Pete Buttigieg 2020 campaign megathread

[Spiffy]

Don’t worry y’all! He’ll televise an apology three times: first in English, then in French, and finally, Italian! Then, he’s gonna SHRED Metallica on an electric guitar, and finally he’ll end it with a kiss for Chasten and the media will forgive him and go back to branding him as the lord and savior of the United States of America!

/s

Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually became the frontrunner if he were to ever pull such a stunt, as described. The media and the Democratic electorate haven’t learned anything from 2016.

This post really is a triumph of your saltiness.

[Interlocutor is just not there yet]

I'll be tickled if Buttigieg ends up getting more votes/delegates than Harris by the end of the primary (If he/she doesn't drop out by Iowa).

These debates can't come soon enough for everyone's supporters

[America Needs R'hllor]

Lol, three posters are making this thread a steaming pile of their anger and frustrations. Way to cynically use a police shooting.

Just watching some of the live footage on MSNBC of the Town Hall in South Bend today and for many Democratic Primary voters who don't know much about Pete, these optics are just devastating.

The obvious question even many of his supporters might have looking at this, is how can he lead the United States as President if he can't even address issues in the small Midwestern factory town as Mayor, on arguably one of the biggest political lightning rods in US History since the late '50s.

I would imagine a significant chunk of his support in South Bend came from the 25% Black population of the City (Although I haven't looked into precinct numbers from an historical perspective to see the voting patterns within the City).

I don't have strong opinions on Pete either way, but I would suspect that if he *can't* prove to be successful in addressing this issue within his own community heads-on, he will quickly dribble support to other candidates, and have just been another "flavor of the Month".

If he *can appear to be successful* addressing these issues and show leadership and resolution, he does have an opportunity to expand his base of support.

Right now the jury is out, and not all events are directly under the control of a Political Candidate, but he does have a chance to create a favorable political opportunity structure if he pulls a rabbit out of his hat on this one....

Since this is the only substansive post in this page- yes, I think you're right. The preception of this event will be important. However, it's important to note that I think none of the other candidates, or at least most of them, would be able to handle this better. Race relations and police brutality, whether in a small city or a big one, are a very delicate and tense issue and there really isn't that much he'd be able to do better than now when it comes to actions. I haven't watched the townhall, though, so it's possible that he's not doing well rhetorically and I'd hope he can improve on that.

[Blue3]

If Biden was a mayor right now, and this happened, how would he respond?

If Harris was a mayor right now, and this happened, how would she respond?

If Sanders was a mayor right now, and this happened, how would he respond?

If Warren was a mayor right now, and this happened, how would she respond?

[henster]

If Biden was a mayor right now, and this happened, how would he respond?

If Harris was a mayor right now, and this happened, how would she respond?

If Sanders was a mayor right now, and this happened, how would he respond?

If Warren was a mayor right now, and this happened, how would she respond?

Most of them would've called for an investigation, held a presser for the media and not a town hall where things could get out of control, closed meetings with activist & family. Sometimes leaders know not to put themselves in positions where they could look weak. Town halls are probably the worst format for dealing with emotional situations like these, as you saw it was a borderline riot a few times.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I think I'm back to Buttigieg given Biden's very obvious and severe shortcomings. Not very satisfied with Pete right now either given his role in shifting the tone of the abortion debate so negatively, but the alternatives are absolutely pathetic. Hoping Marianne gets momentum out of the debates. More likely than Hickenlooper or de Blaz....

I am now seeing how Elizabeth Warren is the most electable, which is fine with me. Her policies remain largely hilariously terrible, but I won't hate her as the face of the nation, and she's an actually respectable and accomplished self-made woman even if she in part used deceit.

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

Don’t worry y’all! He’ll televise an apology three times: first in English, then in French, and finally, Italian! Then, he’s gonna SHRED Metallica on an electric guitar, and finally he’ll end it with a kiss for Chasten and the media will forgive him and go back to branding him as the lord and savior of the United States of America!

/s

Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually became the frontrunner if he were to ever pull such a stunt, as described. The media and the Democratic electorate haven’t learned anything from 2016.

This post really is a triumph of your saltiness.

Your platitude candidate isn’t so hot after all. Turns out talking about policy and handling a small city crisis isn’t his forte. He’s nothing but Atlas’s and the media’s new shiny thing. Come back to me when he suspends his candidacy because he can’t take the heat.

[GP270watch]

 When a community is that angry you know there's a lot of bad stuff going on with the way the police are doing their jobs.

[Spiffy]

Don’t worry y’all! He’ll televise an apology three times: first in English, then in French, and finally, Italian! Then, he’s gonna SHRED Metallica on an electric guitar, and finally he’ll end it with a kiss for Chasten and the media will forgive him and go back to branding him as the lord and savior of the United States of America!

/s

Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually became the frontrunner if he were to ever pull such a stunt, as described. The media and the Democratic electorate haven’t learned anything from 2016.

This post really is a triumph of your saltiness.

Your platitude candidate isn’t so hot after all. Turns out talking about policy and handling a small city crisis isn’t his forte. He’s nothing but Atlas’s and the media’s new shiny thing. Come back to me when he suspends his candidacy because he can’t take the heat.

😴😴😴

[NOVA Green]

If Biden was a mayor right now, and this happened, how would he respond?

If Harris was a mayor right now, and this happened, how would she respond?

If Sanders was a mayor right now, and this happened, how would he respond?

If Warren was a mayor right now, and this happened, how would she respond?

Most of them would've called for an investigation, held a presser for the media and not a town hall where things could get out of control, closed meetings with activist & family. Sometimes leaders know not to put themselves in positions where they could look weak. Town halls are probably the worst format for dealing with emotional situations like these, as you saw it was a borderline riot a few times.

These are important questions as well as comments about how candidates will handle potentially difficult situations and respond in a "crisis environment" and would be an interesting hypothetical future style debate question.

It's kind of like a committee panel style job interview where you get a hypothetical question about how you would respond given a certain situation, and instead of having a response/counter from another candidate in a debate, instead you get a follow-up question from someone else on the interview panel.

I mean it's not like sadly enough these types of situations rarely happen, even in 2019 America, but obviously there are some historical things that happened in the past:

Joe Biden:

US SEN- DEL '73 to '09---- He was Senator in '78 where School Busing / attempt to end de facto school segregation and inequality in access to education, was met with massive resistance from the White parents.

US Vice President- '09 to '17---- He was VP at the time of the Ferguson unrest.

Obviously school busing and education inequality was a major issue in the late '70s, in fact was a major part of the expansion of the Civil Rights Movement to the North in the early '60s. In fact, Kennedy's support for a Civil Rights Act, was starting to bleed him major support by the Fall of '62 at a point where his re-election appeared inevitable, and suddenly Barry Goldwater becomes a rising star within the Republican Party, and considered by many inevitable after Rockefeller not only divorces, but then remarries a secretary who is having an affair with, who was also married (with kids)....

Although the VP obviously can't control these types of situations, but obviously they do tend to frequently get involved in these types of national conversations.

https://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-biden-community-police-20150119-story.html

Kamala Harris:

DA--- San Francisco '04 to '11

AG- California '11 to '17

Gets called out on a variety of issues involving minority populations....

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/1/23/18184192/kamala-harris-president-campaign-criminal-justice-record

Elizabeth Warren:

US-SEN-MA '13 to Present

Elizabeth Warren gets slammed by Massachusetts Police Officers about a comment she made in Louisiana in August '18 not directly involving any police shootings of minorities in MA.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/08/11/police-chiefs-criticize-warren-for-calling-criminal-justice-system-racist/Jz4PJJhfeFS3iVYD8KLsPN/story.html

Bernie Sanders:

Mayor- Burlington VT '81 to '89

Not familiar with any major items of discussion involving police brutality or anything similar when he was mayor, but he did win over many of cities major Minority population that were heavily working-class self-identified French & French-Canadian Cities of the City, that have had their own history of oppression in both Canada and Northern New England....

https://www.thenation.com/article/bernies-burlington-city-sustainable-future/

US-House-VT- '91 to '07

Haven't seen any major issues in Vermont on these types of items.

US-SEN-VT- '07 to Present

Don't believe there are any openings there on these types of issues.

Now: Haven't done an extensive research on this, but let's go back to the Panel Interview (The Voters and Media Record and History on file)....


Now Blue3, provides a typical way that a mayor or ambitious political candidate might address these types of issues, and how they respond and show true leadership....

Arguably few major national political leaders have had the opportunity nor demonstrated the ability to respond to something as monumental as the in the way that Bobby Kennedy did after MLK was murdered at the hands of a White sniper's bullet on 4/4/68....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoKzCff8Zbs

Mayor Pete is just one of many political leaders and figures throughout the United States aspiring for a higher calling through Public Service, so although it is early for him to be tested in such a fashion, sometimes Political Candidates that have already been tested and perhaps more known, whose records have been more extensively examined, with higher name recognition for a variety of reasons, already can address some of the "gaps in the resume", the "contradictions in their public statements and positions vs their actions", and provide sufficient reason to the interviewing committee as to why they are most capable of leading the highest office in the United States of America.

So go Mayor Pete, show them what you got and take care of all the people of South Bend, even while you are running for President and show us National leadership potential at a moment of crisis within your community, and ultimately your actions could well move you up a notch as you advance to the next round of interviews....

[libertpaulian]

Beto has a chance to comeback simply because Pete is a moron

This aged well.

[Ilhan Apologist]

Beto has a chance to comeback simply because Pete is a moron

This aged well.

DeadPrez was right. Beto just missed his chance.

[VPH]

I found Mayor Pete's answer on criminal justice reform refreshingly humble. It's nice to see a Presidential candidate who doesn't act like he can solve everything on the face of the planet alone.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I found Mayor Pete's answer on criminal justice reform refreshingly humble. It's nice to see a Presidential candidate who doesn't act like he can solve everything on the face of the planet alone.

The South Bend police department would probably be more than 6% black if he hadn't demoted the first black chief for uncovering how racist the department was.

[Confused Democrat]

I found Mayor Pete's answer on criminal justice reform refreshingly humble. It's nice to see a Presidential candidate who doesn't act like he can solve everything on the face of the planet alone.

The South Bend police department would probably be more than 6% black if he hadn't demoted the first black chief for uncovering how racist the department was.

A) The police chief potentially broke the law

B) Is now being investigated by the FBI for wiretapping officers

C) It’s illegal for Pete to listen to the tapes so we don’t even know what’s on them

D) Your ignorant

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

D) Your ignorant

And ignorant me always thought it was "you're".

[RI]

I've been skeptical of Pete as just another Beto-lite (who himself is just Obama-lite), but it turns out it was the other way around. Pete is the real deal, although his issues with minority voters will probably doom him in the long run. At least he should have some staying power.

[Confused Democrat]

D) Your ignorant

And ignorant me always thought it was "you're".

Attacking the grammar and not the substance of the argument. I rest my case lol.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I've been skeptical of Pete as just another Beto-lite (who himself is just Obama-lite), but it turns out it was the other way around. Pete is the real deal, although his issues with minority voters will probably doom him in the long run. At least he should have some staying power.

I haven't followed the Democratic campaign too closely, though there's something about Buttegieg I like. I'm surprised to find that you (perhaps) kind of like him. I'm curious, what do you mean by "the real deal"? I assume he's still beyond the pale for you in terms of your actual vote for a litany of reasons.

[This user has not been convicted of 34 felonies]

It was good that Pete was challenged on the Eric Logan shooting. Seeing him take responsibility and still discuss the fact that all policing is done in the shadows of racism was important.

[RI]

I've been skeptical of Pete as just another Beto-lite (who himself is just Obama-lite), but it turns out it was the other way around. Pete is the real deal, although his issues with minority voters will probably doom him in the long run. At least he should have some staying power.

I haven't followed the Democratic campaign too closely, though there's something about Buttegieg I like. I'm surprised to find that you (perhaps) kind of like him. I'm curious, what do you mean by "the real deal"? I assume he's still beyond the pale for you in terms of your actual vote for a litany of reasons.

I do kind of like him. There are few things which stand out to me:

1) He's clearly intelligent and articulate, but not in an elitist or condescending way. Being both a veteran and from the small-town Midwest helps a lot with this, I think. Moreover, he seems to have clearly thought about a lot of issues at a deep level, and, most importantly, it feels like his thoughts are truly his. He just doesn't regurgitate the usual talking points about the usual issues. It feels like he actually is willing to think outside the box to come up with useful solutions which aren't simply exercises in creatively punishing the other party. We desperately need that in our politics.

1a) This is purely a visceral thing, but there's something about Buttigieg that seems animate in a way that most of the other candidates don't have. It's hard to explain, but he feels uniquely sentient, like there's life behind his eyes. Many of the others feel like robots trained to spew talking points. I don't know if anyone else feels this, but if so, maybe they could explain it better.

2) I was really taken aback by his answer about the South Bend shooting, or at least one part in particular: his answer of "I couldn't get it done" felt incredibly genuine and subtly pained-- it struck me as true emotion rather than the typical emotional melodrama most candidates throw on for show. Maybe it wasn't genuine, I don't know, but it sure felt real. His answer caused me to sit up and pay attention, and it's a rare day when someone actually lets the buck stop with them.

3) While he's a very liberal Christian, he's clearly a genuine Christian who respects faith and its teachings. I don't agree with his theology, but I respect it. Similarly, I don't agree with gay marriage or the fact that he's in one, but I respect that he seems committed and values marriage as a concept, whereas most Democrats seem to loathe the institution. And really, being in a gay marriage is not substantially worse than being in a third marriage, and it's not really more sinful than being a philandering womanizer like Trump.

I honestly think Buttigieg has a really good chance to be President someday, far more than most of the other candidates. I don't know if 2020 is his year, but I think it's going to happen at some point, if he plays his cards right. I think Governor of Indiana is his path forward, maybe after a cabinet post. What's more, I'd be mostly comfortable with him as President, which is not something I thought I'd say about a gay, socially liberal, Democrat any time soon. My main hesitation, beyond the typical left-wing social issue objections, is his support for court packing. That's a huge red line for me. I'm leaning toward supporting him in the primary, although I don't think I could pull the lever for him in the general.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

I've been skeptical of Pete as just another Beto-lite (who himself is just Obama-lite), but it turns out it was the other way around. Pete is the real deal, although his issues with minority voters will probably doom him in the long run. At least he should have some staying power.

I haven't followed the Democratic campaign too closely, though there's something about Buttegieg I like. I'm surprised to find that you (perhaps) kind of like him. I'm curious, what do you mean by "the real deal"? I assume he's still beyond the pale for you in terms of your actual vote for a litany of reasons.

I honestly think Buttigieg has a really good chance to be President someday, far more than most of the other candidates. I don't know if 2020 is his year, but I think it's going to happen at some point, if he plays his cards right. I think Governor of Indiana is his path forward, maybe after a cabinet post. What's more, I'd be mostly comfortable with him as President, which is not something I thought I'd say about a gay, socially liberal, Democrat any time soon. My main hesitation, beyond the typical left-wing social issue objections, is his support for court packing. That's a huge red line for me. I'm leaning toward supporting him in the primary, although I don't think I could pull the lever for him in the general.

How on Earth is he going to win a Gubernatorial election in Indiana?

[RI]

I've been skeptical of Pete as just another Beto-lite (who himself is just Obama-lite), but it turns out it was the other way around. Pete is the real deal, although his issues with minority voters will probably doom him in the long run. At least he should have some staying power.

I haven't followed the Democratic campaign too closely, though there's something about Buttegieg I like. I'm surprised to find that you (perhaps) kind of like him. I'm curious, what do you mean by "the real deal"? I assume he's still beyond the pale for you in terms of your actual vote for a litany of reasons.

I honestly think Buttigieg has a really good chance to be President someday, far more than most of the other candidates. I don't know if 2020 is his year, but I think it's going to happen at some point, if he plays his cards right. I think Governor of Indiana is his path forward, maybe after a cabinet post. What's more, I'd be mostly comfortable with him as President, which is not something I thought I'd say about a gay, socially liberal, Democrat any time soon. My main hesitation, beyond the typical left-wing social issue objections, is his support for court packing. That's a huge red line for me. I'm leaning toward supporting him in the primary, although I don't think I could pull the lever for him in the general.

How on Earth is he going to win a Gubernatorial election in Indiana?

Indiana is a conpletely winnable statehouse for the Dems if the national environment is favorable and with the right type of candidate. Donnelly, for example, could have won in a less polarized year than 2018.

[henster]

I think he should've responded to Swalwell's swipe instead of just giving him a glare he raised a salient point of holding the cop responsible. Pete looked weak not defending himself there.

[Ilhan Apologist]

I've been skeptical of Pete as just another Beto-lite (who himself is just Obama-lite), but it turns out it was the other way around. Pete is the real deal, although his issues with minority voters will probably doom him in the long run. At least he should have some staying power.

I haven't followed the Democratic campaign too closely, though there's something about Buttegieg I like. I'm surprised to find that you (perhaps) kind of like him. I'm curious, what do you mean by "the real deal"? I assume he's still beyond the pale for you in terms of your actual vote for a litany of reasons.

I honestly think Buttigieg has a really good chance to be President someday, far more than most of the other candidates. I don't know if 2020 is his year, but I think it's going to happen at some point, if he plays his cards right. I think Governor of Indiana is his path forward, maybe after a cabinet post. What's more, I'd be mostly comfortable with him as President, which is not something I thought I'd say about a gay, socially liberal, Democrat any time soon. My main hesitation, beyond the typical left-wing social issue objections, is his support for court packing. That's a huge red line for me. I'm leaning toward supporting him in the primary, although I don't think I could pull the lever for him in the general.

How on Earth is he going to win a Gubernatorial election in Indiana?

Indiana is a conpletely winnable statehouse for the Dems if the national environment is favorable and with the right type of candidate. Donnelly, for example, could have won in a less polarized year than 2018.

I don't see a year being less polarized any time soon