He is believing the media hype.
Via Fox News:
If you’re discussing politics this holiday season, there’s a good chance the name of Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, will come up.
Although he lost his race against Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in November, the three-term congressman – who will be out of office in just a few days – is generating buzz as a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
Former President Obama even met with O’Rourke recently – a sure sign that despite his loss to Cruz in Texas, O’Rourke is being taken seriously in the crowded field of Democrats considering running to replace President Trump.
Advisers to the former Vice President Joe Biden reportedly view O’Rourke as a threat to Biden’s own ambitions to become the Democratic nominee for president in 2020.[…]
It’s not all roses for O’Rourke, however. Yes, he gave Cruz a run for his money, but “almost” only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Even the potent cocktail of $80 million, the political winds at his back and a sense of apathy toward Cruz couldn’t get O’Rourke over the finish line.
O’Rourke happens to be a white male running in a party that places an increasing premium on identity politics. Porn star Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti, who was considering his own run for the Democratic presidential nomination but has since pulled out, came under intense fire when he suggested the Democrats’ 2020 nominee “better be a white male.”
O’Rourke may prefer his nickname “Beto” over his given name “Robert,” but that doesn’t change his ethnicity or inability to break a glass ceiling.
Being at the front of the pack of potential Democratic presidential hopefuls right now only attracts scrutiny from others. Already, O’Rourke’s votes on issues such as Medicare-for-all and free college are coming under fire.
The Democratic Party base is demanding purity on hot-button issues like the impeachment of President Trump and abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). But a Vox analysis of O’Rourke concluded his “voting record is more conservative than the average Democrat’s.”