Beto O’Rourke is in. Today, the failed senatorial and presidential candidate announced his candidacy to become the Governor of Texas. He did so in typical Beto fashion, with way too much polish and that certain air of inauthenticity.

(related Beto O’Rourke’s Dog Is Trending Because Reasons)

He’s also recycling the logo he used during his senate run, which looks almost exactly like a Whataburger spicy ketchup packet.

I’m running for governor.

Together, we can push past the small and divisive politics that we see in Texas today — and get back to the big, bold vision that used to define Texas. A Texas big enough for all of us.

Join us: https://t.co/eMY5wwf6an pic.twitter.com/yrG1WOkpqk

— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) November 15, 2021

I’d give an alternate headline here, but I already included it in the actual headline. Beto O’Rourke is about to set a whole bunch of money on fire. Even in a bad year for Republicans, this guy managed to lose to Ted Cruz, who at the time was having trouble appealing to the GOP base due to past conflicts with Donald Trump. In that same election, now Gov. Greg Abbott won by double digits.

On no planet, in a political environment that objectively favors the GOP by wide margins, is Beto going to be competitive. If Democrats were smart, they wouldn’t invest a dime in this race. There is no pathway for any Democrat, much less one who once bragged about taking people’s AR15s, to win statewide in Texas in 2022. No amount of dropping f-bombs on camera and skateboarding into low-attended rallies will change that.

O'Rourke says he won't back away from mandatory assault weapons buyback in gov race. "I think most Texans can agree…that we should not see our friends, our family…our neighbors, shot up w/ weapons that were originally designed for use on a battlefield" https://t.co/x6Wc59WCGN

— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) November 15, 2021

Beto, like many politicians of years past, is a mirage — a man with no foundation that crumbles when the lights come on. While the press treats him as some kind of transformational, galvanizing figure, he is nothing more than a standard-rate, leftwing Democrat with bad ideas and a penchant for shooting himself in the foot. Does anyone really believe Texas is going to elect an anti-gun, big-government liberal in a year where Republicans are already poised to take back both chambers of Congress? The headwinds are just too strong, and I can predict a Beto loss without even a hint of apprehension.

Think about how many people could be helped with all the money California and New York liberals are about to send to this guy? What an absolute waste of resources. But for Republicans, the more money burned in unwinnable races by Democrats, the better.