thumbs up, Mr. O’Rourke!
Aleta
@JanieM: Like lots of us here, I’m committed to sending support to whatever she does. A real leader.
Jamie
@hells littlest angel:
That would be my guess, too.
Chyron HR
@Mary G:
Ah, let me correct you there, Lord Smythington–the Trump administration thinks “their own intelligence services” are the GRU and the KGB.
mrmoshpotato
@JAFD: @NotMax: Shame on you both!
PPCLI
@Mary G: Mini Trump is flashing the WP sign.
Chetan Murthy
I just watched Nancy SMASH! deliver some homily about our Constitution on Colbert’s show. Booyah! I was pleased that she was basically his only guest — he paid appropriate respect to her office, history, career, and total SMASH-ness. She was great, and even got a couple of nice jokes in (even a hand-gesture or two *grin*).
I must confess that I thought she was a little cowardly, with her “he’ll self-impeach” back a few months ago. I. Was. Wrong. She knew better, and I stand corrected.
Elizabelle
@Chetan Murthy: Very honest of you to say that. Kudos.
Have always been a Nancy Smash fan.
Sister Golden Bear
@Baud: One reason us GenXers hate both Boomers and Millennials //
(Snark tag, because Xers are inherently bitter and sarcastic, right?) //
mrmoshpotato
@Chetan Murthy:
hehe
Mnemosyne
@Chetan Murthy:
I think a lot of people misinterpreted her “he’ll self-impeach” comment as meaning that she wasn’t going to start impeachment proceedings. Now I think it’s pretty obvious that what she meant was that the Democrats were biding their time until Trumpolini handed them the cut-and-dried case that they knew he would, because he’s just that dumb.
Chetan Murthy
@Mnemosyne: Amen, Mnem. Amen.
I find myself wondering if that’s the same game she’s playing with M4A.
James E Powell
@JanieM:
@JPL:
Yes, Janie, that was exactly my point, but to be fair I did not write that very well. I tried to get back in and edit it but technology betrayed me. I have no idea what Beto’s standing is among Texans generally or Democratic leaning Texans specifically. I do think he is famous and newsworthy enough to have positive impact on registering voters and ensuring ballot access.
jk
@Elizabelle:
Part of the reason, Kamala has not gotten more traction is because these 2 selfish pricks, both way too old to do this damn job, have sucked up so much oxygen,
waratah
@Marcopolo: you need to research Beto he stopped pac money when he was a congressman. There is a video of him talking about it. He wanted to vote in Congress for right thing not for what those that donated to him wanted.
anarchoRex
Dollars to donuts Beto pivots to some private sector bullshit. Speaking as a former constituent.
ETA: He’s also made himself toxic for any kind of statewide race in Texas. If he hadn’t gotten too full of his own bs, and run for Senate again instead of President, he could’ve been a real contender against Cornyn, but at this point he’s a guaranteed loss.
JAFD
@mrmoshpotato: You are right. I am wrong.
Indeed, I haven’t got a leg to stand on.
(Goodnight, gentlefolk and Jackals. It’s past my bedtime, anyway… )