CENTER LINE – Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke brought his presidential campaign to Michigan on Monday, promising to bridge the partisan divides that are roiling the country.

"I wanted to come and meet the people in this restaurant to talk about their vision for this community, for this state, for this country — that is democracy at our absolute best,” he told more than 200 people crammed into the Hometown Heroes Café in Center Line. “The differences of geography, party, race or faith, none of that stuff matters right now, as much as the fact that before we are Republicans or Democrats, we’re Americans.”

Later, after a brief stop in Ferndale, O'Rourke drove himself in a minivan to the Narrow Way Café, just south of 8 Mile in Detroit. As he made his way through the crowd of 70 or so people, he punctuated his handshakes by asking people their names, and signaling agreement with things they said by replying, “Right on!”

“It’s too early for me to pick anybody,” said Lena Thompson, 55, of Detroit. “But I want to meet all the candidates.”

It may not have been the thousands of supporters O'Rourke routinely drew to rallies in 2018 when he ran against and came within three percentage points of beating U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas. But when he came to Michigan on Monday to kick off his 2020 presidential bid, his first stop, in Center Line in Macomb County, was a deliberate choice to share his vision for the United States.

This is where President Donald Trump staked his claim in 2016, swamping Democrat Hillary Clinton by a 54 to 42 percent margin in the general election in Macomb.

“Macomb is critical in 2020 because the path to the White House goes through us,” said Jeremy Fisher, president of the Warren Area Democratic Party. “Here in southern Macomb, we’re a strong Democratic area, but we’ve got to turn out the vote. It’s not enough to be against Donald Trump and his policies, we have to be for something. As we have candidates come through, we need to make sure what they’re for and what they stand for.”

O'Rourke didn’t mention Trump by name during his 40-minute speech, but he repeatedly decried the current administration’s policies on everything from climate change, wars in the Middle East and immigration.

“We cannot be too red or blue, too rural or too urban," he said. "We need to show up and listen to you and hear things from your perspective and bring this deeply divided, highly polarized country together around the big challenges before us.”

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The youngest candidate in the race

At 46, O'Rourke is the youngest among the 16 candidates who have either announced for the Democratic nomination or who are said to be thinking about running. He raised $6.1 million in online donations within the first 24 hours of announcing his run for president last week.

He also became a political phenomenon during his 2018 run for the Senate, raising $80 million for his campaign, much of it from outside Texas. He reiterated Monday that he would not accept any money from political action committees, saying “our institutions have been so corrupted and so captured by corporations and special interests."

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O’Rourke, who is from El Paso and served in the U.S. House for three terms, most likely will be able to depend on money and supporters from Michigan.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Michigan was one of 13 states in the nation to contribute between $150,000 and $500,000 to O’Rourke’s 2018 Senate campaign, with more than $154,000 in donations coming from Michiganders.

“I like that he’s young. He’s cool. He skateboards. He’s played in a band,” said Jessica Knapik, 36, of Royal Oak, who volunteered for former President Barack Obama. “The other candidates are quite old. I think it’s cool that he’s closer to our age, but I’ll vote whoever the Democrat is.”

Many in the crowd in Center Line had a singular goal in mind, retiring Trump.

“It’s all about Donald Trump, we have to get our country back to normalcy. We’re in a very scary place right now and there are a lot of great Democratic candidates out there,” said Randy Madding, 68, of Birmingham. “I don’t think age makes a difference. Enthusiasm and commitment is the most important. You can be 25 or 85.”

Economic inequality, racism and North Korea

In Detroit, the candidate hopped on the counter to deliver his stump speech, as he often does.

Some said he reminded them of a preacher in a pulpit, interspersing his speech with down-to-earth stories from people he met on the trail. He repeatedly told the crowd he didn’t have all the answers and was there to get them from the people he was meeting.

In his remarks, O'Rourke touched on the need to address issues dealing with economic inequality, the threat of white supremacy and racism, and safety for people in the transgender community and for students in schools.

Unlike in Center Line, he did go after Trump by name, criticizing the president's approach to North Korea and his comments about immigrants, particularly Mexican-Americans and Muslims.

“He has talked about — bragged about — that he has fallen in love with a brutal dictator who kills and starves his own people, who seeks to undermine peace and stability on the peninsula,” O'Rourke said.

He said he would work with China, which he called a competitor and potential threat, and allies in the area, such as Japan, to find a resolution.

“Without China, I do not think there is any resolution to the dangers in North Korea," he said.

The Republican response

The newest presidential candidate has been the target of a critical Trump review, when the president wondered “is he crazy?” for his trademark expressive hand gestures. And the Republican National Committee was quick to point out that O’Rourke’s foray into Michigan could be a disappointment, given his past ties to Republican business interests early in his political career.

“O’Rourke is going to have a tough time living up to his party’s litmus tests and convincing the progressive base that he should be their nominee,” said RNC spokesperson Michael Joyce.

With Trump’s margin of victory in Michigan in 2016 at 10,704 votes, Michigan, along with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where Trump also had narrow margins, will become a focus for both Democrats and Republicans.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or onTwitter @michpoligal.