Houston Newspaper Makes a Plea to Beto

The editorial board of the Houston Chronicle likes Beto O'Rourke. Which is why the editors are asking O'Rourke to scrap his presidential candidacy—and run for the Senate in Texas instead. In their editorial, the editors take note of the moment last week when O'Rourke went off-script and castigated President Trump and the media's coverage of him in earthy terms after the mass shooting in his hometown of El Paso. "We aren’t used to seeing candidates act like real people," says the editorial, noting that O'Rourke paused his campaign to be in El Paso. "Frankly, it’s made us wish O’Rourke would shift gears, and rather than unpause his presidential campaign, we’d like to see him take a new direction."

That new direction? Challenging GOP incumbent Sen. John Cornyn. "Beto, if you’re listening: Come home," wrote the editors over the weekend. "Drop out of the race for president and come back to Texas to run for senator. The chances of winning the race you’re in now are vanishingly small. And Texas needs you." The idea that O'Rourke should run for the Senate instead of the White House has been percolating of late, but the candidate rejected it in an interview with the New York Times on Friday. “I’m running for president,” he said, when asked for a response to those pushing the Senate bid. (O'Rourke lost to Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz last year, but the margin was surprisingly close.)