Click here if you’re unable to view the photo gallery on your mobile device.

Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke dropped into San Francisco Sunday, the locus of liberalism in the Bay Area, spreading his message of political and economic democracy to an eager audience.

O’Rourke’s regular guy, values-driven style was well-received by a crowd of hundreds packed into the United Irish Cultural Center in the city’s Sunset district.

But was it enough to set him apart from the crowded field of Democrats vying to unseat Trump in 2020?

Running late to the event, O’Rourke spoke broadly on several key issues, moving quickly from healthcare, to immigration, to equal pay and voter rights in a frenzied pace that was light on specific action plan.

He called for the creation of a new voting rights act, along with automatic voter registration upon a person’s 18th birthday, and ending “racist voter ID laws” to help boost turnout around the country.

He also wants to eliminate gerrymandering in the U.S., and put an “end to political action committees, independent expenditures, and dark, unaccountable big money” in politics. He recognized the uphill battle, saying it would require more than just half the nation to be on board to achieve those things.

O’Rourke has stated his campaigns are free from lobbyist and PAC monies, and said he thinks that should be the norm.

He appealed to voters locally when he said any kind of universal healthcare plan in the country needs to include mental health care access, which some voters at the event said they appreciated because it is badly needed in the Bay Area to help address homelessness and drug addiction.

During a question and answer session, O’Rourke clarified that he doesn’t support Medicare for All, but does support Medicare for America, a plan that would enroll millions of uninsured people into Medicare. It would give those who are underinsured the option to join Medicare, and those with employer-provided insurance would be able to keep it, he said.

“I think from a number of different perspectives, that’s the surest, quickest way for us to get to universal, guaranteed, high-quality care,” he said.

He also touched on climate change, and said it’s the nation’s most pressing issue.

“For two weeks the people of this community were wearing masks on their faces last year because of the smoke that came here from wildfires that raged at historic levels,” O’Rourke said. He also mentioned the flooding and hurricanes that ravaged parts of his home state of Texas.

“This is not caused by god or mother nature. It is our own excesses, our own emissions, and our own inaction,” he said, prompting loud cheers in the hall. “It takes every single one of us to get this right, to free ourselves of dependence on fossil fuels, to transition to solar, and wind, and geothermal, and renewable energies.”

People at the event said O’Rourke’s passion seems genuine, and comes through when he speaks.

“I don’t know, it’s just something about his energy, it’s the way that he fires me up,” Ruben Padilla, 38, of Pacifica said Sunday while in line for the town hall.

Padilla, wearing a hat and shirt with O’Rourke’s name and likeness, came with his mother and his boyfriend to hear more from the candidate he said he’s been following since O’Rourke famously challenged Republican Senator Ted Cruz in Texas last year.

“He doesn’t sound like other politicians, which I really appreciate,” Padilla said. “And so far, a lot of his policies, or what he discusses, aligns with the way that I feel. I just kind of feel loyal to him right now.”

Others in the crowd said O’Rourke connected with them during the town hall and inspired them to action.

“My desire to actually be more engaged in the process has spiked up significantly,” said Leslie Hu, 40, of San Francisco. “I want to go home and sign up to volunteer somewhere.”

Hu said she’s still undecided on which candidate she’ll support, but O’Rourke “presses all the progressive buttons” for her.

“I think he cares about human beings and I think the thing that draws me the most to him right now is that he has a listening stance, and that’s really important,” she said.

O’Rourke made clear throughout the event his values are in stark opposition to President Trump.

“I don’t care to whom you pray, or whom you love, how many generations you’ve been in this country, or whether you just got here this morning,” he said. “All that matters to me is we are Americans first, we have these challenges before us, and we will meet them.”

He said the country needs to create a “democracy that works for all of us, and democracy that is not just limited to political democracy, but true economic democracy.”

He told the crowd, at times speaking in Spanish, that the country needs to unite behind a goal of addressing major challenges, such as the long-lasting effects of racism and slavery, reforming immigration, and raising the minimum wage to $15 across the country, while slamming some of Trump’s key policies and practices.

“These challenges, these opportunities, cannot be met by half measure, by only half the country, it’s going to take all of us,” he said. “And this is our moment to decide how we will be defined. Are we going to define ourselves by kids in cages, by withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, by calling nazis and klansmen very fine people?

“We are not going to be defined by our smallness, our pettiness, our hatred or racism. Instead we will be known by our ambitions, our aspirations, the work, the service and sacrifice we are willing to bring to bear to get them done,” he said.

Cindy Wang, of Mountain View, said she supports O’Rourke because she feels he operates from a “moral center” and won’t be easily swayed from his views.

“He has values that align with mine very much, and to be honest, the other thing is I really feel like at the end of the day, he can win,” she said, “because he has the so-called ‘it’ factor that not a lot of people have.”