Maybe it’s not going so well for Robert “Beto” O’Rourke after all.

The Democratic hopeful in Texas trying to unseat Republican Senator Ted Cruz bragged up and down throughout his campaign that he wasn’t going to us consultants or focus groups, bragging that his campaign was going to succeed through “the power of the people,” according to a February article in the Dallas Morning News.

It would appear that whatever people were showing up to support O’Rourke wasn’t powerful enough, as his campaign dropped their non-consultant approach and spent $18 million on a consulting firm according to Fox News:

Texas Senate hopeful Beto O’Rourke spent nearly $18 million on a Democratic Party-affiliated consultancy company despite saying he would not hire any consultants who would “sharpen” his campaign message.

The Democrat, who’s challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in a high-stakes election, promised in the early stages of the race that he won’t be using campaign consultants to ensure he stays authentic to potential voters.

But recent FEC records show that O’Rourke’s campaign spent nearly $18 million on Screen Strategies Media in the last quarter.

So much for being a genuine non-politician politician.

O’Rourke reportedly hired on consulting groups only a month after the Dallas Morning News article dropped, making his grassroots claims seem a little shaky even while he was giving information to DMN.

O’Rourke has the money to burn, having raised north of $70 million. Despite having such an overabundance of cash in his war chest, O’Rourke can’t seem to overcome Cruz in the polls. The incumbent Republican leads O’Rourke by four to six points depending what poll you look at, making O’Rourke look like a second Jon Ossoff and revisit of the Wendy Davis episode.

With the success of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, the oncoming migrant caravan that O’Rourke is noticeably quiet about, and the fact that Cruz is just outdoing O’Rourke in everything from debates to scoring cool points, it would seem that all the millions of dollar’s worth of King’s horses and men can’t put O’Rourke’s campaign back together again.

However, as I’ve said before, I wouldn’t put too much trust in polls. If Texas wants to be sure it keeps Cruz, then Republicans should be taking the “nuke it from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure” approach to voting, and making the victory as complete and thorough as possible.