Beto is a ladies’ man.
The latest flash-in-the pan politician — already being dubbed a mashup of JFK and Barack Obama — Robert “Beto” O’Rourke announced that he expects to pick a female running mate if he can secure the Democratic presidential nomination.
“It would be very difficult not to select a woman with so many extraordinary women who are running right now,” Beto said. “But first I would have to win and there’s — you know, this is as open as it has ever been.”
On that score at least, Beto is right. There are already 14 candidates vying for the nomination, including at least five women — Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.
Beto acknowledged that he’s getting ahead of himself. “It’s presumptuous for me to think about who I would select as a vice president. Right now I’m seeking the nomination,” he said.
He’s not the only candidate to say he would pick a female running mate. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said in February that he would be “looking to women first” if he wins the nomination.
“No matter what — I’m looking you in the eye and saying this — there will be a woman on the ticket,” Booker said on a stop in New Hampshire. “I don’t know if it’s in the vice president’s position or the president’s position, but if I have my way, there will be a woman on the ticket.”
Of course, Beto only sees a woman serving under a man, not being at the top of the ticket. He created a mini-firestorm on Friday when he said that his wife Amy had raised their three kids, “sometimes with my help.”
“O’Rourke made the comment at multiple campaign stops during his first swing through Iowa, including earlier Friday, eliciting laughs each time, but he also drew criticism as being insensitive to the challenges faced by single parents raising children,” the Associated Press reported. “O’Rourke said the criticism of his “ham-handed” attempt to highlight his wife’s work in their marriage was “right on.”
“Not only will I not say that again, but I will be much more thoughtful in the ways that I talk about my marriage,” Beto said afterward.
The New York Times pointed out that announcing who you’d pick as a running mate so far out from the election is a bit of a desperate move.
“Announcing the demographic profile of a potential vice-presidential pick is highly unusual, especially more than 10 months before the first round of voting takes place in Iowa. The comments reflect a desire by male candidates to show that they are not taking female voters for granted, particularly as so many women mount bids of their own for the nomination,” The Times said.
The Democrats are set to run the most politically correct campaign in history, Politico notes.
And just so men wouldn’t feel left out, Beto admitted that his white male privilege has benefited him throughout his career.
“As a white man who has had privileges that others could not depend on or take for granted, I’ve clearly had advantages over the course of my life,” he said.
*Joseph Curl ran the Drudge Report from 2010 to 2104 and covered the White House for a dozen years. He can be can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on Twitter at @JosephCurl.
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