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The only question I have left about Beto is this: once American media completes its three-month run of orgasmic schadenfreude specifically targeted at hounding Beto out of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary for no particular reason, which candidate will they eliminate next?
1/ Whether you support Beto or not—and I personally have no preferred candidate for 2020 yet—this ham-fisted campaign to "thinkpiece" him out of the primary on the grounds that he doesn't have enough policy proposals out... in mid-July 2019... is bullshit. And the media knows it.
2/ Media didn't hound JIM WEBB out of the 2016 primary. They didn't hound LINCOLN CHAFFEE out of the 2016 primary. They didn't hound MARTIN O'MALLEY out of the 2016 primary. Yet somehow Beto—a superior candidate to those pols in *every possible way*—has to go and has to go *now*.
3/ I *don't have a 2020 candidate*. But the idea that Beto isn't an important addition to the historically talented Democratic primary field is *bullshit* and someone needs to start pushing back against it. He is smart, earnest, articulate, principled, inspiring, and (yes) young.
4/ We've had *one debate*—yet the media acts like Beto's campaign ended when Julian Castro disagreed with him on the legal treatment of border crossings—with Beto having a moderate-left position and Castro a progressive-left position and *neither* having a disqualifying position.
5/ How about we just *let things play out a bit* before a bored media targets specific candidates for political extermination. *Every* Democratic primary voter should be *angry* that the media is trying to artificially winnow the Democratic field this early. It's obscene, really.
6/ I really like Harris. And Warren. And Bernie. And Booker. And Buttigieg. And Biden. And Castro. And yes, I *also* really like Beto and still like a few of the others out there. None of them are perfect, and I'm willing to stan for *none of them* at this point. But it's *July*.
7/ I don't like to see folks bullied. I *hate* bullies. And I don't like to see underdogs ground into the dirt because I love underdogs. Right now the media is bullying the f*ck out of Beto, who for various reasons is—and various reasons isn't—an underdog, and I'm sick of it.
8/ Beto didn't just *lose all his qualities* the moment the Senate race ended. He's the same person now he was a few months ago—indeed, I'd say there are signs of *real growth*, too—so when I see a *pile-on* based on false narratives about O'Rourke it *really* makes me angry.
9/ This is the best crop of Democratic candidates we've ever had. Besides those I mentioned we have candidates like Klobuchar or Gillibrand who aren't getting their due and others like Yang who've been cruelly marginalized. How about we just *slow our roll* and let this play out?
10/ To those who say Beto's been a "bad" candidate: Jesus, did you just come online politically? Did you *see* some of the 2016 primary candidates? Have you watched *any* GOP primaries? Beto on his *worst* night would be one of the *best* candidates the GOP has ever had, and...
11/ ...and when I look back at the Democratic primaries of 2016, 2012, 2008, 2004 and 2000 I see so many candidates who were never hounded from the race or routinely called "bad" who don't have 10% of Beto's political skills. So yeah, I think we've become pretty darn ahistorical.
12/ Anyway, to repeat: I have no candidate in this race. But besides Tom Steyer—who's a special case I discussed a few days ago—I oppose any effort to shame anyone from the Democratic primary on the basis of one purportedly bad debate and (I guess?) a few flat days somewhere.
