Beto O'Rourke is close to making a decision on whether to run for president in 2020 or challenge Texas Sen. John Cornyn.

Judging from his recent comments and out-of-state trips, the El Paso Democrat would rather aim for the White House and leave Cornyn to someone else.

On Tuesday, O'Rourke mentioned Cornyn as he received the El Pasoan of the Year Award at Fort Bliss. And he's had two recent speaking engagements out of state, in Illinois at a national conference of the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute and at the University of Wisconsin. Last week, he also spoke to students at a college in Milwaukee.

Wisconsin is a presidential battleground that Trump won in 2016, the first Republican to do so since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Democrats already in the presidential race have visited the state, promising to restore the party's Midwestern firewall.

But at Fort Bliss, O'Rourke remained coy about his decision, though his deliberations on "how to best serve the country" were telling.

"I'm trying to figure out how I can best serve this country, where I can do the greatest good for the United States of America," O'Rourke said Tuesday, the Texas Tribune reported. "So yeah, I'm thinking through that and it, you know, may involve running for the presidency, it may involve something else."

That something else could be another Senate run, but O'Rourke has also not ruled out running for vice president, if he got the chance. Activist and pundits have tossed about the possibility of a ticket featuring former Vice President Joe Biden at the top and O'Rourke as his running mate. Neither Democrat is in the race -- yet.

O'Rourke became a national figure after his narrow loss to Republican incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz. During that campaign, he described Cruz as an absentee senator who visited all 99 counties in Iowa, but wasn't fulfilling his duties to Texas. Cruz, of course, disagreed.

The former congressman doesn't feel the same way about Cornyn. While campaigning against Cruz, O'Rourke often cited his bipartisan work with Cornyn, including bills that would speed traffic flow and improve infrastructure at America's ports of entry.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, listened to President Donald Trump speak at a rally in El Paso, Texas, last week. (Susan Walsh / The Associated Press)

Cornyn and O'Rourke have come together several times to tour the southern border at El Paso. And while O'Rourke disagrees with Cornyn's conservative ideology, he sees him as a public servant who is committed to Texas. Those were not his views about Cruz.

Still, Democrats believe Cornyn is beatable, particularly if O'Rourke mounts another Senate campaign. For his race against Cruz, O'Rourke raised $80 million and built a formidable volunteer force that helped elect Democrats in numerous down-ballot contests.

O'Rourke has a sense of duty and loyalty to Texas Democrats and takes seriously the goal of turning the state purple, even blue. He also favors term limits and knows that Cornyn will be asking voters to elect him to a fourth six-year term.

But if O'Rourke chooses to run against Cornyn, he'd have to change his message. Against Cruz, he highlighted his ability to "show up" and listen to voters of all types, saying Texans could come together to solve problems related to education, health care, immigration and criminal justice.

Using that same approach in Texas could make his campaign seem stale. But in a presidential contest, he could retrofit his positive approach for voters across the county who haven't heard him speak, including the cafes and town squares in Iowa, New Hampshire and other early primary states.

O'Rourke appears to be leaning toward running for president, though his desire to make Texas more progressive could lead to a battle against someone who's been his bipartisan buddy.

Cornyn's campaign aides have said he'll be ready to run against O'Rourke or any other Democrat in 2020.