Pete Buttigieg 2020 campaign megathread

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

Buttigieg boom is all due to him actively reaching out to media and speaking to everyone who asked and they rewarded him with coverage. Harris & others should take cues and be more proactive with the media they've been kind of laying lay and it has hurt them.

I agree partially, but a solid portion of his ride is that when he gets coverage, it’s positive due to how authentic and knowledgeable he comes across on camera. Whereas Beto is just hitting the early states hard and ignoring national media interviews, Buttigieg is turning himself into a media darling. We’ll just have to wait till after the debates and into the fall to see who’s strategy wins out in convincing voters.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

I still don't understand the hype.

Honestly I don’t either. He’s not as policy oriented as Warren or as charismatic as Beto.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

I keep hearing how Pete is just another white male running for President and that's the only reason his candidacy took off but none of the other candidates are being interrupted with "one man, one woman" protesters so

None of the other candidates are gay...

He’s taking off because he’s a gay white male whose intellectualism appeals to the Washington press corps.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

I like Pete, but a solid portion of his support seems to be propped up by NowThis news clips on Twitter and YouTube.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

I like Pete, but a solid portion of his support seems to be propped up by NowThis news clips on Twitter and YouTube.

Says the O’Rourke supporter

Yeah, because O’Rourke definitely gets the same fawning media coverage is Buttigieg. I remember just the other day how Beto laughed at a heckler and got wall-to-wall praise for his handling of it.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

Also, it should be noted that Buttigieg is still relatively unknown to many black voters. The question is how many he can win over while increasing his name recognition among this group.

Not many. He doesn’t have the record, temperament, or charisma to attract black voters. He just comes across as cold and bland.

Younger black voters are for more radical change than he’s proposing (ironically he had a better shot with them with his original platform), so they’ll flock to Sanders and Warren.

Older black voters are for the incremental approach he’s supporting now, but they want someone they can trust and that they know. And for that reason, they’ll stick with Biden or (to a far lesser extent) Sanders.

Suffice to say, Buttigieg is all but locked out of the black vote barring a major implosion of Biden before Iowa. He’d need to win IA, Warren win NH, and have Biden drop out before SC to have a shot.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

Also, it should be noted that Buttigieg is still relatively unknown to many black voters. The question is how many he can win over while increasing his name recognition among this group.

Not many. He doesn’t have the record, temperament, or charisma to attract black voters. He just comes across as cold and bland.

Younger black voters are for more radical change than he’s proposing (ironically he had a better shot with them with his original platform), so they’ll flock to Sanders and Warren.

Older black voters are for the incremental approach he’s supporting now, but they want someone they can trust and that they know. And for that reason, they’ll stick with Biden or (to a far lesser extent) Sanders.

Suffice to say, Buttigieg is all but locked out of the black vote barring a major implosion of Biden before Iowa. He’d need to win IA, Warren win NH, and have Biden drop out before SC to have a shot.

How do you think older black voters would approach this primary in the admittedly unlikely event that Sanders and Buttigieg were the only two candidates in contention by Super Tuesday?

They’d probably go for Buttigieg due to him seeming to be the “safe” choice, and Sanders’ implicit criticisms of Obama probably wouldn’t help his case much either.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

He's rising in the IA and NH polls, and gaining attention in the news again. Will it be a everyone attack Buttigieg or will Warren/Sanders continue to be questioned?

Both will occur.

I agree. There’s too much drama^TM to be mined from pitting low-polling Moderate Heroes like Klobuchar against the lefty front-runners. But I wouldn’t be surprised if near the entire stage hits Pete on his flip-flopping and thin experience.

He really pissed a lot of them off with his comments on it being a Buttigieg-Warren race. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being the Romney 2008 analogue, who the rest of the field unanimously dislikes.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

He's rising in the IA and NH polls, and gaining attention in the news again. Will it be a everyone attack Buttigieg or will Warren/Sanders continue to be questioned?

Both will occur.

I agree. There’s too much drama^TM to be mined from pitting low-polling Moderate Heroes like Klobuchar against the lefty front-runners. But I wouldn’t be surprised if near the entire stage hits Pete on his flip-flopping and thin experience.

He really pissed a lot of them off with his comments on it being a Buttigieg-Warren race. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being the Romney 2008 analogue, who the rest of the field unanimously dislikes.

Complaining about Pete won’t make Beto any less of a flop.

Bringing up a candidate that I haven’t supported since June and isn’t even in the race anymore doesn’t make Pete any less of a poll-tested, Wall Street phony.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

He's rising in the IA and NH polls, and gaining attention in the news again. Will it be a everyone attack Buttigieg or will Warren/Sanders continue to be questioned?

Both will occur.

I agree. There’s too much drama^TM to be mined from pitting low-polling Moderate Heroes like Klobuchar against the lefty front-runners. But I wouldn’t be surprised if near the entire stage hits Pete on his flip-flopping and thin experience.

He really pissed a lot of them off with his comments on it being a Buttigieg-Warren race. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being the Romney 2008 analogue, who the rest of the field unanimously dislikes.

Complaining about Pete won’t make Beto any less of a flop.

Bringing up a candidate that I haven’t supported since June and isn’t even in the race anymore doesn’t make Pete any less of a poll-tested, Wall Street phony.

You initially supported Beto, so you can't complain about a candidate being "Wall Street."

And his constant missteps and near 180° turn from how he ran his senate campaign made me jump ship to a candidate I believe in that isn’t beholden to rich donors or the “social liberal, fiscal conservative” Morning Joe folks.

The point is, the Buttigieg that caught fire earlier this year was pretty great and in my top 3 candidates. The guy that went into and came out of the last debate isn’t someone I’ll support in the primary.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

I don’t think much hostility towards Pete in the black community, or from any democratic constituency, is because he’s gay. He just reeks of pandering and blandness. Black people don’t know him, so they don’t trust him, and won’t vote for him. And I’ve soured on him because he flip-flopped from being a lefty with bold ideas for Democracy reform, to the centrist who’s attacking Warren & Sanders for bold ideas on healthcare that HE SUPPORTED EARLIER IN THE RACE.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

I don’t think much hostility towards Pete in the black community, or from any democratic constituency, is because he’s gay. He just reeks of pandering and blandness. Black people don’t know him, so they don’t trust him, and won’t vote for him. And I’ve soured on him because he flip-flopped from being a lefty with bold ideas for Democracy reform, to the centrist who’s attacking Warren & Sanders for bold ideas on healthcare that HE SUPPORTED EARLIER IN THE RACE.

He only supported those ideas because he thought he had to in order to be elected.

And that’s a problem. When you take on positions and espouse policies just so you can win elections, you show that you don’t deserve to win said elections. Convictions matter. I don’t support Biden or Klobuchar, but I think they genuinely don’t believe M4A is a workable healthcare plan. Pete just listens to his consultants and political commentators and decides to do what’s politically expedient. That’s the kinda leadership we had in the ‘90s. That’s not the kinda leadership we need in 2020 and beyond.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

I don’t think much hostility towards Pete in the black community, or from any democratic constituency, is because he’s gay. He just reeks of pandering and blandness. Black people don’t know him, so they don’t trust him, and won’t vote for him. And I’ve soured on him because he flip-flopped from being a lefty with bold ideas for Democracy reform, to the centrist who’s attacking Warren & Sanders for bold ideas on healthcare that HE SUPPORTED EARLIER IN THE RACE.

He only supported those ideas because he thought he had to in order to be elected.

And that’s a problem. When you take on positions and espouse policies just so you can win elections, you show that you don’t deserve to win said elections. Convictions matter. I don’t support Biden or Klobuchar, but I think they genuinely don’t believe M4A is a workable healthcare plan. Pete just listens to his consultants and political commentators and decides to do what’s politically expedient. That’s the kinda leadership we had in the ‘90s. That’s not the kinda leadership we need in 2020 and beyond.

If you think any of these people really have convictions, I have a bridge in Alaska to sell you.  Its all about finding the political sellout who best suits you.  Sorry to burst any Burnie Bubbles around here.  Hes just as bad as the rest.  How do you think you become a US Senator?

Never been a big Bernie guy. I’m supporting Warren, and she’s been pretty consistent with her political convictions while also finding a way to navigate Washington politics and bureaucracy to get things done. My point is, I trust her and Biden to say what they believe more than Buttigieg.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

His defeat in 2010 doesn't count, because 2010 was an extreme GOP year and especially in IN, where Republicans gained the Senate seat in this election and had a swing of 9% in their favour in the combined US House vote, while Dems lost 13%. They also dominated all other statewide offices.

He ran statewide once and got crushed unlike Evan Bayh or Joe Donnelly.

You are also comparing apples with oranges: Bayh and Donnelly didn't run in 2010.

He’s getting a free pass from the media.
He lost by 25 points. Name me a democrat that is running for higher office that lost by 25 Pts??? Name me one Democrat
What about the lying ads and fake endorsements? You approve sending emails and if they don’t opt out it counts as an endorsement? Again not covered by the mainstream media.
What about editing and copying photos of black children with Pete again not real but photoshopped.

Well Biden got like 1% of the vote in the last election he was the primary candidate for back in 2008.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

He’s really trying too hard to be a moderate hero and has been using Republican talking points as of late. I’m coming around to Pete, but his campaign has got to chill on the radical centrist agenda.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

He has been using Republican talking points as of late. I’m coming around to Pete, but his campaign has got to chill on the radical centrist agenda.

You need some talking points that appeal to Rs and R-leaning Indys in the primaries and the GE to win.

Hillary alienated a lot of R-leaning Indys in the Rust Belt ... and lost.

Pete is working those people right now. He’s the candidate with the highest net favourability among Independents.

How else do you guys think Beshear won a Trump+30 state or McCready came close to winning in a solid Trump district ?

You cannot win in the 2020 US of A with far leftist Democratic purity.

You can’t rely on R voters at the expense of your own. Hillary’s strategy in 2016 was to reach out to them, and look what happened: she underperformed Obama in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, allowing Trump to win.

Those voters are unreliable. You don’t win elections by straddling the middle, you win by giving voters something they can believe in and someone they can vote for. Pete’s been listening too much to the Morning Joe crowd as of late, and it’s gonna hurt his campaign in the long run.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1201923657209196544

Just as I started coming around to him, he pulls this ****.

Yeah, I think I'm back off the Buttigieg train.

Pete has another stance that is popular with the majority of the American electorate. The horror!

It’d be different if these were convictions he truly held. But a lot of these centrist positions he’s taken as of late seem to be purely based on polling and political posturing. I don’t think anyone questions whether a Klobuchar would genuinely be opposed to non-citizens receiving subsidies, just like no one would question Sanders being for it.

Buttigieg came out of the gate as a lefty champion of generational and political change. And after listening to his consultants and panelists on CNN/MSNBC, he decided that his lane is that of “midwestern moderate”.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1201923657209196544

Just as I started coming around to him, he pulls this ****.

Yeah, I think I'm back off the Buttigieg train.

Pete has another stance that is popular with the majority of the American electorate. The horror!

It’d be different if these were convictions he truly held. But a lot of these centrist positions he’s taken as of late seem to be purely based on polling and political posturing. I don’t think anyone questions whether a Klobuchar would genuinely be opposed to non-citizens receiving subsidies, just like no one would question Sanders being for it.

Buttigieg came out of the gate as a lefty champion of generational and political change. And after listening to his consultants and panelists on CNN/MSNBC, he decided that his lane is that of “midwestern moderate”.

I keep seeing the Bernie Bros on Twitter insisting that Pete is an empty-suit corporate tool with no convictions.  I guess the Sanders campaign sent out some new talking points this week because now all the rose avatars are up in arms with the whole "he just takes the positions that poll best" attack line.  And it's crept onto Atlas.

You guys don't know anything about Pete or what he truly believes.  You're just pretending to.  You're making things up to attack him.  It's politics at its worst.

The only basis for this is a brazen misinterpretation of Pete's previous stance on M4A.  Whenever I ask Sanders supporters (and it's only Sanders supporters -- no other candidate has supporters executing bad-faith attacks at anything close to this level) what Pete has flip-flopped on, they unanimously point to his M4A tweet.  Is there a single other thing anyone has or is that really it?

Dawg... a couple things real quick.

I’m a Democrat. I have now, and have had for the entirety of my 7 year Atlas tenure, a red avatar. I supported Clinton in the primary last cycle, and have been pretty anti-Bernie Bro on here. I went from being a Beto to a Warren supporter for the same issue I pointed out in Buttigieg.

Nice straw-man argument though.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

I think the betting markets are significantly undervaluing Pete in Iowa.  He’s not far behind at all in the polls, and has a serious turnout operation backed by a lot of cash.  Unlike some of the other candidates, Pete really has put all his eggs in one basket and is desperate for an outright win.  

The problem is, the voters he’s fighting Klobuchar and Biden for old people who won’t necessarily want to leave the warmth and comfort of their homes on a freezing cold Iowa night to spend hours at a Caucus site for candidates their not enthusiastic about.

Whereas Bernie and Warren are turning out younger voters who are actually enthusiastic about their campaigns and policies.