Just What Does Beto Believe?

[DonViejo]

The former Texas congressman seems unwilling to place himself on his party’s conventional political spectrum.

By DAVID SIDERS March 04, 2019

EL PASO, Texas — Is Beto O’Rourke the progressive icon who, during his Senate run against Ted Cruz, talked about legalizing marijuana and impeaching Donald Trump? Or is he the centrist Texan who, during his first run for the House, raised the possibility of making Social Security less generous for future retirees?

It might be the biggest question lingering over O’Rourke as he prepares for a likely run for the Democratic presidential nomination: Just what does he believe, actually?

O’Rourke seems unwilling to place himself on his party’s conventional political spectrum. At the final town hall of his congressional career, the last of more than 100 such gatherings he held, O’Rourke was greeted in December at a local high school by cheerleaders, a mariachi band and supporters wearing T-shirts reading “Beto for President.” In response to a question from POLITICO after the event, O’Rourke would not—or could not—answer if he considers himself a progressive Democrat.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m just, as you may have seen and heard over the course of the campaign, I’m not big on labels. I don’t get all fired up about party or classifying or defining people based on a label or a group. I’m for everyone.”

O’Rourke’s political identity was shaped by his hometown of El Paso, during his first House campaign seven years ago. While even then he was considered a progressive Democrat, he was also an idiosyncratic political thinker who seemed to think through problems while talking about them aloud—with voters and even junior staff.

more
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/03/04/beto-o-rourke-progressive-2020-225441

[Hassin Bin Sober]

1. This is all I need to know:

“we’ll have to look at future generations … retiring at a later age, paying a greater percentage of their income into Social Security and making other necessary adjustments” to ensure the longevity of the program.