Beto's Choice

Beto O’Rourke seemed to come from nowhere to the brink of a presidential candidacy. But he’s been on a journey for his whole life, from El Paso and rebellion against a domineering political father, through Columbia, Williamsburg, punk rock, and the World Wide Web. JOE HAGAN traces his winding path and asks if O’Rourke could become America’s first punk president.

It’s nine P.M. on a Thursday night and Beto O’Rourke is trying to manage a couple of life-altering and possibly world-historical political events while also driving his family home from a Mexican restaurant. Donald Trump will touch down in O’Rourke’s hometown of El Paso in four days to hold a rally and whip up excitement for a wall along the border with Mexico. O’Rourke’s iPhone is pinging with texts asking what he plans to do about it—and also whether he’s going to run for president of the United States of America.

Henry, age eight, weighs in from the back of the Toyota Tundra.

“Dad, if you run for president, I’m going to cry all day,” he says.

“Just the one day?” asks O’Rourke, hopefully. “Every day,” says Henry. Daughter Molly, freckle-faced and clever, astutely observes,

“The White House is going to be all wet.” Earlier that day, the 10-year-old declared cheerily, “I want to live in the White House!” O’Rourke’s eldest, 12-year-old Ulysses, named for the hero of the Homeric classic that Beto O’Rourke has said he cherishes, delivers the final word: “I only want you to run if you’re gonna win.”