Ruben Navarrette Jr.

Opinion columnist

SAN DIEGO — He hasn’t earned it.

I’ve distilled it down. And that’s basically the refrain I’ve heard from dozens of Latinos who — unlike the news media, run by white liberals who are fascinated by other white liberals — refuse to go loco for Beto.

They’re concerned that Robert Francis O’Rourke, 46, who on Thursday joined an already-crowded field of 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls, is trying to put one over on Latinos by tricking them into thinking he’s one of them. Or, at the very least, they think that his strategy, or that of his handlers, is to come across to Latinos as a simpatico who connects with them the way that Bill Clinton — whom writer Toni Morrison mischievously dubbed “our first black president” — connected with African-Americans. At least until Barack Obama came along, and the Clinton machine tried, and failed, to destroy him.

So is that the deal? Is O’Rourke aiming to become America’s first Latino president?

O'Rourke goes AWOL on immigration policy

Por favor. Please. Speaking as a Mexican-American, let me spare you the suspense: That zapato won’t fit. Sorry, Beto, you’re no Bill Clinton.

What actual Latinos tell me is that they resent the presumptuousness of this supposed familiarity we’re told Beto feels with a community that he has done, at best, a mediocre job of representing when he had the chance.

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For instance, at a time when Latinos feel under siege by ethnocentrism and anti-immigrant demagoguery, where was O’Rourke on the explosive immigration issue during his three terms in the House of Representatives? Judging from the comments by lawmakers who served with him, it appears he was in hiding.

But hey, let’s cut the guy some slack for going AWOL when Latinos needed him. O’Rourke hails from the border city of El Paso, Texas. Where would anyone encounter immigrants in a place like that?

The Democrat is also criticized for not reaching out to Latino voters in Texas during his Senate race last year against incumbent Ted Cruz, perhaps thinking he had them in the bag and so he could take them for granted.

One Mexican-American professor who teaches at a university in San Diego, echoing a critique leveled by Cruz and many others, was bothered that the politician called himself "Beto." He said it seems O'Rourke is taking advantage of his nickname to pretend to be something he’s not.

Another professor and lawyer, who is Panamanian-American, said O'Rourke hasn't lived the life of a Hispanic man. As a white male, his life was easier (as he himself acknowledges). And it still is.

A Mexican-American woman who works in public relations told me O'Rourke seems condescending. Given his privilege, it is irritating that he seems to pretend that he knows and understands what bothers a demographic he’s not part of.

Beto's manipulative moniker

The Beto backlash reminds of the idea of stolen valor, the righteous outrage felt by combat veterans when others who didn’t see action claim medals they don’t deserve.

You see, being a member of America’s largest minority — especially in the Trump era — isn’t all fiestas and churros. And if you haven’t had your ticket punched, you don’t get to take the ride.

Now let’s deal with this business about the name. Who, or what, gave birth to the legend of Beto?

Robert Francis prefers to be called by that name, and he and his army of supporters — the Beto bots — swear it has nothing to do with politics. They even point to the fact that O’Rourke seems to have first gotten tagged with the moniker when he was a child, showing off a photo of him as a boy wearing a sweatshirt with the name “Beto” on it.

What they appear not as eager to talk about, however, is the fact that Patrick O’Rourke — Robert Francis’ father — once explained that he was the one who gave his son the nickname in the first place and the reason had a lot to do with politics, as well as geography. According to The Dallas Morning News, the patriarch reasoned that if his son ever ran for office in El Paso, the odds of being elected in that largely Mexican-American city were far greater with a name like Beto.

When told of his father’s words, O’Rourke shrugged them off, calling his father “farsighted.”

I’d use different words, like cynical and dishonest and manipulative.

It's certainly not respectful to assume people can be so easily fooled. And, as any real Latino can tell you, respect goes a long way in our community. O’Rourke should take the time to get to know us better. If he did, more Latinos might have a better impression of him.

Ruben Navarrette Jr., a member of the USA TODAY Board of Contributors, is a syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group and host of the daily podcast “Navarrette Nation.” Follow him on Twitter: @RubenNavarrette