O'Rourke has the vision thing, voters say, but without 10-point plans is that enough?

[TexasTowelie]

DUMFRIES, Va. -Five weeks into his presidential campaign, Beto O'Rourke still hasn't shaken the rap that he's a bit of a lightweight.

There are no white papers. He's delivered no major policy speeches. The section of his campaign website devoted to "vision" reads like a cut-and-paste version of comments he delivers on the stump -- more flowery eloquence than nitty gritty.

The El Paso Democrat's top line principles are fairly clear, and party activists find both the vision and its messenger appealing. He takes climate change seriously. He wants to limit access to military-style firearms, supports wider access to health care and favors a more compassionate immigration policy.

O'Rourke's agenda includes plenty of ideas he credits to others. But generating detailed proposals of their own is important for candidates, to signal how they would wield power, and give benchmarks to see if they deliver on promises. Avoiding creative and off-putting ideas may risk a tepid response in a competitive primary.

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/04/19/orourke-vision-thing-voters-say-without-10-point-plans-enough

[oldsoftie]

1. I like the guy, but he's not gonna last through the scrutiny from the rest of the field.

And early on it looks like Mayor Pete will take away his base. Still a long way to go before the 1st vote is cast though.

[Indygram]

6. I wouldn't bank on it if I were you

Beto is just not doing a load of interviews because he's busy building his ground game. He already has people out canvassing all over the country. He has enormous support with people of color. He is also bringing it to the youth. He was able to increase voter turnout by young voters in Texas by 500% in a midterm. He can raise massive amounts of money, too.

[marylandblue]

7. Buttigieg is doing the same thing, but starting from a smaller base

He's moving fast though, he can catch up if O'Rourke doesn't move fast enough.

[Indygram]

9. No one will out-work Beto

I've never seen a harder working politician in my 50+ years. He often holds up to 6 town halls in one day. In just the last week he had multiple townhalls in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and New Hampshire and organized canvassing in every state. He's answered over 600 questions in town halls in under 6 weeks...over 100 voter questions a week. I was watching a live stream and my 9 year old grandson walked into the room and stopped dead in his tracks, completely captivated. He said, "I want him to be president." He was in the middle of a game of Fortnite...he put his Switch down and listened to Beto. That's something special right there.

[marylandblue]

11. Well, no doubt Beto is strong and energetic campaigner who loves to travel.

But Buttigieg is the most strategic of the bunch. He has his entire strategy mapped out from now until election day. The only thing that seems surprised about is that so far his plan is working better than expected.

[Indygram]

12. I have to disagree with that

Buttigieg is peaking far too soon and leaving himself nowhere to go but down. The second Biden announces next week all of the coverage Pete is getting now is going to turn to Biden. He's made himself far too available before the front runner has even entered the race. The strategic thing to do is to wait until after Biden is in and the hype has died down before drawing too much attention from the media.

[marylandblue]

13. Even the best general can't guarantee his strategy will work.

My point is simply that Buttigieg has thought this all through very carefully and has executed this particular plan for particular reasons. He also knows what he wants to do next to avoid an early fade. Biden will get a lot of attention for a week or two, then Buttigieg will execute his next phase.

He's running this like a military campaign and I just don't see anyone else bringing that level of thinking into it, with the possible exception of Harris.

He's still a distant third to Biden and Sanders, so he certainly has plenty of room to rise.

[JI7]

2. I think he will win the Primary

[Indygram]

10. Me too...

I think it's going to be similar to 2008 with it coming down to Biden and Beto.

That would be what is best for the Democratic Party because both of them would be gracious if they lost and rally their supporters to unite behind the winner.

[dalton99a]

3. White papers are a dime a dozen

[Funtatlaguy]

4. I'm fine with our candidates not putting out policy papers

Until this summer when the debates begin.
Then slap them up on their web sites for voters to refer to.

[patricia92243]

5. What if he only has 9 points or, god forbid, 8??? (sarcasm)

[marylandblue]

8. It's all about controlling the narrative. Most voters won't read the policies or take a deep dive

But they like to know the policy exists.

[JI7]

14. only the female candidates have actual policy plans

[Hortensis]

15. Lol, true. Main attacks would focus on not being "likeable" anyway.

Beto's made his positions on our nation's issues very clear, even if he didn't turn on the numbering feature.