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E.J. Dionne: The reality and the limits of Beto-mania

State College, Pa. • Whatever anyone says about Beto O’Rourke in the coming months, no one will ever accuse him of lacking enthusiasm.

Here's how the always-energetic, always-sunny presidential candidate in shirtsleeves and a ball cap began his speech to a packed hall at the Penn State student union on Tuesday:

"It's so great to come in late at night in absolute darkness," he said of his arrival in this bucolic central Pennsylvania college town, "not be able to see where I was or the beauty that surrounded me, and wake up to one of the most glorious days I've ever had on this planet in my 46 years of existence.