A supporter of senate hopeful Beto O’Rourke holds a sign during a Democratic watch party following the Texas primary election, Tuesday, March 6, 2018, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

The 2019 primary season is off to a roaring start. The declared Democrat candidates are Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Cherokee Nation/Cherokee Tribe), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Willie Brown’s, uh, whatever), Sen. Cory Booker (D-Spartacus), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Former San Antonio mayor and HUD Secretary Julián Castro, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Former Rep. John Delaney (no, please, no), Mayor Pete Buttigieg (if he was serious he’d have changed his last name by now), Andrew Yang, and Marianne Williamson. The people who might jump into the race include former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Michael Bloomberg, Eric Holder, Tom Steyer and, of course, Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke.

For reasons that totally escape me, O’Rourke became a national sensation during the 2018 election based on the fantasy that he was going to beat Ted Cruz. In the process of losing, O’Rourke burned through $79 million. How a rich, politically connected guy who had a DUI arrest after he wrecked his car and ran from the cops and his father’s friends made the charges go away became a hero to progressives is worthy of a doctoral thesis by someone.

Even though O’Rourke hasn’t declared, there is a boomlet Draft Beto movement out there. One of those rallies was in Bakersfield, CA:

ABC News Bakersfield’s Noelle Lilley asked the event organizer, Stephanie Lancaster, why she wanted Beto to run for president in 2020. “He’s new, he’s looking toward the future, and he is actively addressing our young adults,” Lancaster said. In the background, the ABC News camera caught about a half dozen people.

O’Rourke may see himself as president but no one else does. His popularity was driven by the fact that he was running against a Republican regarded as Satan himself by progressives. Their belief that outside dollars, not Texas voters, would decide the outcome led to his fundraising bounty. When you are asking to be drafted and the best you can do is five or six people, you are deluding yourself.