Inside Beto O'Rourke's collapse

[brooklynite]

Politico

While other candidates were assembling campaign staffs and volunteer armies in early nominating states, O’Rourke lacked the infrastructure necessary to organize his own supporters. Lawmakers and major Democratic donors could not get calls returned. When the campaign’s skeletal staff promised to reach out, it sometimes forgot.

The signs of disorder were startling. He announced his candidacy before hiring a campaign manager. Two senior officials who had worked on O’Rourke’s Senate run and on Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, Becky Bond and Zack Malitz, abruptly left. On the eve of his campaign announcement, O’Rourke was forced to personally apologize to at least one prominent Iowa Democrat for his lack of organization, according to a source familiar with the conversation.

O’Rourke’s initial handling of the media was just as clumsy. He alienated reporters by refusing to provide basic information about his schedule — including, for many outlets, the location of his campaign’s first public event. He later acknowledged he needed to do a “better job” reaching a national audience.

But at first, he believed he didn’t have to — that based on the success of his Senate campaign’s social media effort, he could largely bypass the traditional press, two people familiar with the campaign said.

[Tipperary]

1. I never thought he would even get as far as he did.

I was unimpressed by the couch announcement to begin with. Then the silly skateboarding stunt and the facebook nonsense convinced me he was just out of his depth.

[Sherman A1]

2. It appeared to me that he started with no real plan beyond

I think I should be President. I may be wrong, but I could see no real set of policy proposals when he announced beyond going to Iowa and listening to the people to see what they thought.

He might be a great guy, but I want to know what the candidate's ideas and proposals are when they start. Certainly some things will adjust going forward as they must as focus shifts from one issue to another, but I just didn't see substance with this candidate.

[Tipperary]

4. Yes, that is very true.

There really did not seem to be any substance. He changed his main issue so many times also, difficult to get a grasp on what was most important to him.

[OnDoutside]

3. True. When you look at where he was before he started, versus

Pete Buttigieg, in terms of name recognition, it's even more of a disaster. If he's not going up against Cornyn, it's hard to see where else he can go politically.

[BeyondGeography]

5. It's a tough field of candidates

I think he severely underestimated the degree of difficulty. He didn’t come up with a policy angle until after El Paso and by then it was very late and the issue he landed on took him in directions that were politically risky and practically impossible.

[dalton99a]

6. O'Rourke was the first candidate out of the gates with a detailed climate-specific platform.

He announced it in April.

His plan was immediately dismissed and attacked by the Green revolutionaries in Bernie's crowd (who had zero plan beyond empty bullshit)