A group pushing Beto O’Rourke to enter the 2020 presidential race is releasing a 90-second video Wednesday that mimics the former Texas congressman’s social media style – and is aimed at an audience of one.
The new video from “Draft Beto 2020” comes the same day the group – one of two similar organizations laying the groundwork for a potential O’Rourke presidential run, without his sign-off – hosts its first of two organizing events in Iowa, with one set for Wednesday night in Iowa City and another scheduled for Thursday evening in Des Moines.
The video packs in more than 20 people who answered the group’s call to record their own explanations of why O’Rourke should enter the race – usually by holding their own cell phone cameras. It comes with several different pronunciations of O’Rourke’s first name.
“He’s one of the most progressive, inclusive candidates we’ve seen in a long time,” one woman says in the video.
“The hope and positivity he brought on the Senate run in Texas is something the rest of America is desperately needing and ready for,” another woman says.
The group is advertising the video on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Co-founder Will Herberich said it’s a small initial advertising buy.
He said O’Rourke, in his narrow Senate loss to Republican Ted Cruz, “really pioneered the use of grassroots videos to tell the story of his campaign as he visited every county in Texas.”
“We took our inspiration from his campaign as we’re launching this social media campaign, and these videos and the enthusiasm we’ve seen from thousands of volunteers across the country are proof that we can do the same at the national level,” he said.
Herberich said people from 31 states submitted videos urging O’Rourke to run.
The video comes as that draft effort and another, called “Draft Beto,” begin to coordinate their efforts. O’Rourke, meanwhile, is at home in El Paso, still making up his mind about a presidential run. He’s set for a February 5 interview with Oprah Winfrey in New York City – likely to be his next major public appearance.
The other “Draft Beto” group – which recently brought on advisers in South Carolina and Nevada, two of the first four states to vote in the presidential nominating process – this week added a roster of advisers in California as it continues to staff what could become the bones of an O’Rourke campaign.
