How Beto O'Rourke plans to turn things around in next week's Democratic debate
(CNN) -- After watching tape of his panned performance in the first Democratic debate, Beto O'Rourke understood he had a problem: He needed to come across as more human and less rehearsed.
Campaign aides and friends say they believe the former Texas congressman has turned a corner since then -- and has shown it in interviews this week, including in an exchange with Meghan McCain on "The View."
But aides also acknowledge the stakes are high in next week's debate and that to jump-start his flagging campaign, he has to turn in a better performance in Detroit, when a vast national audience is watching, than he did in Miami in late June.
Shortly after the first debate, a senior campaign aide said, O'Rourke campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon rewatched the tape, and then told O'Rourke he needed to do so, too. O'Rourke and his wife Amy watched parts of the debate while traveling together. Then, he rewatched it again on his own.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/26/politics/beto-orourke-debate-performance/index.html