President Pete

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

He has no real support. His entire career (post campaign launch) has been artificially created by beltway pundits and the media. Whom think he deserves to be a presidential contender for no other reason because he’s a vet, gay and a Rhodes scholar. No one in the country cares about these things

Why do so many of your takes feel tinged with homophobia.

[Motorcity]

He has no real support. His entire career (post campaign launch) has been artificially created by beltway pundits and the media. Whom think he deserves to be a presidential contender for no other reason because he’s a vet, gay and a Rhodes scholar. No one in the country cares about these things

Why do so many of your takes feel tinged with homophobia.

There is nothing homophobic about my statement

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

He has no real support. His entire career (post campaign launch) has been artificially created by beltway pundits and the media. Whom think he deserves to be a presidential contender for no other reason because he’s a vet, gay and a Rhodes scholar. No one in the country cares about these things

Why do so many of your takes feel tinged with homophobia.

There is nothing homophobic about my statement

Yeah, there have been some homophobic anti-Pete takes on both the left and the right, but this pretty clearly isn’t one of them.  That said, the more common prejudicial attacks are the low key racist ones like “Mayo Pete” which are often said in a context that strongly implies that Buttigieg’s skin color should be held against him in the voting booth.  

Anyway, Pete’s never gonna be President and I hope he’s smart enough to realize that.  I do think Buttigieg has a bright future ahead of him if remains in public service and could easily turn up in future Democratic administrations (although this is probably gonna be his only cabinet post, as opposed to cabinet-level or agency head positions), but that’s about it and only if he has the wisdom to recognize this, park his ego, and act accordingly going forward.  He’s clearly a brilliant guy with a masterful grasp of most major policy issues (and I say this as someone who doesn’t always agree with him, especially on criminal justice issues).  

Ultimately, Buttigieg is a highly competent policy wonk with a great deal of charisma and a real constituency within the Democratic Party.  Like it or not, well-educated suburbanites are an important part of the Democratic coalition and will be more so as time goes on.  Just like Berniecrats, this group needs to be treated with respect and given its seat at the table.  

Buttigieg is very popular with such voters and there’s really no reason the country couldn’t benefit from having someone like him in executive branch positions which play to his strengths.  That said, I think it is more likely that his ego gets the better of him and he runs for President again only to do much worse due to greater awareness of his weaknesses (ex: unpopularity with AA voters, lack of foreign policy experience, his less than ideal track record on police reform, etc).

[ultraviolet]

I have no idea why Atlas hates this guy. He is the most well-spoken and most quick-witted politician I think I have ever seen. The guy is a natural. Perhaps he strikes some people as "too natural" and therefore a cynical politician or whatever. But the guy is absolutely brilliant. I swear, if any republican possessed half his skill, said republican would be damn near unbeatable. Thankfully, none do.

I don't doubt that he would be a pretty excellent president, but he should probably wait a decade or two. Obama showed us that having little experience with Washington politics is actually pretty bad in this political climate.

Atlas doesn’t like him because he’s young and not a progressive. But yeah, he is great, though I preferred Biden over him in the primary because of experience.

[TheTide]

I have no idea why Atlas hates this guy. He is the most well-spoken and most quick-witted politician I think I have ever seen. The guy is a natural. Perhaps he strikes some people as "too natural" and therefore a cynical politician or whatever. But the guy is absolutely brilliant. I swear, if any republican possessed half his skill, said republican would be damn near unbeatable. Thankfully, none do.

I don't doubt that he would be a pretty excellent president, but he should probably wait a decade or two. Obama showed us that having little experience with Washington politics is actually pretty bad in this political climate.

Well, quite. I prefer people who get in the spotlight because they offer rational and practical solutions, not because they are "well-spoken" and "quick-witted".

This criticism could have been made of other 2020 Democratic candidates, but in just about all cases they at least held important statewide, megacity or federal positions at some point.

Maybe he'll be the greatest Transportation Secretary and I'll henceforth have no reason to criticise him in a future presidential campaign, at least not in a "where the f*** did this person come from and who are they and why do some people rate them?" kind of way.

[QAnonKelly]

If there's one thing Rs and Ds can agree on, it's not liking empty suits. He's young enough that he'll have a long career in Democratic politics but he's never going to be president.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

If there's one thing Rs and Ds can agree on, it's not liking empty suits. He's young enough that he'll have a long career in Democratic politics but he's never going to be president.

1) Buttigieg may be many things, but an empty suit pretty clearly isn’t one of them even if you wish it was. 

2) There’s actually a pretty long history of both parties elevating various empty suits (Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Mike Pence, Sarah Palin, Donald Trump Marjorie Taylor Greene, AOC, John Edwards, Beto O’Rourke, Amy McGrath, Jamie Harrison, and arguably even Kamala Harris to name just a few) to positions of significance or donate absurd amounts of money to their campaigns.

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

He has no real support. His entire career (post campaign launch) has been artificially created by beltway pundits and the media. Whom think he deserves to be a presidential contender for no other reason because he’s a vet, gay and a Rhodes scholar. No one in the country cares about these things

I'm shocked Congrats, Griffin! didn't delete this.

Acknowledging that Pete support is shallow projection seems to be his bat signal

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

If Ds don't win big in Midterms, which is now becoming a possibility, there is gonna be buyers remorse on Joe Biden and what I mean big is a Supermajority Senate that will get Crt packing done.

Boehner not Trump is becoming the defacto leader of the R party he sees an opening in the House that D's can in fact lose it, like in 2010/ let the buyers beware of Buyers remorse

Infrastructure spending , and 19 M jobs, the same speed rail that Obama proposed and shelved in 2014/ in IL

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

If there's one thing Rs and Ds can agree on, it's not liking empty suits. He's young enough that he'll have a long career in Democratic politics but he's never going to be president.

1) Buttigieg may be many things, but an empty suit pretty clearly isn’t one of them even if you wish it was. 

He literally campaigned against having policy positions and railed against experience (or at the very least equated a job with McKinsey and being mayor of a college town with being a governor/senator/agency head).

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

If there's one thing Rs and Ds can agree on, it's not liking empty suits. He's young enough that he'll have a long career in Democratic politics but he's never going to be president.

1) Buttigieg may be many things, but an empty suit pretty clearly isn’t one of them even if you wish it was.  

He literally campaigned against having policy positions and railed against experience (or at the very least equated a job with McKinsey and being mayor of a college town with being a governor/senator/agency head).

I mean, not really, but keep telling yourself that

He has no real support. His entire career (post campaign launch) has been artificially created by beltway pundits and the media. Whom think he deserves to be a presidential contender for no other reason because he’s a vet, gay and a Rhodes scholar. No one in the country cares about these things

I'm shocked Congrats, Griffin! didn't delete this.

Acknowledging that Pete support is shallow projection seems to be his bat signal

I don’t infract posts I disagree with; I infract posts that violate the TOS.  There’s nothing in the TOS that bans posters from being wrong or making ridiculous assertions - provided they’re not trolling or using excessive hyperbole to the point that it doesn’t pass the reasonable person test - so there’s no reason to infract your or motorcity’s posts.  If you guys want to pretend that Buttigieg’s support is largely just “shallow projection” b/c you have some weird obsession with the man, that’s your business.  I only ask that you don’t violate the TOS when expressing your Pete derangement syndrome.  

Incidentally, I think I’ve literally only ever infracted like two posts that mentioned Buttigieg not counting Grassroots’ (I think it was him) blatantly homophobic posts about him.  

[Oregon Eagle Politics]

I have no idea why Atlas hates this guy. He is the most well-spoken and most quick-witted politician I think I have ever seen. The guy is a natural. Perhaps he strikes some people as "too natural" and therefore a cynical politician or whatever. But the guy is absolutely brilliant. I swear, if any republican possessed half his skill, said republican would be damn near unbeatable. Thankfully, none do.

I don't doubt that he would be a pretty excellent president, but he should probably wait a decade or two. Obama showed us that having little experience with Washington politics is actually pretty bad in this political climate.

He feels artificial, unlike Biden, Trump, or even Bernie.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Unfortunately, for Biden, there is Buyers remorse setting in as I previously said the Generic ballot has gone from D 8 to D 4, and that 4 mark is well within range for an R takeover of the H, Rs may in fact take the lead next yr on Generic ballot, since the 2021 Elections in Cali, VA and NJ are base Elections anyways

When Biden refused to give Harris the go ahead to not overturn the Parliamentary maneuver on Minimum wage that created the perfect storm for Manchin and Sinema to no reform the Filibuster

Clyburn and Obama endorsed Biden, but I Warren, Booker or Bernie would have fought harder and not give the Rs the issue on voting down minimium wage

Maggie Hassan may lose, she has been losing in every poll since she voted down minimium wage


The Rs aren't gonna sign onto amnesty for illegals since the border crisis is out of control

[Brittain33]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=safLwed9SSo

I will always find it fascinating that Pete actually has very little support in the LGBTQ community; including myself. 'Mayo Pete' may not be far off, minorities just don't identify with him.

I think "very little" is too far. I and a lot of my middle-aged gay friends liked him, but I recognize that he's not a sympathetic figure to many women or younger LGBTQ. A guy in the top .1% of the meritocracy is going to inspire coldness, dislike, and outright resentment from a majority of Americans. Women see him as an underexperienced white man first, gay second.

[Calthrina950]

I have no idea why Atlas hates this guy. He is the most well-spoken and most quick-witted politician I think I have ever seen. The guy is a natural. Perhaps he strikes some people as "too natural" and therefore a cynical politician or whatever. But the guy is absolutely brilliant. I swear, if any republican possessed half his skill, said republican would be damn near unbeatable. Thankfully, none do.

I don't doubt that he would be a pretty excellent president, but he should probably wait a decade or two. Obama showed us that having little experience with Washington politics is actually pretty bad in this political climate.

Just because someone is a "smooth talker" or "well spoken" doesn't mean that they are a competent politician. Buttigieg, I'll admit, does have an ability to shift his political stances when convenient for him-as evidenced during the primary, when he switched from running as a progressive to a "moderate" catering to the more wine-track or upper-crust elements within the Democratic base. But his record as Mayor of South Bend, particularly on criminal justice issues (as has been noted on here before) speaks for itself. It remains clear to me that Buttigieg won his position as Transportation Secretary only because of dropping out ahead of Super Tuesday and endorsing Biden. It was a political reward.

[Brittain33]

It remains clear to me that Buttigieg won his position as Transportation Secretary only because of dropping out ahead of Super Tuesday and endorsing Biden. It was a political reward.

1. "Only" implies that his endorsement happened without any context. The context is that he won the Iowa caucus and did well in NH, had impressed Obamaworld with his skills, and made history as the first LGBTQ candidate to seriously contest a nomination, let alone win a statewide caucus. His dropping out did meaningfully boost Biden against Sanders even if he was never going to win. Besides, his skill set which people brush off here is perfect for a Cabinet Secretary whose job is to lead and inspire an organization and get media attention, not to get out there and pave roads.

2. Any time a Cabinet officer is someone you've heard of instead of an Anthony Blinken or whoever is head of the VA, there's an element of political reward. That's how politics works.

It's depressing to me as a gay man that people look to reasons to write off or dismiss Pete's Cabinet position as if it weren't breaking a glass ceiling many people weren't interested in acknowledging in the first place.

Pete doesn't have a record as a Senator or Governor because as a gay man, he was was disqualified from those roles until very, very recently - we have Jared Polis but no senator yet. It's infuriating when people knock him for lack of experience without acknowledging that he was excluded from gaining experience and has been trying to move ahead any way he can in the limited paths open to him.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

There wasn't any nomination just like it was a coronation with Hilary and Biden buyers remorse is setting in because he alone said he was gonna cure Covid like he said with Obama cure Cancer and he was wrong about the keeping the Filibuster and not letting Harris overturn the Parliamentary on Minimum wage. Which set the stage up for both Sinema and Manchin to block D's efforts on Minimum wage and Hassan has been trailing in every poll since she voted against minimium wage

Progressives want to win and D's want a Supermajority Senate and maybe stuck with an RH and a tied Senate next yr not the Supermajorities to Crt pack

There is alot to do at border and with Covid relief as people not on Unemployment benefits see that monies is drained after a mnth of Stimulus checks and Unemployment checks are paying 300 more than everyone else.

We aren't at where we are last yr, it will be hard pressed to pass 300 again in the Fall when it gets renewed

[Calthrina950]

It remains clear to me that Buttigieg won his position as Transportation Secretary only because of dropping out ahead of Super Tuesday and endorsing Biden. It was a political reward.

1. "Only" implies that his endorsement happened without any context. The context is that he won the Iowa caucus and did well in NH, had impressed Obamaworld with his skills, and made history as the first LGBTQ candidate to seriously contest a nomination, let alone win a statewide caucus. His dropping out did meaningfully boost Biden against Sanders even if he was never going to win. Besides, his skill set which people brush off here is perfect for a Cabinet Secretary whose job is to lead and inspire an organization and get media attention, not to get out there and pave roads.

2. Any time a Cabinet officer is someone you've heard of instead of an Anthony Blinken or whoever is head of the VA, there's an element of political reward. That's how politics works.

It's depressing to me as a gay man that people look to reasons to write off or dismiss Pete's Cabinet position as if it weren't breaking a glass ceiling many people weren't interested in acknowledging in the first place.

Pete doesn't have a record as a Senator or Governor because as a gay man, he was was disqualified from those roles until very, very recently - we have Jared Polis but no senator yet. It's infuriating when people knock him for lack of experience without acknowledging that he was excluded from gaining experience and has been trying to move ahead any way he can in the limited paths open to him.

If you're trying to imply that my criticisms of Buttigieg are fueled by homophobia or anything akin to that, you would be wrong. One of the primary reasons why he ultimately flagged at obtaining the nomination was his lack of appeal to minority voters-especially black voters, who were harshly critical of how he handled law enforcement and relations with the black community during his time as Mayor of South Bend. As a black person, that's the main factor in my opposition to him.

Moreover, the opportunism which he displayed in shifting his positions during the primary upset many in the Democratic Party's coalition. This is to put aside electability concerns, which have been discussed about on here before. Biden, considered to be the most "electable" Democratic candidate, only won by a narrow margin in the Electoral College, and that would not have boded well for the prospects of not only Buttigieg, but also Klobuchar, Warren, Sanders, Bloomberg, etc.

And yes, I'm certainly aware that Administrations are staffed with political allies and supporters, but what was done here was a blatant example of such a maneuver. He was certainly not the most qualified individual who could have been chosen to fill this position, and I'm not a fan of such deals in general.

[Brittain33]

If you're trying to imply that my criticisms of Buttigieg are fueled by homophobia or anything akin to that, you would be wrong.

That's not what I'm saying. I didn't see anything personally homophobic in your response. I've also said elsewhere why I see that Buttigieg was not appealing to a broad enough constituency in the Democratic primary for reasons not necessarily due to his being gay.

What I did see in your post was a lack of awareness or acknowledgment of the homophobia Buttigieg had to overcome to get to where he did, how it still constrains his career options today, and why that makes his success more notable than you described.

[Calthrina950]

If you're trying to imply that my criticisms of Buttigieg are fueled by homophobia or anything akin to that, you would be wrong.

That's not what I'm saying. I didn't see anything personally homophobic in your response. What I did see was a lack of awareness of the homophobia Buttigieg had to overcome to get to where he did, how it still constrains his career options today, and why that makes his success more notable than you described.

I'm not denying that Buttigieg has certainly been hampered by homophobia. I myself have talked before about the obstacles which have confronted other politicians (i.e. the "coded" racism utilized against Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign and by the Tea Party movement afterwards). But that doesn't completely excuse Buttigieg from the policies he pursued as Mayor of South Bend, and it doesn't fully explain away why his prospects at advancement in Indiana are poor. Simply put, that state is now Safe R, and will be a tough climb for any Democrat to win an office there in the near future.

[Brittain33]

If you're trying to imply that my criticisms of Buttigieg are fueled by homophobia or anything akin to that, you would be wrong.

That's not what I'm saying. I didn't see anything personally homophobic in your response. What I did see was a lack of awareness of the homophobia Buttigieg had to overcome to get to where he did, how it still constrains his career options today, and why that makes his success more notable than you described.

I'm not denying that Buttigieg has certainly been hampered by homophobia. I myself have talked before about the obstacles which have confronted other politicians (i.e. the "coded" racism utilized against Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign and by the Tea Party movement afterwards). But that doesn't completely excuse Buttigieg from the policies he pursued as Mayor of South Bend, and it doesn't fully explain away why his prospects at advancement in Indiana are poor. Simply put, that state is now Safe R, and will be a tough climb for any Democrat to win an office there in the near future.

You seem to think he doesn't belong in the Cabinet.

[Calthrina950]

If you're trying to imply that my criticisms of Buttigieg are fueled by homophobia or anything akin to that, you would be wrong.

That's not what I'm saying. I didn't see anything personally homophobic in your response. What I did see was a lack of awareness of the homophobia Buttigieg had to overcome to get to where he did, how it still constrains his career options today, and why that makes his success more notable than you described.

I'm not denying that Buttigieg has certainly been hampered by homophobia. I myself have talked before about the obstacles which have confronted other politicians (i.e. the "coded" racism utilized against Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign and by the Tea Party movement afterwards). But that doesn't completely excuse Buttigieg from the policies he pursued as Mayor of South Bend, and it doesn't fully explain away why his prospects at advancement in Indiana are poor. Simply put, that state is now Safe R, and will be a tough climb for any Democrat to win an office there in the near future.

You seem to think he doesn't belong in the Cabinet.

If you mean that he doesn't "belong" in the Cabinet in the sense that I think you mean, you'd be wrong. I don't think Biden should have nominated him, but it has been done.

[_.]

Unrelated but this is my favorite Mayor Pete platitude generator

Here are some of the really good ones I've gotten:

"As a consultant at McKinsey, I learned the strength of God and the ability to ensnare that information into billionaire"

"Quick reminder: African American voters is a tax. On Americans."

"I think that folks matters. I'm a folks guy."

"We cannot dismantle black voters with neutral policies. Only Trans rights policies can do that."

"Our voter suppression would represent the biggest struggles in LGBT rights since the invention of African American voters. But it's also an idea that can protect the American people."

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

If you're trying to imply that my criticisms of Buttigieg are fueled by homophobia or anything akin to that, you would be wrong.

That's not what I'm saying. I didn't see anything personally homophobic in your response. What I did see was a lack of awareness of the homophobia Buttigieg had to overcome to get to where he did, how it still constrains his career options today, and why that makes his success more notable than you described.

I'm not denying that Buttigieg has certainly been hampered by homophobia. I myself have talked before about the obstacles which have confronted other politicians (i.e. the "coded" racism utilized against Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign and by the Tea Party movement afterwards). But that doesn't completely excuse Buttigieg from the policies he pursued as Mayor of South Bend, and it doesn't fully explain away why his prospects at advancement in Indiana are poor. Simply put, that state is now Safe R, and will be a tough climb for any Democrat to win an office there in the near future.

You seem to think he doesn't belong in the Cabinet.

If you mean that he doesn't "belong" in the Cabinet in the sense that I think you mean, you'd be wrong. I don't think Biden should have nominated him, but it has been done.

The think the fact that he even Republican Senators from states like MS and NE came away from his confirmation hearing praising his policy knowledge with respect to the issues pertinent to the Department of Transportation and that Jon Tester described his performance in his confirmation as “a clinic on how a nominee should work and act” suggests that Buttigieg’s competence and grasp of the issues concerning his department is more than a little bit better than some on Atlas seem to be giving him credit for.  

Relatedly, while there are plenty of reasonable criticisms one can make of Buttigieg - especially, as you’ve pointed out already, in the area of criminal justice reform - and I get that a number of Berniecrats really don’t like him*, I don’t usually see folks on Atlas making good-faith, reality-based criticisms when they attack Buttigieg.  

To be clear, I’m not really referring to you with the previous paragraph.  I’m talking about the folks who generally default to pushing one of a few patently inaccurate talking points as though they’re trying to will their own caricature of him into reality (it’s actually a lot like how McArthur sometimes seems more interested in complaining about the fringe left than offering criticisms that apply to the average Berniecrat).  

Specifically, you often see folks on Atlas attack Buttigieg as either...

1) Some sort of empty suit with no better grasp of the issues than your average random some dude-tier small town Mayor;

2) A textbook case of a mediocre white man who glided through life without ever being forced to work hard or experiencing any meaningful disadvantages or discrimination.  Honestly, there are times when these attacks seem to stop just short of calling Buttigieg a fake minority;**

3) Folks trotting out the “Mayo Pete” line as a way of arguing that Buttigieg is too white to be President and/or that his skin color should be held against him in the voting booth.

4) A talentless media creation with no message or genuine appeal to voters whose supporters are largely shallow, unintelligent limousine liberals who only support Buttigieg b/c he’s a young, clean cut, gay man.  

I honestly don’t know how a reasonable person who watched the primary debates with an open mind could believe #1.  I think #2 ignores - as others have noted - the considerable disadvantages Buttigieg has presumably faced in life due to his sexual orientation and the fact that AFAIK there’s little reason to think he didn’t work his *** off to get to where he is now.  It sometimes comes off as though folks are a bit resentful of someone else achieving greater success in the meritocracy tbh.  #3 is just all kinds of racist and really no different than if Hillary’s AA supporters had regularly described Obama as “Oreobama” during the 2008 primaries.  #4 reflects a failure of empathy and unwillingness to seriously consider how an intelligent, well-intentioned person could have different opinions and why they might reach a different conclusion.  

*Interestingly, more than a few Berniecrat seemed to exhibit similar hostility toward Jon Osoff: another young, Democratic rising star who was not an AOC-type.

**It’s a bit like how you sometimes see lighter-skinned AA candidates viewed with suspicion in primaries regarding whether they’re “black enough” or how some on the left try to gatekeep who are “real minorities.”  You especially see this with some BLM activists implying that Jewish-Americans are a fake minority, in certain biphobic gay and lesbian circles in which bisexuals are treated like heterosexuals LARPing at being minorities, and TERF attitudes toward transgender individuals.

[Alcibiades]

The other thing about ‘Mayo Pete’ I found really odd was that the preferred candidate of most who used the term, Bernie Sanders, is also known for his struggles with gaining African-American support. Like, surely they would have wanted to avoid bringing up what was also one of their guy’s biggest weaknesses?