ABC journalists on election night gushed over Beto O’Rourke as the second coming of Bobby Kennedy, and as a Democrat who had “electrified” Texas. Meanwhile, as Republicans pulled ahead in Florida, Tennessee and Indiana Senate races, former Democratic operative turned journalist George Stephanopoulos admitted this has been a “disappointing night” for Democrats “so far.”
Reporter Paula Faris, who previously fawned over O’Rourke as a “rock star,” enthused, “George, we're keeping an eye out for one of the greatest political upsets in recent history.” Stephanopoulos raved, “He's just electrified the grassroots of the Democratic Party, bringing in tons and tons of money online. And a lot of Democrats look at O'Rourke and see Bobby Kennedy.”
Fellow Democrat Donna Brazile appeared as a panelist. She repeated the Bobby Kennedy line and also touted Beto 2020:
They see Bobby Kennedy. They see a young leader who is prepared to, I think, change the country in many ways. He has galvanized, not just Texans, but people from all over the country have been pouring into Texas to help him out, to help him raise money and to help him get out the vote. He is clearly somebody to look at for the future. If he loses tonight, I still believe we could have an upset, I know Matt disagrees with me. But I still believe, he's someone that we can look at for 2020 and beyond.
With the mounting Democratic losses, Stephanopoulos haltingly sighed, “We shouldn’t read too much into it. But so far, it just has to be said, the Democrats are having, so far, a lot of vote to come in, a disappointing night.”
Partial transcripts below. Click “expand” to read:
ABC election night coverage
11/6/18
8:36pm ET
...PAULA FARIS: Over 500,000 registered to vote for the first time since March. We're hearing that the 18 to 39 demographic in that early vote is up, but the other demographics are flat. Beto O'Rourke told reporters last night he feels like the momentum is on his side. Cruz told me, conversely, he's taking nothing for granted, even though he entered this race with a slight lead in the poll. Looks like we're going to have a long night, a close night. George, we're keeping an eye out for one of the greatest political upsets in recent history.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, we’re going to keep an eye of it. Of course, it still is an uphill fight for Beto O'Rourke in the state of Texas. But Donna, he's just electrified the grassroots of the Democratic Party, bringing in tons and tons of money online. And a lot of Democrats look at O'Rourke and see Bobby Kennedy.
DONNA BRAZILE: They see Bobby Kennedy, they see a young leader who is prepared to, I think, change the country in many ways. He has galvanized, not just Texans, but people from all over the country have been pouring into Texas to help him out, to help him raise money and to help him get out the vote. He is clearly somebody to look at for the future. If he loses tonight, I still believe we could have an upset, I know Matt disagrees with me, but I still believe, he's someone that we can look at for 2020 and beyond.
...
9:01
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: The Democrats said they didn't need Amy McGrath to win. We shouldn’t read too much into it. But so far, it just has to be said, the Democrats are having, so far, a lot of vote to come in, a disappointing night.
KARL: They are not winning where they thought they were going to win. We had seven potential pickups in the state of Florida. Republicans have held onto five of those seats already. Democrats have only picked up one. We're still waiting for vote count on there. In Virginia, they have only picked up one of the seats they were tracking. So, Democrats are not winning in the way they were hoping to win early in the night. But there's a lot of vote to count.
