Beto O'Rourke, the smarmy, smug, monied Texas junior who got rich on his wife's inherited fortune, is out of the Democratic presidential race.

According to the left-wing, but unable-to-stifle-a-snark Texas Monthly:

We gather today to say a hearty RIP to the Beto O’Rourke political project, helmed by one Beto O’Rourke, who ran one of the most remarkable Senate campaigns and one of the most underwhelming presidential campaigns in modern American history—all in the space of about 31 months. Late on a Friday afternoon, O’Rourke and his loved ones made the decision to pull the plug, releasing a Medium post explaining why. “Though it is difficult to accept, it is clear to me now that this campaign does not have the means to move forward successfully,” he wrote. “My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee.”

Which is probably good news for Democrats even as it's less entertaining for us. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, see, has gone on record to say that Democratic presidential candidates need to stop acting like raving lunatics.

Beto certainly was part of the problem, having gone unusually crazy in his last miserable days of campaigning with toxic proposals. The wannabe Latino candidate from El Paso vowed to tax churches, expropriate guns, jail all sorts of people but amnesty illegals, which didn't wash even with many Democrats. No wonder his polling numbers went to around 1% or maybe zero.

Which raises questions as to why the heck this guy was out there. Who took him seriously other than the media. Power Line's John Hinderaker has an ace observation about that one:

I think the Beto story illustrates the down-side of the press’s loyalty to the Democratic Party: its candidates are systematically overestimated. This happens at the top level, with the delusion that Hillary Clinton was a powerhouse politician, as well as at O’Rourke’s humbler stratum. The phenomenon lives on. To take just one example, see the multiple press reportson Pete Buttigieg “surging” in Iowa. I will venture a prediction that Pete Buttigieg, like Beto O’Rourke and Hillary Clinton, will never be President of the United States.

Beto, remember, as Texas Monthly noted, kicked off his presidential campaign with glammy Vanity Fair spreads, with his opening cry: "I'm just born to be in it, man!"

Gack. Had enough?

But what's really appalling is that O'Rourke got as far as he actually did, given his astonishingly unfit record.

This guy got his start as a computer hacker, hanging out in gamy coding circles, devoted to writing pervert poetry and sharing with one another. He wrote a poem about a cow. He wrote a short story about the exquisite pleasure he took in mass killings of children with his car. But cripes, don't you dare own a gun!

He got his political start as an advocate for marijuana legalization, something real popular in a lot of hacker circles too. Any guesses as to whether he partook?

Then there were the college years - with reports of busts for burglary, drunk driving, and hit and run.

His skateboarding and rock band playing made him look like a moron.

I always felt that it was this line from lefty commentator Margaret Carlson of all people, saying that he reminded her of her "worst boyfriend" that really did him in.

Because it sums up the creep's unfitness for anything.

Bottom line, this was an childish, immature reprobate who had no business running for presidential office. Imagine this guy with a nuclear button or a security clearance.

With a record like his, combined with his irresponsible policy proposals, he's probably the grossest thing the Democrats have ever run. Too bad he's in the dumpster now, his presence was useful to Republicans.

Image credit: Photo illustration by Monica Showalter with use of detail from image by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr // CC BY-SA 2.0 and public domain image