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Beto O’Rourke Struggles to Find His Place in the Democratic Presidential Field

Published: May 30, 2019, 4 p.m.

Beto O’Rourke did not defeat Ted Cruz in the 2018 Texas race for the Senate, but his campaign made him a political celebrity. In March, when O’Rourke announced his candidacy for the Democratic Presidential nomination, he raised more than six million dollars in a single day. In recent weeks, he has dropped precipitately in the polls, and he has not yet found a platform that connects with voters. William Finnegan joins Dorothy Wickenden to discuss what’s gone wrong, and what it means for a party desperately seeking a candidate who can topple Donald Trump in 2020.