The pros and cons of a Beto presidency

Even before a tide of Republican votes doomed his spectacular but ultimately unsuccessful senatorial candidacy, Beto O’Rourke sought to rule out what many of his fervent supporters saw as the logical next step, win or lose.

“I will not be a candidate for president in 2020,” the El Paso congressman told MSNBC. “That’s I think as definitive as those sentences get.”

But “no” is rarely a flat, Shermanesque “no” in presidential politics. The words of a tired candidate at the end of a long race won’t stamp out speculation that, in a massive field with no logical front-runner, O’Rourke has the charisma the Democrats will need to defeat President Donald Trump.