Remember that guy from Texas who was supposed to be the next senator, and after losing that was going to be the next president, and after losing that was going to be the next governor?

Few remember him now, but his name was Beto O’Rourke.

O’Rourke lost to Ted Cruz in a close race for Senate in 2018, and the addiction to running for office took control of O’Rourke. 

He ran for president in 2020 with the media fawning over the young, new face of the Democratic Party. He was in the race from March 2019 to December 2019 when he dropped out after gaining little to no traction despite being featured in magazines and receiving positive press coverage.

He would later endorse Biden the day before Super Tuesday.

But O’Rourke wasn’t done. He next ran for Texas Governor in 2022 and lost by 11 points.

It’s hard to see the comparisons right now, but this looks a lot like Kamala Harris.

Go back to 2020, and Harris also ran for president until Tulsi Gabbard destroyed her in a Democratic presidential debate. Harris didn’t even make it to the Iowa primaries before dropping out.

The press loved Harris, especially when she accused Joe Biden of being a racist and preventing busing for minority students like her.

Gabbard, however, didn’t let Harris play the victim when she convicted Harris on her record as California Attorney General, most importantly how Harris went after those who used marijuana while admitting using the drug herself.

No matter how much fawning the media did for Harris, her head bobbing, giggling and word salads were soundly rejected by Democrats when they had other choices and eventually chose the very man Harris said was a racist.

But politics are made of compromises and chameleons, and after Biden declared he wanted a black woman as vice president, Harris fit the requirements if not the credentials or a record of success.

Like O’Rourke losing in 2018 and then 2020, Harris also failed up by becoming the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party despite never winning one state in a public primary vote. Ever.

And much like O’Rourke, Harris has gone form an absolute no as a replacement candidate to the darling of CNN, NBC, MSNBC, CBS and ABC.

Someone might want to tell her O’Rourke was the darling as well before reality set in.

And what was the undoing of O’Rourke?

Vetting.

When O’Rourke had to go beyond the stump speech and address the issues, his true colors were exposed, and he folded like a pup tent.

So far, Harris has not been vetted. By anyone. 

She continues to live on the stump, owning the one-way microphone where she can paint the picture she wants people to see, which rarely matches reality.

She claims she will solve the border crisis, reduce prices and eliminate taxes on tips. Yes, that last one is an absolute rip off of Donald Trump who made the pledge before anyone else. As a matter of fact, Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to create a bureau within the IRS that would allow whistleblowers to tattle on anyone who they believed was not paying taxes on tips.

Now she is telling those at her rallies that she will not tax tips.

She will have to be exposed for  what she has done vs. what she says she will do, and while a chameleon can change colors, they can’t change who they really are.

Will Harris have her O’Rourke moment?

That depends on whether or not the press will actually do what they are supposed to do, which is to vet the candidates.

The new method is to simply bring on talking heads who will share what a fresh face Harris is, even though she isn’t, and how she had nothing to do with the failures of the Biden Harris Administration, even though she did.

For example, she continues to blame store owners for increasing prices and has yet to take responsibility for inflation.

How will she fix it?

The old adage of blaming the owners as gougers doesn’t fly when labor costs have risen, fuel costs have risen, transportation lines were disrupted, and printing trillions of dollars caused too much money to chase to few of goods.

But blame the little guy trying to keep his business open.

Will there be a fair vetting with Trump and Harris debate on ABC? 

Don’t bet on it.

Harris has ties to the staff at ABC, and George Stephanapoulis has already claimed that Trump must be prevented from returning to the White House. He is their leading political reporter. How fair is that? He will definitely be at the table asking questions despite facing a lawsuit filed by Trump against him for falsely claiming Trump was convicted of sexual assault. He never has been, but these are the people who will be conducting a presidential debate.

While CNN may have stunned the world by apparently shooting straight, don’t expect the same from ABC. They will attempt to live fact check everything Trump says while giving a free pass to everything Harris says.

Still, Harris may actually have to give some policy position, even if it is a lie, and other news outlets will be able to offer objective reporting.

Like O’Rourke, Harris will wilt under the bright lights, and she will shine on the uncontested stage.

For now Harris will be able to present one story while the truth may be very different. She will be able to repackage Trump’s proposals and try to copy his crowd sizes.

But ask Biden what it’s like to tangle with Trump. It usually ends careers.

Earl Watt is the owner and publisher of the Leader & Times in Liberal. Watt started his career in journalism in 1991 at the Southwest Daily Times. During his career, the newspaper has won a total of 17 Sweepstakes awards from the Kansas Press Association for editorial content and 18 Sweepstakes awards for advertising. Watt has been recognized with more than 70 first place awards for writing in categories from sports and column to best front pages, best sports pages and best opinion pages. Watt is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and is the descendant of several patriots who fought for America’s freedom and independence.