One of presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke's greatest strengths is the fact that he's an open book. But if he loses sight of how much people reallywant to know, it could become a weakness.
O'Rourke is the guy who once shared step-by-step videos of his family's weekend pancake-making process on his Instagram Stories. He's posted photos of himself helping his kids build an igloo one snowy day, and later shared footage of he and his wife, Amy, sneaking out to ring in 2019 with a romantic champagne toast in said igloo. He also occasionally writes extremely intimate Medium posts. His tendency to overshare was once undeniably charming, but if he's not careful he could start to approach the dreaded TMI Territory.
O'Rourke recently updated the "Meet Beto" page of his Beto For America campaign website, and boyis it thorough. In addition to some gorgeous art as well as paragraphs and paragraphs of text describing the entirety of Beto's key life experiences in the third person, the Democratic candidate also created short videos, in which he describes everything from his love of punk to his first date with Amy.
The videos are currently unlisted on his YouTube channel, but they are really something.
SEE ALSO:Beto O'Rourke tells Stephen Colbert it's perfectly acceptable to share Netflix passwordsHere, we have three minutes of "Beto's Punk Years," where O'Rourke (who as you probably know by now was once in a punk band) talks about "passing around tapes and records" as a youngster, going to shows, and fitting in with a community of "misfits, fuck-ups, and weirdos."
In another nearly five-minute video, Beto describes his very first date with his now-wife, Amy. Which, OK. Kind of cute.
And in this extremelyemotional one minute and 29-second video titled, "Beto and His Dad," he attempts to share an anecdote about a backpacking trip he once took with his dad and straight-up starts crying. This one is actually very sweet, and I might also be crying now. Maybe! Maybe not!
There are also videos of O'Rourke discussing veterans, running for Senate, and more. And there are even a few from guest speakers who know him well, like Amy herself.
Overall, O'Rourke's open, honest, and transparent approach seems smart and refreshing, considering he's running for such a powerful government position and all. But there's something exciting about learning more and more about a candidate's past experiences and personal life over a gradual period of time, as opposed to getting huge dumps of information all at once.
We know how tempting it may be to want to quickly bare your soul to connect with and earn the trust of the American people, but like any relationship, it's important to pace yourself and leave a littlemystery.
Also, we get it. You were once a punk.
TopicsPolitics