Riding Around with Beto O’Rourke as He Comes to Grips with a Presidential Run

by Beto ORourke, Condé Nast, Beto O'Rourke(9 total)

If you don’t see a shared interest or shared opportunity to advance, then we’ll no longer see ourselves in this together and this country will truly break apart. This level of gross income inequality cannot persist, and if there’s a better way to get there, I’m open to it. But it’s definitely going…

— Beto O'Rourke, vanityfair.com

Shared Interest Income Inequality

I didn’t want to make money, didn’t want to be in business. My dad was so disappointed. He took out [college] loans, he knew that I took out loans. I was like, ‘You know, I wanna make art. I wanna write. I wanna make music. I wanna create things.’

— Beto O'Rourke, vanityfair.com

Money Dad loans Art

I just don’t get turned on by being against. I really get excited to be for. That’s what moves me. It’s important to defeat Trump, but that’s not exciting to me. What’s exciting to me is for the United States to lead the world, in making sure that the generations that follow us can live here.

— Beto O'Rourke, vanityfair.com

Oppositional Donald Trump Exciting

My sense is, following some success that I had in Congress, and working with Republicans to actually get things signed into law, including both President Obama and President Trump’s administrations, that I may have an ability to work with people who think differently than I do, come to a different c…

— Beto O'Rourke, vanityfair.com

Congress Republicans Barack Obama Donald Trump Common Ground

She does not seem to me to be afraid of making a mistake, or not saying it perfectly, and in the process says the most important—I think some of the most important—things anyone can be talking about right now, and she’s freed herself from fear.

— Beto O'Rourke, vanityfair.com

Fearless Mistakes

If I bring something to this, I think it is my ability to listen to people, to help bring people together to do something that is thought to be impossible.

— Beto O'Rourke, vanityfair.com

Listening Possibility

I don’t ever prepare a speech. I don’t write out what I’m going to say. I remember driving to that, I was, like, ‘What do I say? Maybe I’ll just introduce myself. I’ll take questions.’ I got in there, and I don’t know if it’s a speech or not, but it felt amazing. Because every word was pulled out of…

— Beto O'Rourke, vanityfair.com

Speeches preparation improvisation

I think that’s the beauty of elections: You can’t hide from who you are. The more honestly and directly you communicate to people why you’re doing this, the way in which you want to serve them, I just think that the better, more informed decision that they can make.

— Beto O'Rourke, vanityfair.com

elections Communication Directness

The government at all levels is overly represented by white men. That’s part of the problem, and I’m a white man. So if I were to run, I think it’s just so important that those who would comprise my team looked like this country. If I were to run, if I were to win, that my administration looks like…

— Beto ORourke, vanityfair.com

American Presidency

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