O’Rourke: Asking whether he is ready for White House is a ‘great question’

Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) said in an interview published Sunday that asking whether he deserves to be president after losing his campaign for a Senate seat is a “great question.”

“Oh yeah. I think that’s a great question. I ask that question myself,” he told The Dallas Morning News.

O’Rourke, who emerged as a Democratic star in his campaign to unseat Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R), is viewed as a top contender for the party’s nomination for president in 2020.

A CNN poll of likely Iowa caucusgoers released late Saturday showed O’Rourke trailing only former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

But O’Rourke told The Dallas Morning News that he “truly” has not made a decision “or even really begun the serious work of making a decision.”

“So I just don’t want to lead anyone to think that we’re doing something or not doing something,” he added.

He also told the newspaper that he wants to talk more with his wife about the prospect of running. 

“Amy and I had this expectation that after the sixth of November, one way or another things would kind of die down and we could regroup and you know, catch up. But in some ways, things have intensified,” he said.