Beto O'Rourke, the former Representative of Texas has announced that he is dropping out of the presidential race. O'Rourke has struggled to continue his campaign since his 2018 Senate candidacy when he gained enormous support from the people. He made the decision to quit the race during the gathering of Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa on November 1, 2019. O'Rourke's campaign has also been under serious financial struggles, and if he continued the race, he would have to make cuts to his staff to pay for advertising. The advertising that would have aided his presidential campaign for the early primary and caucus state. During his campaigning, he focused on issues relating to guns and race. In a message post on Medium, he expressed that, "My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee". As of now, O'Rourke is not expected to run for any other office in 2020.
Questions:
1. Do you think there is another reason behind O'Rourke's departing from the presidential race? Why?
2. How does this impact the other candidates' presidential campaigns? Who do you think is the front runner for the Democratic candidate in the 2020 elections?
3. Since O'Rourke is out of the race, what do you think next for him?
I think there may have been party pressure to get him to drop the presidential race and instead run for an office in Congress, as maintaining a majority in Congress is important for them to move their agenda forward. However, I think the reasons listed (lack of funding) is probably the main reason why he dropped out, as campaigning in costly. This may allow for other candidate to receive more funding as O’Rourke is no longer being supported by those supporters. It is possible in the future that he may run again for office, but based on the article I don’t think it will be for this election season.
ReplyDeleteO'Rourke will be remembered as a failed presidential candidate. He has not been relevant the entire time and it is a surprise it took him this long to drop out. This will have no effect on the race as a whole because he did not have much support or many donors. In my opinion, the race is Joe Biden's to loose. He was the VP under Obama and has taken much credit for the former president's "accomplishments". Elizabeth Warren has generated a lot of buzz over the past 6 months or so but I still think Bernie Sanders is more popular among the radicals. Biden captures the liberal side of the party while the two Democrat-socialists capture the leftist side of the party. I think it would be in the best interest of Sanders and Warren to team up and defeat Joe Biden that way. Warren can be VP on the ticket while Sanders can be the Nominee. When it comes to O'Rourke, I think he should go back to congress. He already failed his campaign as a senate member and a presidential candidate. He is not ready.
ReplyDeleteThere is no way to know why O'Rourke truly dropped out of the race, as there could be a reason he is choosing not to reveal to the press, like personal family matters. I don't think many are surprised that he dropped out, as he hadn't been relevant in the news lately, and had struggled to stand out in the debates. Therefore, I don't think him dropping out will have a very large effect on the other candidates, besides the fact that the race is now becoming narrower, and more intense. I think the frontrunners include Biden, Warren and Bernie, but that could all change as the primaries approach. I don't know what is next for O'Rourke, but maybe he can find success in another sector of government. However, it is clear that he isn't necessarily the right fit as a president at this time.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason Beto dropped out of the race was rather simple, he realized that he had vastly underestimated the energy for him as a presidential candidate, and that his polling results had no where to go but down. The simple action to take was to stop wasting money and to refocus his energy on the next thing. It was the smart decision to make, and other candidates (cough cough Harris, Booker, Bennett, Steyer, etc cough cough) with no chance and no new ideas should look to follow suit. Currently, the obvious front-runners for the Democratic Party are Warren and Biden, with Biden being the leader in nationwide polls but Warren pulling ahead in early states like Iowa. And momentum means a lot in the nomination process. Historically, the early frontrunner rarely wins the presidential nominee, and we may not know for sure until February. Personally, I like Beto as a person, and I hope to see more from him in the future. He brought energy, certain unique ideas, and a fun loving personality that I enjoyed watching on the debate stage and at nominee events. He started strong, but one must remember that the Presidential campaign is a marathon, not a sprint. Although others may not, I will miss Beto in this November debate.
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ReplyDeleteI think that O'Rouke's decision to drop out of the race was wise. His polling numbers were never that high and he never got that much attention from the media after the debates, which makes his departure from the Democratic presidential race more likely to not impact other candidates The front runners right now are Warren, Biden, and Sanders are they won't be affected if other candidates drop out of the race because they're so far off from the polling numbers they get; O'Rouke's future is uncertain as of now but it's not a crazy idea to think that he will probably stay involved in the politics of Texas.
I am certainly disappointed to hear that O'Rourke has dropped out of the race, although not surprised. He never seemed to be taken that seriously by the party, and didn't get much media attention. The front runners do seem to be Warren and Biden, and O'Rourke's departure doesn't seem to have changed much. I think that his political career will probably continue on the track it was on before he began running in the primaries, although I believe given the campaign experience and attention he has received he may run for Senate in Texas, flipping one of its senate seats (which is similar to the pattern we are seeing in Kentucky for this election cycle)
ReplyDeleteI believe that the main reasons as to why O’Rourke dropped out of the presidential race are those that were stated: financial issues and budget cuts; however, there is always a possibility that they are other minor factors contributing to his decision. It is most understandable that he dropped out because without financial stability, the likeliness of him winning is lessened greatly seeing as it is very costly to run a successful campaign with advertising. I don’t think this will have too big of an impact on the other candidates in regards to their actions or campaigns. At the moment, Biden and Warren are in the lead for the Democrats. As for O’Rourke now, I think he will probably continue his profession or position that he held before becoming a candidate.
ReplyDeleteSince O’Rourke did not specifically state to the public why he dropped out of the presidential race, we cannot assume that is was only because of the issues previously stated. I am not particularly surprised that he dropped out because he had always struggled from the beginning with lack of media attention and donors. Additionally, I do not think that him dropping out will have a large effect on other candidates and the election overall. As for his next move, I believe that he should continue being a representative in Congress.
ReplyDeleteO'Rourke's dropout I also believe is due to financial struggles mostly, but it may not be the only reason. Although he did have a group that supported him, he did not have the following enough to push him to become a big player in the presidency, and going into debt to become a potential candidate for the presidency is not worth it if he believes he has a slim chance to win at all. He should continue his former position and maybe try again once he gains more experience and renown as a congressman.
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