“The single overriding factor is that this planet is cooking,” he said. “I think we have to tell the truth,” adding that leadership sometimes requires “saying what is uncomfortable but necessary.”

O’Rourke — or just “Beto” (BEH-toh) as supporters call him — kicked off his candidacy in March with a swing through eastern Iowa.

On that first Iowa swing, in his first few hours as an official candidate, O’Rourke preached for national unity in characteristically upbeat style.

In Davenport on Monday, he honed his signature sense of optimism, but with a greater sense of urgency around his preferred policies: a $15 minimum wage, paid family leave from work, passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, reproductive autonomy for women, the full legalization of marijuana, an end to the Trump tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, reversing the transgender troop ban “on Day One” and more.