“…And that is why I’m running for President of the United States in 2020,” announced Robert “Beto” O’Rourke at William and Mary’s Trinkle Hall on Wednesday, April 16^th. Beto O’Rourke began his speech by addressing some issues the US is facing, such as racial injustice, women’s reproductive rights, immigration from South America and Mexico, and the ongoing war in the Middle East. The popular democrat was welcomed by more than 600 students and Williamsburg residents. He mentioned bringing home American troops, reforming prisons, and got huge cheers from the crowd after stating his plan to legalize marijuana.

The Texas politician has spent the last month hosting events, starting in Iowa and making his way through Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, South Carolina, North Carolina, and now Virginia. Beto, as most young Americans are calling him, has attended Meet-and- Greets at different universities as well as town hall meetings and rallies. The William and Mary chapter of Young Democrats of America contacted Beto’s campaign manager a few months ago, securing a Meet-and-Greet with a newly popular and very likeable Democratic candidate for President in the 2020 race.

However, before Beto can become the next president, he must be nominated by his party, and then elected by voters of America. Students of William and Mary seem to think he has a good chance in the primaries next year.

“It was inspiring to watch him speak,” exclaimed Indigo Cristol, a student at William and Mary and a member of Young Democrats of America. “He has great ideas and it was exciting to listen to someone who could be the future president”. 

“Beto was passionate when he spoke, and he conveyed a very genuine message on issues about which he was obviously passionate,” said Williamsburg resident Thomas Hallett.

“He’s a super likeable guy and I agree with him on almost all political issues,” said Grace Olsen, a Lafayette senior who attended the rally. “I could tell he really wanted to be here because he stood around for hours after the rally taking pictures with fans and supporters that approached him”.

O’Rourke has not specified many details about his platform, but he has definitely focused a lot of his energy on immigration reform. Many of Beto’s speeches focus on this issue, partly due to Trump’s continuous aggressive seeking of a wall along the Mexico border. The Democratic congressman supports the Dream Act and wants to make the path to citizenship easier for immigrants. Because Beto was born in El Paso, Texas, he has first-hand experience with legal and illegal immigrants crossing into America. Beto believes that his home should be accessible to anyone looking for a safer place to raise their family and he feels that immigrants make this country better.

“We are not safe because of walls but in spite of walls,” said Beto O’Rourke at a rally in El Paso a few weeks ago. At Trump’s State of the Union address, he claimed that El Paso is the perfect example of a city in need of the wall because it became less dangerous after a border fence was installed. However, according to statistics, the crime rate in El Paso actually rose after the fence was built. O’Rourke mentioned his home town at the Meet-and-Greet on Wednesday, using El Paso as an example of why there should be no wall.

Besides sharing his active agenda for immigration reform with Williamsburg, Beto focused on climate change. He emphasized the importance of the United States re-committing to the Paris Climate Agreement. This contract was created in 2015 and signed by many powerful nations, such as China and the European Union, and deals with lowering greenhouse-gas emissions and other strategies to reduce climate change. President Obama signed the agreement in 2016, but in 2017, Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the contract. Beto disagrees with Trump’s decision and wants the United States to completely transition to reusable energy resources. Additionally, Beto’s home state of Texas was majorly affected by Hurricane Harvey, the severity of which O’Rourke and many scientists attribute to climate change.

It is clear that Beto O’Rourke can relate to most Americans and has personally experienced a lot of the things that average citizens go through every day. Beto seems like a family man, a serious politician, and possibly, the next US president. He’s got my vote!