A headline from Politico:
Beto’s driving himself around Iowa. Again.
What more apt vision of the real job of President of the United States could there be?
Lincoln said it: “Of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Beto O’Rourke: A visionary who truly lives his vision!!!
More Politico…the subheadline:
On most presidential campaigns, allowing a candidate to routinely drive to events would be considered operational malpractice.
—snip—
Not on this one!!!
No “public/private” bullshit here!!!
No “Fool the press and impress the fools!!!” act
Just a someone with a vision and the guts to fulfill it on every level possible.
Thank God!!!
Read on.
(Emphases mine)
CARROLL, Iowa — Beto O’Rourke is back behind the wheel of a rented minivan in Iowa. And political pros — including some of his own advisers — are cringing.
In presidential politics, candidates almost never drive themselves to events, and for good reason: Car rides are an opportunity to nap, make phone calls, return emails or read briefing materials.
O’Rourke, however, operates differently. He became a Democratic sensation after visiting every one of Texas’ 254 counties in his closer-than-expected Texas Senate race last year, often pulling up to events behind the wheel. He stayed in the driver’s seat for his highly publicized, unaccompanied road-trip through the American Southwest in January while mulling a run for president. And there he has remained in the earliest days of his campaign.
“It’s icy and the cops are out — Jesus,” said former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who tried persuading O’Rourke to hire a driver, as most candidates do, when the two met for lunch shortly before O’Rourke announced his presidential campaign.
“If the candidate hits someone and hurts someone — campaign over,” added Ed Rendell, a former governor of Pennsylvania and former Democratic National Committee chairman. “If the candidate drives and wrecks a car, campaign teetering on the brink.”
On most presidential campaigns, allowing a candidate to routinely drive would be considered operational malpractice — one misstep short of a catastrophe or, more likely, a colossal waste of time. Running for president is exhausting, distances between events are long and candidates have more productive things they could be doing instead.
And there is the kicker word:
“Allowing”
In this campaign, O’Rourke is the boss!!!
He’s not particularly “bossy” about it, he’s just gonna do it his way…as he will if elected president…and you can vote for him, against him or just not vote at all. It’s all the same to him. Win or lose, he’s going to follow his own vision. No little cadre of button pushers, poll addicts and other pol sci majors pushing him this way and that with the tides of the day’s newsfeeds; he’s up early and on the road, getting his “newsfeed” at local gas stations, motels and coffee joints.
Getting the feel of things.
“Newsfeel” is what I call it. It’s how I realized that Trump was going to win when he was still in the primaries. On the road, in the boonies. You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing; all you need to do is to step outside.
This man has a personal vision…a new vision, it appears to me, at least on the political level that he is occupying…about what U.S. citizens do and don’t want from their president.
They want someone like them…someone who takes care of his own business as much as possible (as must they)…rather than a frontman backed up by hundreds of paid servants and not a few big money controllers.
And I personally think that he is going to win.
Watch.
More:
Even some of O’Rourke’s advisers have quietly suggested that he cut down on driving himself, but to no avail.
Following a flight to Des Moines, a drive to Ames, a rally at Iowa State University, a question-and-answer session with reporters, a photo line and another round of media interviews, O’Rourke late Wednesday stepped into a waiting Dodge Grand Caravan and drove off. It was still raining the next morning when O’Rourke tweeted he was “on the road and excited to see you” at events in Carroll, Denison and Sioux City.
The publicity O’Rourke has commanded for driving has proved effective in an O’Rourke-isn’t-too-good-to-drive-himself kind of way. He told Radio Iowa this month — in an interview conducted while O’Rourke was driving — that driving is “just a way for me to fully engage.”
“I don’t like being on my phone, being distracted looking at emails or texts,” O’Rourke told the radio station. “I want to be seeing the beautiful country through which we’re driving, seeing that community as we pull in, really taking in Main Street and I love being behind the wheel. I love driving. I love road trips.”
—snip—
For O’Rourke, it is not a stunt. He does not, by numerous accounts, turn the wheel over to an aide once he is out of public view.
—snip—
Unlike when someone else is driving, he said, “There’s a certain security factor in being in control of your own vehicle.”
“There’s a certain security factor in being in control of your own vehicle.”
Bingo!!!
Dodge Caravan?
The federal government?
As above, so below.
Watch.
Later…
AG
P.S. As his fame and face recognition grows, he will have a harder and harder time being anonymous on the road. It’s good he’s getting this roadfeel now…he’s going to need it later.