Beto O'Rourke jumped into the 2020 presidential race early Thursday morning – which means voters nationwide will start to get to know where the young Texas Democrat stands on the issues.

Though O'Rourke, 46, narrowly lost the remarkable race he ran in 2018 against Sen. Ted Cruz, it was a huge win for Democrats and progressives looking for a successor to President Barack Obama: a charismatic, affable candidate able to excite young voters and grassroots activists.

"This is a defining moment of truth for this country, and for every single one of us. The challenges that we face right now; the interconnected crises in our economy, our democracy, and our climate have never been greater," he said in his 2020 announcement. "And they will either consume us, or they will afford us the greatest opportunity to unleash the genius of the United States of America."

In a 2020 Democratic primary field that's currently awash in candidates each looking for a way to claim the mantle of "most progressive," it's unclear precisely where O'Rourke would fall. But it surely wouldn't be on the far left.

Despite his status as the darling of grassroots liberal activists and college kids, in reality, most of O'Rourke's policy positions look a lot like Obama's, which puts them and potentially him, to the right of big portions of a Democratic primary electorate that has been lurching left in the past two years.