Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke bristled Monday at the suggestion his 2020 campaign was rebooting, but admitted he could improve how he speaks to the country as a whole.
“We’ve been on the road now for eight weeks, traveling to over 15 states, have held more than 150 town halls, running today the same way that we started. But I recognize I can do a better job also of talking to a national audience beyond the town halls,” O’Rourke said during an interview on MSNBC. “I hope that I’m continuing to do better over time, but we’ve been extraordinarily fortunate with the campaign that we’ve run so far.”
O’Rourke’s appearance on MSNBC ends a noticeable absence from national television. The former congressman is scheduled to feature on ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday and in a CNN town hall broadcast from Iowa next week. Many political pundits have speculated the change in strategy was triggered by his flagging poll numbers.
O’Rourke was questioned about his grassroots approach to his White House bid in April during a town hall in Arlington, Va. At the time, he told the concerned supporter he preferred to meet voters “eyeball-to-eyeball,” but at some time he “may have to give in and be on your television sets.”
But there are other aspects of O’Rourke’s campaigning style that have not been altered since he gained national attention last year trying to unseat incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. One of those tactics is his propensity to livestream all his events, including his first fundraiser earlier Monday evening in New York City.
“I wanted to make sure that was livestreamed so that you see, again, exactly what I say to that audience and that group of people. I think we need, at a moment that our democracy is so badly damaged and under attack, unlike any other time in our lifetimes, and from foreign powers, from the president of the United States, but also from members of Congress who choose their voters, from political action committees that purchase access and influence and increasingly outcomes, you need accountability through town halls,” he said Monday.
O’Rourke currently averages about 4.2% support in a crowded field of more than 20 contenders vying to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, according to the latest average of polls by RealClearPolitics.
