O’Rourke hires former Obama delegate guru

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) hired former President Obama’s delegate chief as he tries to rejuvenate his own presidential campaign amid dwindling poll numbers and media attention. 

O’Rourke announced Thursday that his campaign hired Mark Berman, national delegate director for Obama’s 2008 White House bid, as his senior adviser for delegate strategy. The Texas Democrat credited Berman with contributing to Obama’s upset primary victory over Hillary Clinton in 2008. 

{mosads}“We’re excited that Jeff Berman has joined our team,” said O’Rourke. “His expertise and proven success in navigating the primary process will help us put people back at the center of our democracy as we ensure every voice is heard during the most consequential election of our lifetimes.” 

Berman will be joining a campaign headed by fellow Obama alum Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, whom O’Rourke named campaign manager in March.

“Jeff and Beto met early on, and he was one of the first people I reached out to when I came on board because delegate strategy is so critical to our overall strategy,” O’Malley Dillon said in a statement. “Jeff and I were both struck by Beto’s unifying leadership, the energy he inspires at the grassroots level, and his persistent belief that you can campaign to be a president for all Americans. That’s exactly what voters are searching for.” 

Berman also served as a senior consultant to Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

O’Rourke, who shot to national prominence last year with an unsuccessful insurgent Senate bid in Texas that electrified grass-roots voters, has seen his presidential momentum stemmed amid a mushrooming primary field and rising buzz around millennial South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.