In a series of public word vomits over the past few days, media darling and unemployed, failed Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke has sounded more like a college literature major getting stoned for the first time than a serious contender to become the leader of the free world.

The liberal wunderkind's solution to solving the Syria crisis? "A debate, a discussion, a national conversation about why we’re there, why we fight, why we sacrifice the lives of American service members, why we’re willing to take the lives of others."

How to address visa overstays, the single greatest cause of illegal immigration into the United States? "I don't know."

The state of the union? "Can an empire like ours with military presence in over 170 countries around the globe, with trading relationships ... and security agreements in every continent, can it still be managed by the same principles that were set down 230-plus years ago?" (According to the Washington Post, he "doesn't yet know the answer, but he's ready to discuss it.")

How's he been feeling lately? "Have been stuck lately. In and out of a funk," O'Rourke wrote in a lengthy Medium post about nothing. "Maybe if I get moving, on the road, meet people, learn about what’s going on where they live, have some adventure, go where I don’t know and I’m not known, it’ll clear my head, reset, I’ll think new thoughts, break out of the loops I’ve been stuck in."

O'Rourke earned national fanfare during his Senate race against Ted Cruz because various major media outlets said he was " hot as hell," " authentically cool," and " inspiring." You mean, O'Rourke looked better than a guy once described by Stephen Colbert as a " half-melted G.I. Joe" whose face you may dislike " according to science"? You mean, he was cooler than the Ivy League debate nerd who gets excited about cows made out of butter, flat taxes, and jurisprudence? You mean he inspired more people in a red state as the first viable Democrat for the first time in a while, who was challenging the incumbent Republican who often rubs people the wrong way?

As it turns out, ceasing to run against Ted Cruz removes a very useful foil from your public image.

O'Rourke is Kennedyesque insofar as he has a B-minus appearance and knows how to deliver prepared remarks fairly well. He's Obama-esque in that the media love him.

But that's about it. He has nothing to say outside of the fact that he isn't Ted Cruz, and all of the bells, whistles, and Instagram livestreams in the world won't change that.

When CNN's Brianna Keilar brought up O'Rourke's lacking substance, CNN Political Director David Chalian likened to the critique to those used against then-candidate Barack Obama.

"Remember, we’ve seen that question asked before," said Chalian. "I mean, Barack Obama in 2007 was getting criticized from many in the Democratic Party for not issuing white papers. And he made clear, 'I wasn’t going to be the candidate of white papers.'"

For one thing, Obama had multiple best-selling books. He didn't need white papers so long as he demonstrated intense policy literacy to the press. Obama did. O'Rourke doesn't.

Obviously, President Trump is no wonk. But he was able to distill his entire campaign around a handful of issues. No matter how much you disagreed with him, he had actual opinions on things.

O'Rourke has nothing. He has a decent mug, a skateboard, a blog, and some magazine covers. If I were to wager, history books will place him next to the name "Michael Avenatti."