March 14, 2019 - Former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) Announces Candidacy

• After his close finish in the Texas Senate race there was a huge amount of Beto buzz.  Several draft movements sprang up.   Anticipation had been building up in the past week as O'Rourke said he had reached a decision and would reveal it in due course.  A March 9 email encouraged people to sign up "to get the earliest possible update."  In Iowa, a veteran Democratic operative signed up with O'Rourke and was helping to plan his first trip.  Also in Iowa, Club for Growth Action launched an attack ad on the likely candidate. And to top it off O'Rourke was featured on the cover of Vanity Fair 's just release April issue ("Beto's Choice: 'I want to be in it. Man, Im just born to be in it.'").

• Launch video, website, Tweets, press release.

• Reactions from RNC.

• O'Rourke is to formally launch his candidacy on March 30 in El Paso.


https://www.facebook.com/betoorourke/videos/2271116456494479/
"Running for president"
(3:21 video)


Amy and I are happy to share with you that I'm running to serve you as the next president of the United States of America.

This is a defining moment of truth for this country and for every single one of us.

The challenges that we face right now; the interconnected crises in our economy, our democracy and our climate have never been greater.

and they will either consume us, or they will afford us the greatest opportunity to unleash the genius of the United States of America.

In other words this moment of peril produces, perhaps the greatest moment of promise for this country and for everyone inside of it

We can begin by fixing our democracy and ensuring that our government works for everyone and not just for corporations.

We can invest in the dignity of those who work and those who seek to work.

We can ensure that every single American can see a doctor and be well enough to live to their full potential.

And all of us, wherever you live, can acknowledge that if immigration is a problem, it's the best possible
problem for this country to have, and we should ensure that there are lawful paths to work, to be with family and to flee persecution.

We can listen to, and lift up rural America.

We can work on real justice reform, and confront the hard truths of slavery, and segregation, and suppression in these United States of America.

We can reassert our global leadership and end these decades-long wars, and be there for every woman and man who've served in them.

Perhaps most importantly of all, because our very existence depends on it. We can unleash the ingenuity and creativity of millions of Americans who want to ensure that we squarely confront the challenge of climate change before it's too late.

This is going to be a positive campaign that seeks to bring out the very best from every single one of us; that seeks to unite a very divided country.

We saw the power of this in Texas, where people allowed no difference, however great or however small, to stand between them and divide us. Whether it was religion, or gender, or income, or geography.

We put our labels and our differences aside to come together for the only thing that matters: the future of this country and the generations that will follow us.

Over the coming days I'm going to travel this country and listen to those who I seek to serve: To understand from your perspective how we can best meet these challenges.

On March 30, I will be back here in El Paso, Texas, and I invite you to join us in a kickoff for this campaign. But even if you cannot be here on March 30, I still want your help organizing where you live, bringing in friends and family and neighbors to the greatest grassroots campaign this country has ever seen.

There's a lot more to come, but I want to leave you with this.

The only way for us to live up to the promise of America is to give it our all and to give it for all of us. We are truly now more than ever, the last great hope of Earth.

At this moment of maximum peril and maximum potential let's show ourselves and those who will succeed us in this great country. Just who we are and what we can do. Thank you.

Fundraising Email
March 14, 2019
Subject: Running for president

Joe,

I write to ask you to join me in a campaign to serve this country as the next President of the United States.

At this moment of truth — at this moment where we could make or break our democracy, where we will decide the fate of generations to come on this planet — we must all ask what each of us can give to this country and to the people who will inherit the consequences of our choices.

Amy and I have decided that running to serve America as president is the best way for us to do our part, understanding that we have an historic opportunity to join with millions of our fellow Americans at a time like no other.

The challenges we face are the greatest in living memory. The connected crises in our economy, our democracy and our climate will either consume us or they will afford us the opportunity to demonstrate our resolve, our creativity and our courage.

In other words, this moment of peril produces what is perhaps our greatest moment of promise. We can have a government that serves people instead of corporations. We can invest in the dignity of those working and those seeking work, no matter their gender, race or background. We can guarantee high quality health care to every single American. We can remind ourselves that if immigration is a problem, it’s a great one to have, and ensure that we create lawful paths to enter the country to work, to join family, to flee persecution. We can achieve real justice reform and confront the hard truths of slavery, segregation and suppression. We can listen to and lift up rural communities. We can restore American leadership, find peaceful solutions to global challenges, and end decades-long wars while delivering for every woman and man who has served in them. And we can unleash the ingenuity and political will of millions of Americans to meet the existential threat of climate change before it’s too late.

No one candidate or president, no matter how tough or talented or experienced, can meet these challenges on their own. Only this country can do that, and only if we build a movement that includes all of us – not just to vote and volunteer, but to understand that for democracy to flourish and meet these challenges, it is an everyday responsibility, one that doesn’t end when the ballots are counted.

We saw the truth of that in Texas over the last two years - people from all walks of life, every part of the state, coming together in record numbers, creating something greater and more powerful than the sum of the people involved. I saw firsthand how the purpose and function that we all crave can be found in serving others and serving this country.

This campaign will be positive. We will define ourselves by what we want to achieve and accomplish for America. It will be animated by an ambition for the country that recognizes that the challenges we face will only be overcome by lifting each other up; that the opportunities before us will only be realized by overcoming the differences between us — of party, of geography, of race, of gender, of faith — before they define us forever.

We seek the Democratic nomination by listening to and learning from the people we wish to serve. We are running a campaign for everyone. That’s why, wherever you are in the United States — from Alaska to Puerto Rico — I want you to be part of this. I want this to be your campaign. A campaign by all of us for all of us.

In the coming days I will travel to introduce myself to my fellow Americans and to listen to the people I meet. In those conversations I want to discuss how we can bring the power and ingenuity of the American people to bear on the challenges we face.

On March 30th we will officially kick off this campaign in my hometown of El Paso. I want you to be there with me then if you can. I’m also asking you to help organize others in your community to make sure that we build the greatest grassroots campaign this country has ever seen. No PACs, just people.

There’s more to come, but I want to leave you with this:

The only way to live up to the promise of this country at this moment of maximum peril and maximum potential is to give it our all and to give it for all of us. We are now, more than ever, the last best hope of Earth. Let’s show ourselves and those who succeed us in this great country what we are made of and what we can do.

If you are ready to be part of this effort, please make a donation to help us kick off our campaign the right way.

Beto

Ed.-In a nice bit of planning, O'Rourke was out campaigning in one of the far corners of Iowa on the morning of his announcement:






March 18, 2019

BETO O’ROURKE RAISES RECORD-BREAKING $6.1 MILLION IN THE FIRST 24 HOURS OF HIS GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT

EL PASO, TEXAS -- Beto O’Rourke raised a record-breaking $6,136,763 in online contributions during the first 24 hours of his grassroots campaign for President of the United States. Without a dime from PACs, corporations or special interests, he received contributions from every state and territory in the nation.

“In just 24 hours, Americans across this country came together to prove that it is possible to run a true grassroots campaign for president -- a campaign by all of us for all of us that answers not to the PACs, corporations and special interests but to the people,” said O’Rourke.

The historic news comes after O’Rourke kicked off his campaign on Thursday with a three day, 13 county, 837 mile road trip across Iowa to visit with, listen to and learn from communities throughout the state including eight counties that voted for President Obama in 2012 before selecting Donald Trump in 2016. Yesterday, O’Rourke continued his grassroots drive with a return to Wisconsin where he held events in Madison and Milwaukee. He is visiting Michigan and Ohio today before traveling to Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and other states later this week.


Republican National Committee
March 14, 2019

“It’s telling that the Democrats’ biggest star is someone whose biggest accomplishment is losing. Beto O’Rourke failed to get anything done in Congress, and with extreme policies like government-run health care and tearing down border barriers, his 2020 bid won’t be successful either.” – RNC Communications Director Michael Ahrens
 
Here’s just some of what you need to know about O’Rourke:
1. NBC News, 2/14/19; HuffPost, 8/23/18
2. Buzzfeed, 2/11/19; Bloomberg, 2/25/19
3. The Washington Post, 9/25/18
4. GOP War Room, 9/19/18
5. Congress.gov, Accessed 3/11/19
6. The Hill, 1/16/19; CNN, 1/19/19


RNC Research (Top Takeaways)

Liberal Loser, Robert “Beto” O’Rourke, Ready To Lose Again

After Losing His Senate Bid In Texas, The Liberals’ Lovable Loser Who Has Been Road-Tripping, Live Streaming, And Finding Himself, Decided He Wants To Lose On A Bigger Stage.

TOP TAKEAWAYS

·    Following his Senate loss, Beto O’Rourke spent a few months on a bizarre and widely mocked road trip filled with livestreams and blogs and has decided that his experience losing a Senate race qualifies him for the Democratic presidential nomination.

·    Even with MS-13 as a “high threat” in his home state, O’Rourke voted against legislation to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, has called to remove walls on the border, and wants to abolish ICE.

·    In addition to being anti-immigration enforcement, O’Rourke also resents law enforcement calling it “the new Jim Crow.”

·    O’Rourke is an “unapologetic, unabashed liberal,” having voted with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 94 percent of the time in his last term.

·    O’Rourke is a proponent of massive government saying he is “really excited” about the Green New Deal proposal which is estimated to cost $93 trillion and he supports a $32 trillion government-run health care proposal.

·    O’Rourke’s lies about fleeing from a DUI accident, other criminal activities, and questionable deals bring his character into question.

  O’Rourke tried to flee the scene of a DUI and lied about the incident.

o   O’Rourke was arrested for burglary while at college.

o   O’Rourke’s was involved in a controversial El Paso real estate deal that his father-in-law invested in.
....