Beto O’Rourke to ‘relaunch presidential bid’ after poll rating halves

Democratic challenger drops from 12 per cent support to 6 per cent in recent polls

Beto O’Rourke is reportedly planning to relaunch his 2020 presidential bid less than two months after his record-breaking campaign launch.

Mr O’Rourke won the highest first-day donation haul by a presidential candidate in history – since surpassed by Joe Biden – but early enthusiasm for his campaign has evaporated as he faded from view in a crowded field of Democratic candidates.

In an acknowledgement that his campaign is stalling, the former Texas congressman is said to be planning a “reintroduction” ahead of next month’s Democratic presidential debate.

However, his top aides have denied a full reinvention is being prepared and maintained the trademarks of his recent Senate campaign against senator Ted Cruz would remain.

The Texas Senate race saw Mr O’Rourke become one of the stars of the 2018 midterms, due to his high-energy campaigning style and willingness to visit rural, heavily-Republican counties.

He earned around 12 per cent support in polls for CNN and Quinnipiac University following the launch, putting him among the strongest Democratic candidates behind early frontrunners Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

By the end of April, he was seeing around 6 per cent support in the same polls.

"I think, in part, I was just trying to keep up when I first started out," Mr O’Rourke reportedly admitted at a recent event in Newton, Iowa.

"I really feel like I've found my rhythm and my pace, and I just feel comfortable, and I feel like this is what I'm supposed to be doing."

The supposed “Beto 2.0” campaign is expected to see Mr O’Rourke significantly increase his national media appearances, starting with an appearance on ABC’s The View on Tuesday, and produce more concrete policy proposals on major issues.

So far, he has issued one clear proposal – an ambitious $5tn (£3.85tn) plan for investment to tackle climate change.

Mr O’Rourke has spent the last few months building up his campaign’s infrastructure, according to an advisor who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

He has hired Jen O'Malley Dillon, the deputy campaign manager of Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election bid, to run his team and added 16 staffers in Iowa, which holds the influential first presidential caucuses.

Earlier this week, he also announced the hiring of Jeff Berman, a top delegate strategist who worked on Mr Obama and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns.

However, Mr O’Rourke is still yet to announce a state director or campaign staff for New Hampshire, the second state to vote in the primary, which may cause problems with organising and keeping track of potential voters.

"If you don't have somebody with a clipboard taking names and addresses and phone numbers, you can lose contact with folks," explained Kathy Sullivan, a Democratic National Committee member from New Hampshire.

"It has been building up over time," Mr O'Rourke said of his campaign apparatus. "I think we're getting better organised all the time."

Yet, as his polling numbers have slumped, other Democratic candidates have emerged as media favourites, such as Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who saw a surge in support last month.

Although Mr O’Rourke rapid-fire approach to campaigning served him well in 2018, when he cut Mr Cruz’s 16-percentage-point lead to 2.6 points, there are concerns that it may not work in a national campaign.

"He's going to have to slow down a bit," said Sandy Sothman, the co-vice chairwoman of the Cass County Democrats who watched him speak at a sunny hillside park in Atlantic, Iowa.

"When he gets going and talks about so many things at once, it becomes a little like, 'Is he riffing or what?"'

The former congressman still insists on driving himself between events, sometimes to the disapproval of campaign staff, and has kept a busy schedule with multiple events a day.

Nevertheless, some voters have been impressed by his hands-on approach.

Marcia Fulton, a retired teacher and school administrator who met him at a restored train depot in Creston, Iowa, said she had not decided who she would vote for yet, but said Mr O’Rourke "was really impressive, more so than I expected."

"He was prepared and that was a real question, given his youth," she added.

Agencies contributed to this report