By Peter Barry Chowka

Robert Francis (aka Beto) O’Rourke finally – as expected – officially declared that he is running for President.

Early in the morning of Thursday, March 14, O’Rourke issued a 3-minute video with his wife holding his hand as she sat at his side on a comfy couch as he declared his intention to challenge President Trump for the nation’s top job.

O’Rourke was an obscure, inconsequential, three-term member of Congress from El Paso, Texas. He ran for a U.S. Senate seat in 2018 against incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz and lost by three points. His ability to supposedly come across as “authentic,” and his ability to raise $80 million for his race against Cruz, put him on the left wing media’s map as a potential contender for the 2020 presidential race. Beto brings to mind what George Burns is reported to have said: “Sincerity – if you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”

O’Rouke’s “look” – his appearance and affect – call to mind the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. In fact, O’Rourke looks like he could easily transition to acting and playing Robert F. Kennedy in a TV movie.

And, in terms of icing on the cake, his birth name is Robert Francis O’Rourke. Robert Kennedy’s was Robert FrancisKennedy.

O’Rourke also reminds me of Barack Hussein (aka Barry Sotero) Obama: Another empty suit cut-out of limited achievement who nonetheless could be made to appeal to the dumbed down electorate as an “authentic,” hipster candidate. In other words, he might be a “White Obama.”

One of the most irksome comments in O’Rourke’s announcement video was this:

“If immigration is a problem, it’s the best possible problem for this country to have.”

Shortly before O’Rourke’s video announcement went online, I was watching Fox News, which reported on the latest murder of an American woman allegedly after a home invasion by an illegal immigrant – a violent, feral gang member – who had been arrested multiple times for violent crimes after invading the USA but was never turned over to ICE for deportation because of California’s sick Sanctuary State policy.

Thomas Lifson, the founder, publisher, and editor of American Thinker, nailed O’Rourke in his article that was published shortly after O’Rourke’s announcement of his candidacy and which made use of my photo assembly of RFK and Beto. Highly recommended.

Peter Barry Chowka writes about politics, media, popular culture, and health care for American Thinker and other publications. Peter’s new Web site is http://peter.media. Follow him on Twitter at @pchowka.