From The Lede in the Texas Observer

After five months mired in the day-to-day grind of a struggling presidential campaign, the El Paso massacre shook something loose in Beto O’Rourke.  After spending more than a week grieving with his fellow El Pasoans, O’Rourke emerged to recast his presidential bid with an expression of “what the fuck?” sentiment reminiscent of his Senate run. In a speech earlier this month, he declared that he was now running with the primary purpose of confronting Trump and his willful provocation of racial violence. By making Trump’s racism, guns, and immigration the central focus of his presidential campaign and traveling to states that are usually ignored in the primaries, O’Rourke is leaving behind the conventional, inside-the-lines approach that has resulted in his consistent polling below 3 percent.  The spontaneous, just-do-what-feels-right shift—the kind that tends to give campaign operatives and donors the cold sweats—is a callback to the sort of anti-conformist political instincts that helped elevate him to the presidential race in the first place. But will this earnest crusade jumpstart his campaign? Like this? Click to receive free EnviroPolitics Blog updates