So, the lights are (turning) off, and Beto's run for President has concluded. I'm sad. I'm disappointed. I'm discouraged. A Presidential run that started off with so much hope and optimism ended prematurely, and without the result that so many of us were hoping for.
2/ I just spent the last 30-40 minutes looking through a ton of news coverage that I had archived links to over the last 7.5 months since Beto's campaign launched. I compiled them in terms of positive, neutral, and negative coverage.
3/ Beto was covered by the news media overwhelmingly negatively, and it didn't matter who the outlet was. It could have been the WaPo Opinion page, MSNBC, Washington Examiner, NY Times, you name it, it was generally overwhelmingly negative for the majority of his campaign.
4/ At the beginning they hit hard on the "born for this" line in the VF article. Then they pivoted to him standing on things (the horror), and perplexingly claiming that he didn't actually have any policy proposals. Note: he still has more proposals than almost all the candidates
5/ There was the constant string of "run for Senate" nonsense, when there were so many qualified candidates already running in that race. It didn't matter how many times he said no, it always came back up again. In the end, the media destroyed Beto the same way they enabled Trump
6/ All of that said, I'm sad not just that Beto is out of the race now, not just because the news media decided to play kingmaker and try to anoint Pete as the savior of everyone and everything. I'm sad because Beto's voice isn't on the campaign trail anymore.
7/ Beto has shifted the window on so many important ideas this year. Gun control, healthcare, drug policies, criminal justice reform, institutional racism in all facets of American life, climate change, and so many other issues. If that's his legacy, then it's a good one.
8/ I'm just sad that it can't/won't be more for the rest of this electoral cycle more than likely. But it's still a great legacy to have left, and hopefully more of the candidates will be willing to have the same political courage that he did over the last 7.5 months.
9/ Beto is/was the candidate and President than we need, but perhaps not the one that we deserve right now. He took the shots from the right, left, and center for so long, while other candidates have come away relatively unscathed. Maybe that was his role in all of this.
10/ I've only been involved in two political campaigns in my life to this point. One I am ashamed of having been involved with - Devin Nunes - and the other, Beto's campaign, I could not be more proud to have played a part in.
11/ Due to life and schedule issues, I wasn't able to volunteer quite as much as I might have liked. But I did my best texting, entering data, and running a volunteer Beto social media account. I'm happy that I was able to play my own small part in all of it.
12/ Next time, I hope that I can do more, whatever campaign that may be. They may not inspire me the way that Beto has, but everyone has a part. I found myself consciously (and later unconsciously) being kinder while driving with a Beto magnet, or in the store with my Beto hat on
13/ I've found that it actually continued after the fact, even if I wasn't driving, or wearing Beto gear while out and about. I found my worldview shifting as I found out new things about institutional racism through Beto. I hope to take those into my life moving ahead.
14/ I hope that Beto's voice will continue to be heard, whether it be through him, or through the hundreds of thousands or more of us that he has inspired. That people are willing to take that into politics, and maybe run for office themselves, as members of Beto's movement.
15/ @BetoORourke You will probably never read this. But thank you. Thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for challenging my views and forcing me to learn new things. Your Presidential Campaign may be over, but we're all here, the better for it. #BetoForever /end
