MSNBC analysts from both sides of the aisle hit Texas Democratic Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke for being on a "vanity project" in his approach to the campaign.
O'Rourke, a congressman representing Texas' 16th Congressional District, set a record by raising $38 million in the last quarter in his bid to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), and he has been the subject of numerous, glowing media profiles and national liberal adoration. However, Cruz's lead in the polls has grown over the past month despite O'Rourke's impressive haul.
"What he's achieved for that money is he's now the most unpopular statewide figure in Texas," Republican pollster Chris Wilson said on MSNBC.
O'Rourke has run as an unabashed progressive in a state that hasn't elected a Democrat to statewide office in decades. In a new Quinnipiac poll showing him trailing Cruz by 9 points, O'Rourke was also viewed unfavorably by 47 percent of Texans, with 45 percent viewing him favorably.
Wilson said O'Rourke had taken stands that do a great job of "raising money from a national liberal base" but, in doing so, pilfered funds that could have gone to vulnerable Senate Democrats like Sens. Claire McCaskill (Mo.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.). Democrats face an uphill battle to capture the Senate and can ill afford to see any incumbents get bounced.
"O'Rourke is on this vanity mission that is basically just flushing money down the toilet," Wilson said.
Liberal The Root politics editor Jason Johnson agreed.
"Beto O'Rourke made a mistake by nationalizing this campaign," Johnson said. "Look. Midterms are all about the state you're in. You don't want to take your debate and put it on a national cable network. You want it to be local ... When you want to make yourself a national candidate, that's a vanity project."
He said it is "highly unlikely" O'Rourke wins, while Wilson flatly said, "Yes, [Cruz] is going to win re-election."
Cruz has consistently hit O'Rourke as too left-leaning for Texas and pointed to his appeal with liberals around the rest of the country as evidence.
Beto is already in top 10 Dem contenders for 2020, behind Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris & Spartacus. The further left he runs, the higher up he climbs. But do socialism, open borders, impeachment & angry leftist mobs really reflect common sense values of Texans? https://t.co/ORGZt6xrNq
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 14, 2018