Refitting Texas campaign for a bigger, bruising run

What O’Rourke did not do, however, was steadily deliver a crisp, focused performance that generated excitement among voters. In response to their questions, he often seemed to be thinking out loud, in search of clear answers. His policy specifics came too rarely for some audiences. And his decision to avoid national television audiences — whether because of strategy or comfort — meant that many more people were not even hearing him.

Now, as he builds his campaign operation in El Paso, he has been working to sharpen his answers, receiving regular briefings and boning up on policy details as he seeks to raise his television profile and prepares for the first primary debate next month, according to people close to his campaign.

“I can’t tell you how many times I was asked to find a way to get on ‘The View’ at those town hall meetings,” O’Rourke said in a Tuesday appearance on “The View.” “I want to make sure that I have a chance to answer your questions here today so they can see who I am.”

O’Rourke’s appearance was part of an effort to rejuvenate his candidacy, which has struggled to maintain the kind of energy that built a national following for his unsuccessful Senate run last year. After entering the race for the Democratic presidential nomination as a political celebrity, O’Rourke, a former Texas congressman, has watched as his press entourage shrank, the spotlight faded and his poll numbers fell into the low single digits.

In ways subtle and obvious, O’Rourke is now trying a new approach, a tacit admission that the shoestring style he deployed in his star-making Senate run in Texas may not hold up to the demands of a crowded presidential race.

While O’Rourke used to start his responses by diagnosing the problem, he now opens with crisp solutions. He grudgingly agreed to participate in national cable television town halls and big-dollar fundraisers, events that take time away from the retail campaigning he most enjoys. And he may even hire a pollster, some of his allies say, a role he frequently boasted that he refused to fill during his Texas campaign out of fear that it would compromise the authenticity of his message.

Some of those efforts were on display in back-to-back media appearances this week, intended to help O’Rourke deal with baggage that has trailed his campaign: the idea that he failed to recognize the advantages he enjoyed as a white man who has led a life of relative privilege.

In a Vanity Fair profile that appeared on the eve of his campaign announcement in March, O’Rourke made his ambition clear. “I want to be in it,” he told the magazine. “Man, I’m just born to be in it, and want to do everything I humanly can for this country at this moment.”

But in his appearance on “The View” on Tuesday, O’Rourke said the magazine profile had reinforced “the perception of privilege” surrounding his campaign.

“I have my work cut out for me to be a better person and ensure that I’m more mindful to the experiences that others have had,” he said. “I was attempting to say that I felt that my calling was in public service. No one is born to be president of the United States of America, least of all me.”

He also acknowledged that he had made “ham-handed” statements about his wife, Amy O’Rourke, like when he joked that she was raising their children, “sometimes with my help.” He recounted that his wife had offered some gentle criticism, telling him that his comments “sounded flip.”

The discussion on “The View” followed an appearance on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show Monday night. O’Rourke also has plans to participate in a CNN televised town hall in Iowa this month.

After he raised $6.1 million online during his first 24 hours as a presidential candidate, O’Rourke’s fundraising has sagged, leading him to embrace the power of both cable news and big donors. His appearance with Maddow brought in $50,000 in contributions, according to people close to the campaign.

Though O’Rourke initially said he had no plans to hold fundraisers, he hosted his first event on Monday evening in New York. Ticket prices started at $250 and hosts were asked to raise $2,500. Supporters are planning additional fundraisers in Texas and Chicago in the coming weeks.

“He’s very good at growing his base, and his base is very good at giving him money,” said Eliot Shapleigh, a former Texas state senator.

O’Rourke and his advisers have stressed in conversations with donors that they have been focused on building an aggressive field operation in the early primary states. If O’Rourke has had a relatively muted presence in the news media, they argue that his efforts on the ground have been underestimated.

Last month, O’Rourke’s campaign announced a 16-person Iowa staff, including a state director who is a former executive director of the Iowa Democratic Party. In New Hampshire, he has tapped strategists who helped Rep. Chris Pappas navigate an 11-person primary.

But O’Rourke has plenty of competition in the ground game, from the volunteer army Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., built in 2016 to the muscular teams already deploying in Iowa for candidates like Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey.

O’Rourke has taken other steps to professionalize his operation. Last month, he released his first policy plan, a $5 trillion proposal to combat climate change. In the coming weeks, the campaign is expected to release policies tackling health care and income inequality, some allies say.

That policy focus has seeped into his campaign events, where O’Rourke offers more specific proposals in response to questions on issues like climate change and health care. He has stopped jumping atop counters and chairs at events, gestures that inspired gentle ribbing, and has scaled back livestreaming everything on social media.

The man who could be his general election rival, President Donald Trump, took a less-than-charitable view of the changes to O’Rourke’s strategy.

“Beto’s falling fast,” the president told a crowd in Louisiana on Tuesday. “What happened to him? But he’s tried to restart his campaign. That generally doesn’t work out too well.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.