Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s campaign for the Democratic nomination is not getting the traction his team likely hoped it would.
As a result, they are searching out shiny objects to spark interest in the Democratic base for his 2020 White House bid. This week, they dusted off a talking point from his failed 2018 Senate campaign in Texas, and they are using special counsel Robert Mueller’s two-year Russia investigation as the hook.
As a presidential candidate, O’Rourke is now officially calling for the impeachment of President Trump. Of course, he is not the first of the Democratic 2020 candidates to do this — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., took that distinction — but better late than never, right?
“I think that this Mueller report, absolutely exhaustive, from one of the most trusted people in this country, now gives Americans, regardless of party, the information they need to make the best decision for this country,” O’Rourke told reporters in Iowa.
He added, “[T]hat means that we decide that we are a nation of laws. … Impeachment proceedings in the House ensure that more of these facts come to light, ensure that the Senate can make a very informed decision about the consequences for this president.”
O’Rourke said elsewhere in an interview with the Dallas Morning News that “[T]here has to be consequences. Yes, there has to be accountability. Yes, I think there’s enough evidence now for the House of Representatives to move forward with impeachment. …[T]his is the one chance that we get to ensure that [America] remains a democracy and that no man, regardless of his position, is above the law.”
His zeal for impeachment is amusing considering that between losing to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in 2018 and entering the Democratic 2020 primary, O’Rourke moderated his tone on the matter. Remember, this is what the former congressman had to say about the issue in April: “I’m going to leave that to those members of the House who, as they review those findings, can make that decision. But ultimately, at this point, I believe that this is going to be decided in November 2020.”
Also, now that I think of it, it is worth mentioning here that articles of impeachment were twice introduced in the House when O’Rourke was a member, and he twice voted to kill them. That makes his support for it as a Senate candidate all the more ridiculous. And the only thing that is more ridiculous than that is the fact that O’Rourke said he supported impeachment in 2017 before voting against it twice.
But I guess we should expect an about-face on fringy, base-pleasing issues from a 2020 candidate who has been in a slump for the past few weeks. O’Rourke trails behind other 2020 notables including, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Warren, and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average. O’Rourke went from a high of 9.5% in early April to a meager 4.4% in May. It is early in the race, but this is not the sort of placement one would expect from a guy the press praised in 2018 as the new John F. Kennedy.
Speaking of which, another area where O’Rourke has been hurting recently is in media coverage, which has gone from nauseatingly syrupy sweet to critical and even antagonistic practically overnight.
And just like that, O’Rourke has hopped back on the impeachment wagon.
Coincidence, I’m sure.
