Texas Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Beto O'Rourke has become a genuine political phenomenon – at least on the far left.  He's raised a ton of money, much of it outside of Texas, and has become the "it" boy for national Democrats.

But the debates with GOP incumbent Senator Ted Cruz have shown that behind that winning smile, the smarmy good looks, and the ability to parrot liberal talking points, there's nothing but an empty suit.

National Review:

I'd like to further discuss the debate between O'Rourke and Ted Cruz, and also actual policy issues, and also perhaps the fact that many people in politics seem to be slowly going insane.  But first, can we talk about how embarrassing Betomania is?  Friends, I am deeply concerned for our culture.  When you look at a middle-aged establishment politician as an icon of "rock star" cool, you're doing something wrong.

"Skateboarding Beto O'Rourke Shreds Whataburger Parking Lot," read an actual recent headline on the website of the Dallas Morning News.  This all sounds really rad and sick and gnarly and whatever until you actually watch the video, which features O'Rourke gently coasting around the parking lot, soccer-dad style, looking precariously close to biting the dust when he gives a bystander a high five.  Don't get mad: I'm not judging!  I would do exactly the same thing, except I'd probably actually fall!  But no wide-eyed journalist would write a headline claiming that I "shredded" anything, nor credulously act like I belonged on the cover of Thrasher magazine.

Of the countless head-scratching elements of the O'Rourke phenomenon, one wins handily as the head-scratchingest of all: A troubling percentage of the Betomaniacs I have met in Texas moved here after fleeing places ruined by Beto's favored policies.  These locales are often expensive, increasingly dysfunctional, wildly overregulated, sometimes mystifyingly poop-ridden despite being wildly overregulated (here's looking at you, San Francisco!), and inevitably run by Democrats.  Why does no one seem to make this connection?  I don't know! One hero in Austin has taken to posting stickers around town featuring an image of a giant locust, paired with the following text: "I MIGRATED TO A THRIVING TEXAS FROM A LEFTIST [NIGHTMARE] AND NOW I'M VOTING FOR BETO FOR SENATE."

O'Rourke, like another empty-suit leftist politician named Barack Obama, invites voters to impress upon him their own hopes and dreams, fashioning him into whatever they want in their leader.

"Beto O'Rourke Matters Even If He Loses," a headline at Bloomberg recently declared. O'Rourke "defies gravity," argued The Ringer. Comparisons to Barack Obama flow freely, and the presidential speculation grows. "Will Beto O'Rourke Become President?" asked a column at Texas Monthly back in August. "It might help if he loses to Ted Cruz."

Stay tuned, America.  We live in interesting times.  Anything can happen!  And Betomaniacs, if O'Rourke does indeed lose, don't fret: He'll undoubtedly be back and BETO than ever! 

The latest polls have Cruz up comfortably by 7-9 points.  It turns out that O'Rourke is more popular among national Democrats than he is among Texas voters.  This is not surprising given that O'Rourke's far-left agenda scares most sane people.  And I wouldn't be surprised if there's a certain amount of resentment among Texans that "Betomania" has become a national thing.

Texans are not so easily fooled.