Beto O’Rourke went to Iowa to start running for president. I know you have a lot of important questions.

The most critical, of course, is how he pronounces his name. So, BET-oh. We’ve heard a lot of Bay-tos out there, but do it his way. Also, one more time: Comma-lah Harris and Pete Boot-edge-edge.

O’Rourke is different from the dozen or so people who announced before him mainly in the way he’s been treated like a Second Coming. The nation waited while he wandered around the countryside, waiting to hear a special call. When it came and he made the inevitable announcement, he got a cover profile in Vanity Fair, in which he confided, “I’m just born to do this.” Oprah has done everything but turn over her fortune to him.

Do you think he’s special? O’Rourke’s face, when he’s at rest and not acting kind of goofy, does look a little like Bobby Kennedy. Sure, you can say Bobby Kennedy would never have sent out a video of himself getting his teeth cleaned. But how do you really know? Bobby Kennedy never had Instagram.

On Thursday O’Rourke sent out another video — the big one, where he’s sitting with his wife, and announcing: “Amy and I are happy to share with you that I’m running to serve you as the next president of the United States of America.”

People noted that Amy didn’t say anything — just sat there smiling and, as Astead Herndon noted in The Times, “periodically grasping his hand.”

This last part is possibly not as strange as it sounds, since O’Rourke does have a tendency to throw his arms around when he talks. You didn’t want to see the poor woman get knocked off the couch.

Then it was off to Keokuk, Iowa, to introduce himself to the First State to Vote. He told everybody that Amy was staying home with the kids. They have three — Ulysses, 12, Molly, 10 and Henry, 8. Ulysses got his name because his dad really loves the “Odyssey.”

So, although we still have a ton to learn about O’Rourke, including his specific plans for health care and tackling global warming, we already know that he has a son named after the hero of an epic poem by Homer.

“I want to show up everywhere for everyone,” he told the Iowans. When O’Rourke ran for the Senate in Texas he made news by visiting all 254 counties, often just driving himself. There are 99 counties in Iowa, and some ambitious candidates have been known to hit every single one. Let’s see how it goes. Just warning him that there are 3,142 counties in the United States and expectations may rise.

Why do you think he’s getting so much attention? Certainly none of the announced women candidates are creating this much stir. Elizabeth Warren has been shoving out policy positions. Kamala Harris has been campaigning like crazy. Warren, Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar are all acting senators. O’Rourke is a former member of the House of Representatives who lost a race to Ted Cruz, one of the least appealing human beings on the face of the earth.

But there’s just something about Beto that makes him stand apart. Hate to think it’s being a cute white guy who can skateboard.

O’Rourke’s visit to Keokuk was his first time ever in the state, where candidates are expected to show up at lots and lots of town halls to talk with the voters, many of whom have been in this business way, way longer than any of the politicians they’re vetting.

First came a woman who wanted to know what he’d do about the high cost of prescription drugs.

“So, really great question,” O’Rourke responded. The rest of the answer was basically that we needed “guaranteed high quality health care” for everyone. And that however that worked out it would be super-expensive, but still worth it.

Another voter wanted to know why teachers “have to take money out of their own pockets to buy supplies.” This is an issue that always comes up a lot, in part because there are no more diligent voters than teachers, and you hardly ever see a town hall meeting that doesn’t have a lot of them in the audience. They keep participating, but they’re still buying the supplies with their own money.

“Yes, it’s a great question,” said O’Rourke. He called for better wages for everybody who worked at schools, and an effort to “hold one another accountable.”

Well, you know it’s early.

We still have so much to learn — when people run for president a lot of interesting factoids pop up and we’re excited to hear more about O’Rourke’s teenage years online with the Cult of the Dead Cow. On a more elevated policy level, so far we know that he’s running as a centrist who is filled with passion to end climate change and make Americans’ lives better. Details still to come.

But Iowans won’t kick off the primary season for 46 weeks. By then, O’Rourke could easily issue explicit position papers on everything from health care to tax reform to seafood importation.

Or, you know, he could drive to every county.

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Gail Collins is an Op-Ed columnist and a former member of the editorial board, and was the first woman to serve as the Times editorial page editor, from 2001 to 2007. @GailCollins • Facebook

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