“He may still be considered a rising star but he needs to get on the stick,” said Timothy Hagle, a University of Iowa political scientist and caucus veteran. Harris, he said, shows signs of being “the one” that Democratic elites flock to, leaving others by the wayside.
“Beto O’Rourke may have been the shiny object at one point but he’s a white guy and what’s he going to bring to the table, especially in terms of the identity politics that Democrats seem to prefer?” he said.
Carter Eskew, a top strategist in Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, argued in the Washington Post three weeks ago that “the love bubble surrounding O’Rourke is leaking.”
“He’s no longer the scrappy, truth-telling, unifying underdog,” Eskew wrote. “Sure, O’Rourke was exciting three months ago. He gave Democrats hope that they could beat the oleaginous Ted Cruz and plant the blue flag in Texas. But preseason is over. Beto, time to get your head into a whole new game.”
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