I confess to being such a bad person that I am enjoying the crashing and burning of the Robert Francis O'Rourke presidential campaign.  "Beto" — the faux Hispanic nickname he adopted for himself — has Robert Kennedy–esque good looks and possesses passable skateboarding skills for a middle-aged man.  But while that was enough to drive massive donations (almost $80 million) to his unsuccessful campaign to unseat Ted Cruz as a U.S. senator and power impressive early fundraising ($6.1 million in the first 24 hours) for his presidential campaign, once the glare of the national spotlight fell on him, things started to go south.  Jumping on lunch counters and flailing his arms failed to impress Iowans, and his vow to tear down the border wall, made on camera in El Paso, branded him as an extremist in the eyes of many.

Even this didn't help enough.

Now, with his support below 1% in some polls, he is desperate.  Will Weissert and Steve Peoples report for AP:

In a tacit recognition that this approach isn't working, O'Rourke is planning to try again, taking a hands-on role in staging a "reintroduction" ahead of next month's premier Democratic presidential debate. As he finalizes his plans, O'Rourke has entered an intentional "quiet period" to build out campaign infrastructure, according to an adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the campaign's strategy.

That will end soon.

O'Rourke plans to step up his national media appearances after skipping most of that kind of exposure in recent months. He is scheduled to appear on MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show" on Monday night and ABC's "The View" the next day.

He's also set to offer more concrete policy plans on top issues. So far, he's issued just one, on climate change.

O'Rourke acknowledges he's struggled to find his presidential campaign footing.

"I think, in part, I was just trying to keep up when I first started out," he said after addressing about 40 people at a recent house party in Newton, Iowa. "I really feel like I've found my rhythm and my pace, and I just feel comfortable, and I feel like this is what I'm supposed to be doing."

His top aides deny that a full reinvention or "Beto 2.0" is in the works. They note that O'Rourke plans to keep packing days with as many as half a dozen campaign events. He'll still venture into off-the-beaten path locales that include rural, heavily Republican areas. Those were the trademarks of his Senate campaign last fall, when he nearly toppled Republican Sen. Ted Cruz by visiting all of deep-red Texas' 254 counties.

But his team also acknowledges that for all its excitement, O'Rourke's initial campaign launch exposed some disorganization. Assembling a campaign staff while the 2020 roadshow was already rollicking along simply wasn't sustainable.

If O'Rourke is really serious about "reintroducing" himself, he should start by dropping "Beto" as his nickname and insist on being addressed as "Paddy," a nickname not in conflict with his ethnic heritage.  One of the consequences of President Trump's campaign and presidency is a heightened understanding of phoniness on the part of politicians.  Whatever else you might think about President Trump, he speaks his mind, and that makes the blow-dried, phony ethnicity of politicians on the make stand out.