On Thursday, Beto O'Rourke announced in a short video that he is running for president in the 2020 Democratic primary. Flanked by his supportive wife Amy, he called his political movement "the last great hope of Earth" and asked supporters to say they will join on a new campaign website. Besides his tweet, Vanity Fair published a lavish cover story on Beto's decision to run. The story detailed Beto's everyday life up to his presidential announcement. Despite being a media darling, Beto's path to the presidency will be a struggle, but he will add a unique voice to the field.

Beto was born in El Paso, Texas in 1972 and studied English literature at Columbia University. Young Beto was a member Cult of the Dead Cow, a famed hacker group. He is also fluent in Spanish. Beto was arrested for driving while intoxicated in 1998, but got charges dismissed after completing a program. After graduation, he worked various jobs before founding Stanton Street Technology Group, an Internet services and software firm. In 2005, Beto ran for the El Paso City Council. He won and served two terms until 2010. In 2012, Beto ran for the House of Representatives and won, serving until 2018. He held a town hall with constituents every month and sat on the Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs Committees in Congress. Last year he launched a long-shot bid for a US Senate seat and raised a record $80 million. After Beto narrowly lost by 2% to incumbent Ted Cruz (R-TX), many commentators speculated he would run for president.

Beto is widely considered a moderate liberal on policy. In Congress he was a member of the New Democrat Coalition, a pro-business caucus. He believes in using antitrust laws to breakup monopolies and spur innovation. On immigration, he is more liberal, supporting citizenship for undocumented immigrants and demilitarization of immigration enforcement. On gun control, he supports universal background checks and magazine size limits. On healthcare, he wants universal coverage but gave conflicting positions on Medicare for all. He is against President Trump's tariffs and supports free trade. He called for criminal justice reform and decriminalizing marijuana. On climate change, he wants the US to rejoin the Paris accords and recently came out in support of a Green New Deal.

Despite his fundraising and star power, Beto faces an uphill battle in a field of 15 candidates. As a white man, he might be unable to attract enough votes from a diverse Democratic base when many women and people of color are also running. And as a former Congressperson, he is less well-known than household names like Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris. He also has far less political experience than many of his peers. But Beto can try to leverage his youth, his media savvy, and his oratory. On policy, he holds unique views on immigration. Should he make it onto the first debate stage in June, Beto will try to draw in a broad coalition.