Beto O’Rourke’s campaign to be president started out well enough, but things haven’t exactly taken off as expected for the former Member of Congress and once-failed Senate candidate from Texas.
O’Rourke’s fundraising began with a bang; the candidate, who had never before launched a national campaign, raised $6.1 million in under 24 hours, besting a previous record set by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). But unlike Sanders, O’Rourke’s numbers haven’t gone up since he announced his interest in the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, and according to Politico, he’s mired in the middle of the pack, competing against only second-string candidates.
Sanders is “far ahead” in both polling and fundraising (though he’s still running several points behind former Vice President Joe Biden, who hasn’t even entered the race yet), and O’Rourke is now trailing South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who quickly supplanted O’Rourke as the young upstart Democratic “golden child,” raising an impressive $7 million in just a few days on the stump, and drawing much larger crowds and much more media attention.
Beto’s also having a tough time drawing audiences in early primary states like Iowa. According to Washington Examiner reporter Joe Simonson, who has been following both O’Rourke’s and Sanders’ campaigns around Iowa, there’s no question who voters are more interested in. – READ MORE