Political News
Texas democratic darling Beto O'Rourke suspends presidential campaign
Former Texas Representative and Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke is out of the race. At 4:30 pm on November 1, the former congressman announced he is suspending his presidential campaign.
O'Rourke naturally took to Twitter to make the announcement, which then linked to a Medium post detailing his decision. If that last sentence doesn't sum up the dissemination of American political news in 2019, we don't know what does.
"Though it is difficult to accept, it is clear to me now that this campaign does not have the means to move forward successfully," he wrote on Medium. "My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee. Acknowledging this now is in the best interests of those in the campaign; it is in the best interests of this party as we seek to unify around a nominee; and it is in the best interests of the country."
The former nominee then outlined some of the key platforms of his campaign, such as campaign financing, gun control, and climate change. He also decried the current administration and political climate, calling it a "moment of great peril."
O'Rourke also threw his support behind the yet undetermined 2020 presidential nominee saying, "I can tell you firsthand from having the chance to know the candidates, we will be well served by any one of them, and I’m going to be proud to support whoever that nominee is. And proud to call them President in January 2021, because they will win."
What O'Rourke did not say, however, is if he's planning to challenge Texas' current senator, Republican John Cornyn, for his seat in 2020. The Democratic darling rose to national fame in 2018 thank to his social media-fueled grassroots campaign against Senator Ted Cruz. Cruz defeated O'Rourke by 150,000 votes, ending one of the closest races in recent history.
Instead, the former congressman simply said, "I’m confident I will see you down the road, and I look forward to that day."