2020: Beto O’Rourke Speaks to Half Empty Auditorium In Iowa City
Democratic 2020 hopeful fails to draw crowds on campaign trail
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2020 candidate Beto O’Rourke failed to draw in a substantial crowd for a town hall in Iowa city, indicating the Democrat is not connecting to the youth demographic.
The former Texas congressman, who is known to launch campaign speeches by arriving on a skateboard, failed to attract attendees at the University of Iowa student union ballroom.
O’Rourke failure to draw in the crowd is concerning for two reasons:
- Iowa has a major university
- It has a population of 75,000
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But according to spectators, O’Rourke’s campaign struggled to advertise for the event, which was scheduled on Sunday when students are nursing hangovers.
According to The Washington Examiner: O’Rourke’s campaign didn’t give a final tally, but the number appeared to be significantly smaller than that fellow candidate Bernie Sanders collected in other towns across eastern Iowa.
Hundreds of people cramped in smaller venues to see the 77-year-old independent senator from Vermont.
Perhaps 150 listened to O'Rourke speak in Iowa City.
During a press gaggle after the rally, O’Rourke acknowledged that he'd noticed fewer reporters at his events since he announced his candidacy on March 14.
“I’m learning, I’m becoming a better candidate,” O’Rourke told reporters.
“There are fewer members of the media as we’re leaving these events," he said.
"I like that the ratio has changed a little bit as we have moved on, but I’m really struck by how kind people are, how seriously they take their responsibility to themselves and the rest of the country.”
Recent surveys of Iowa voters place O’Rourke towards the bottom of declared Democratic candidates — at 5 percent, according to the Real Clear Politics average.
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Iowa will hold the first vote of the 2020 primaries.
Twenty-four hours after he announced his candidacy, however, O’Rourke raised $6.1 million.
Much of the interest surrounding O’Rourke comes from his Senate run in 2018, in which he challenged incumbent Texas Republican Ted Cruz and lost by 2.6 percent.
O'Rourke recently called for the US Government to give amnesty to all 11 to 22 million illegal immigrants in the country, claiming it will make the United States "demonstrably safer" for Angel Families - those whose loved ones have been killed by illegals.
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), one of many 2020 Democrat presidential candidates, made the call during a town hall in Iowa this week.
O’Rourke was asked about the thousands of Angel Families - who have lost children, parents, grandparents, relatives, and friends to crimes committed by illegal aliens living in the U.S. - how he would make them safer due to his "open border" policies.
