Political awareness and curiosity have seemed to peak over the past two years with Donald Trump in the White House. Issues that laid dormant in the back of our minds have sprung to life as crises have recently hit too close to home. As fragile as our country seems right now, it has also given way to more informed Americans and more ardent leaders. One leader, in particular, has captured the hearts and minds of a generation, and his name is Beto O’Rourke.

Young. Divergent. Passionate. O’Rourke encapsulates a fresh start for a young generation already weighed down by the mistakes of past ones. Not only did he spend the majority of his Senate race campaigning in all 254 Texas counties, but he allowed himself to be accessible through social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Before he was known as an aspiring politician, he was a bilingual punk rock band member who started his own tech company after college. In the years after, he developed friendships on both sides of the aisle and even made a cross-country road trip with Republican Will Hurd.

Today’s new political frame seems to transcend an era where “not being politically correct” is a favored tagline for campaigning. O’Rourke is able to say things he isn’t supposed to say and do things that most don’t do, while still maintaining sincere empathy, consideration, and respect for those who don’t fit into a certain mold. It’s an easy line to walk and a refreshing one. When it was revealed that he was involved in a drunk driving accident in 1998, he took accountability and showed genuine growth from his mistakes, both virtues that a strong leader should have.

So, while it’s easy to talk about O’Rourke’s charisma and intriguing characteristics, we need to dig further and look at the policies that he’s presented to us in order to get a clearer look at his presidential potential. His website displays goals that he outlined for his Senate race in the state of Texas; however, the ideas behind the goals are applicable on a national level. I picked the top five most pertinent domestic issues to break down, all of which are discussed below.

Economy

President Trump has made many promises to Americans, including a booming economy with an increase of economic growth to 4 percent, better stock markets, and a return to American businesses. However, while Donald’s GDP growth rate projection would cause a massive economic boom it would eventually result in a damaging downfall due to the unnatural pace.

Stock markets have definitely risen since the recession a decade ago, but they have also been unstable due to Trump’s suggestions of trade wars. Also, how many middle-class to lower-class Americans are even interested in the stock market? For most, having the financial freedom to not live paycheck-to-paycheck is more important that investing in stocks.

Likewise, Trump’s push of American manufactured products seems to wax golden-age nostalgia rather than give back to the American people. For O’Rourke, however, small businesses are just as important as the big ones, as well as natural economic growth, and a focus on the issues that are our future rather than our past. To ensure that everyone has a fair stake, he wants to focus on policies that encourage companies to return investments back to their consumer, their employees, and to the community.

This includes helping small businesses enter the bigger economic picture so they can have equal opportunities and creating an economic cycle that promotes small business growth and returns the money back to the people, not larger corporations. Putting emphasis on current jobs that will preserve our future jobs, i.e. agriculture, environmental careers, etc., are the cherry on top of O’Rourke’s economic policies.

Gun Safety

If you keep up with FOX News, you might see right-wing pundits constantly talking about how the Democrats want to abolish the 2nd Amendment and take away all guns. What?! O’Rourke, a Texas native, grew up in an environment where he was taught how to shoot and carry a gun at a young age. Also, like most gun owners, he was taught the value of gun safety. It is extremely arbitrary to think that Democrats want to take away something that protects us. Instead, it is about establishing better safety checks so gun violence is less prevalent, especially due to the slaughtering of Americans by said guns.

This means mandatory and thorough background checks. If you can’t pass a background check, why should you be carrying a weapon? Discontinuing the sale of military-grade weapons is a top priority, along with opposing Concealed Carry Reciprocity, which disregards individual state guidelines for gun safety requirements. Finally, and most importantly, O’Rourke supports further federal research on gun violence so we can create better initiatives to stop unnecessary killing.

Jobs

We live in a country where basic necessities such as food, shelter, and water are unattainable unless we hold a job. And in 2018, it seems harder than ever to do so. That said, O’Rourke not only understands that many Americans are unemployed but the majority of those people have fewer opportunities to enter a field that can sustain their needs.

For O’Rourke, that means that we need to invest deeper into training, certification, and registered apprenticeship programs since not all Americans can carry the financial burden of a college degree. We also need to use more federal funding on infrastructure, which will increase jobs for Americans, heighten economic growth, and return the money back to the people.

Finally, protecting the Earned Income Tax Credit, which lowers taxes for hardworking Americans who don’t have a substantial income, and promoting the Family and Medical Leave Act, which de-stigmatizes sick days and instead encourages prioritizing your health without consequences, are essential for financial security for Americans.

Healthcare

Remember how I keep saying that O’Rourke’s policies are cyclical (but in the best way possible)? Say hello to healthcare. A couple of months ago, I was dealing with medical issues that required me to go to urgent care. I left with a bottle of medication and a $300 bill that I’m still working to pay off. If I hadn’t gone, I could be in way worse condition, but I was still deeply conflicted about going because I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford the cost.

If you can agree with O’Rourke about one thing only, let it be this: affordable healthcare. O’Rourke plans to transform how we receive this basic human right by striving towards universal healthcare coverage through many routes, which include a public option on the exchanges, incentivizing insurers to participate in the exchanges, and improving the Affordable Care Act.  Protecting and expanding Medicaid along with taking America’s purchasing power and using it to lower the cost of premiums and prescription drugs demonstrates O’Rourke’s strong value of American lives.

Immigration

One last issue that is often contrived and remolded to fit a harsh narrative is that of immigration. Fear-mongering by our own President has convinced Americans that immigrants coming from the south are diseased, violent, and barbaric people. Somewhere down the line, our own leader has forgotten that immigrants are the ones who created the ethos of the “American Dream.” What made America so great was the values that O’Rourke continues to infuse in his own immigration policies, such as making sure that those who are seeking asylum or immigration are given equal and fair opportunity to have their claims evaluated and to be afforded due process.

He also wants to work to improve our broken immigration system by modernizing the visa system, passing the DREAM Act, and closing private immigration prisons. O’Rourke understands that our immigration system is broken, but that it can be fixed through systematic re-evaluation and acknowledgement of our country’s rich and diverse communities, rather than a $5 billion wall.

This article isn’t about changing your mind—it’s about expanding it. Taking five minutes a day to read a quick piece outlining policies is one step closer to being an informed voter, no matter who you are reading about. For me, I knew it was important to write about someone who has the potential to change the course of American history.

O’Rourke has shown us time and time again that it isn’t about the party you support, it’s about the American values you uphold. That doesn’t mean erasing the history and trauma that many Americans hold on to. It means accepting it, giving it a hard look, and reaching for something better. Don’t just let Beto O’Rourke’s charisma draw you in—let his policies, which create an American Dream that both Democrats and Republicans can agree on, inspire your thoughts on politics.