Beto O'Rourke's Finest Hour Came Off the Presidential Campaign Trail, in El Paso

[TexasTowelie]

It’s rare to get a second chance to make a first impression, to go home again, to get your groove back. Beto O’Rourke has done all three as he climbed down from running for president to remain in his hometown of El Paso in the aftermath of the greatest trauma in Texas since JFK was assassinated.

From the moment the Walmart became a morgue, O’Rourke was back where he belonged, amid 680,000 residents of a community that is among the safest in the country. He stopped campaigning immediately, not to make a video of himself at a staged hospital visit, but to live among the mourners, some his neighbors, many his constituents when he served them in Congress. Vigils? He was there. A soccer fundraiser? He and his family were at the one to make up for the one outside Walmart that ended last Saturday with two coaches wounded. He donated blood, hugged everyone, spent time with those wounded while trying to save a child or spouse. He skipped the Iowa State Fair, the nation’s premier political event (and dining event too, if you like deep-fried Twinkies), where 16 other candidates bucking to win the first-in-the-nation caucuses appeared.

It was the right choice. Being in El Paso tapped into his natural gifts: empathy, wearing his heart on his sleeve, weaving policy into emotion, one hand chop at a time.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/beto-orourkes-finest-hour-came-off-the-presidential-campaign-trail-in-el-paso
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[Timmygoat]

1. Always liked him

Now I love him!

[Mike Nelson]

2. Agree...

... he's great with people and speaking directly to crowds. He reminds me of Bobby Kennedy and Barack Obama... Also, he's great on live interview shows. The debates don't do Beto justice... I'm not sure why, but hope he figures it out.

[lark]

3. His statute definitely increased in my eyes.

He's now in my top 5, where he wasn't previously.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. He added to this campaign immeasureably

and he wasn't even campaigning! He spoke so clearly to the issues with Trump, for all to see the racism, he even mentioned Nazi Germany (are Americans brain-dead they can't connect the dots?), and was so eloquent.

The 1-2 O'Rourke and 2 days later Biden, both speaking about Trump's character, his values, lack of integrity. This now bites deeper than Trump's affairs and his cleanup squad. It speaks to how Trump's values and policies are affecting America. Trump is determined to make this a shithole country. Everything he does is MALE - Making America Lousy Everywhere

[Lytex59]

5. Beto is the real deal

The tragedy in El Paso reaffirmed who Beto really is. His heart is in the right place, and his vision of what America can be is what we all hope for. He has much to contribute to the future of this country.

[dlk]

6. Beto, in Showing His Deep Level of Compassion, Set an Positive Example, in Contrast to Trump

Night and day.

[brer cat]

7. K&R

[Princetonian]

8. Beto O'Rourke keeps impressing me. He is a very very good man who keeps it real.

His coming off the campaign trail is the mark of man who is comfortable with doing the right thing. His decision reminds me of what Joe did when people, including me, wanted him to run in 2016. But he couldn't. His heart wasn't in it, because his son who was a big part of his heart, had died the year before.

Hope to see him knock it out of the park at the September debates.

[Chemisse]

9. For the first time, I saw what people liked about him. n/t