Explain the Buttigieg Appeal to Me

[IMPress Polly]

I watched the back-to-back CNN town halls on Monday. I still liked Elizabeth Warren by far the best. I really liked her ideas about college debt forgiveness in particular, as well as really every position that she articulated, including, not least of all, her leadership on the question of impeachment, which she did the best job of articulating easily. Any other American who did what Trump has done would be in jail and that's the truth! She's awesome and I hope it gives her a boost in the polls.

It's just disgraceful to see such an IMO outstanding and principled candidate now being out-polled as a sitting Senator with clear and very detailed positions on all the issues she's asked about and the most progressive platform in the race no question by this random 37-year-old mayor from Indiana whose popularity I struggle to understand. Maybe you (anyone else) can explain it to me because I don't get it.

Pete Buttigieg is slick. That's what it seems like to me. He talks in stories and that seems to be part of his appeal. I dunno, he just lost me a long time ago with his stated opposition to the Green New Deal. That's non-negotiable for me. We have one decade to take serious action on the climate. There is no room for any more delay or unserious programs.

Buttigieg has a long-winded explanation for everything; one so long that you forget what the question was by the time he concludes, which I think is the aim. He's got one for his urban gentrification program and how that supposedly benefits poor people of color (), he's got one for why he fired the city's black police chief for investigating a racist conspiracy against him within the police force and replaced him with a succession of white police chiefs, etc. When you put it all together with his now-infamous "all lives matter" refrain for which he has only recently apologized, I think a seriously problematic ideological pattern emerges that's somewhat unlikely to appeal to poor, working class, and black Americans in particular. Or so one would think anyway!

The Daily Show made a comment on that, how Warren has to have her policies detailed perfectly to be taken semi-seriously while Mayor Pete can just tell random stories and be a front-runner who out-polls her. I found that to be a telling truth about the implicit sexism of this campaign; about how Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are systematically avoiding the female candidates in this race, despite their varied programs and how numerous they are, because Hillary Clinton's defeat last time apparently proves that women are terrible candidates on principle who Obama-to-Trump middle America would never vote for. I find as much discouraging and feel that "the lessons of 2016" are being hence over-learned. We're learning the wrong lessons from that experience. Elizabeth Warren is NOT Hillary Clinton, I'm sorry!

Kamala Harris I don't know about. I mean I like most of the positions that she takes, but she's too reluctant and, well, lawyerly about everything. One senses that she stakes out a lot of positions based more on momentary, perceived political expediency than actual principles. Warren I believe.

I don't know about Bernie anymore. I like him in principle for sure, but I'm not sure why he had to defend Trump against the idea of impeachment or why, of all things, he felt the need to advocate convicted-and-jailed rapist/murderer/terrorist suffrage. I don't understand these things (and found it almost hilariously predicatable that Kamala Harris went along with that we-must-enfranchise-literally-everyone-in-America line on the issue seemingly just because her town hall immediately followed Bernie's). Why?

(A campaign-related aside: I understand Joe Biden has delayed his formal announcement until tomorrow due to having trouble figuring out what message to launch with. I think that sums up the point of the Biden campaign pretty well, actually: there isn't one.)

But back to Buttigieg, the current bane of my existence in this contest (a certain president notwithstanding): what makes him such an appealing candidate to so many people?

I ask you in particular other left/center-left people here, such as @Green Arrow (if you're still around), @Safety, @Agent Zero, @alexa, and @AZ Jim. What are your thoughts?

[Common]

I wasnt on your list of those you wanted to share but I thought I would offer mine in case you just forgot to add me to the list

Warren has zero chance to win the nomination, no reason to even discuss her.

Buttigiegs appeal is two fold, hes homosexual and hes liberal, two valued traits by progressives, other than that hes just another full of $#@! white male liberal saying things his base wants to hear to get elected.

Kamala Harris has zero chance to win the nomination she has already flipflopped more than Mitt Romney and her prosecutorial phony past pops up and bites her on the ass now and then.

Cory Booker so far has run on one issue Race

Bernie is going to far left socialize himself out of the nomination.

Last man standing Old White Guy Joe Biden

Of course theres plenty of time for this to change and someone "Normal" to seek the democrat nomination

[Lummy]

The way Democrats should determine their presidential candidate is to lock themselves in a small room and play russian roulette until there is only one left.

[AZ Jim]

The way Democrats should determine their presidential candidate is to lock themselves in a small room and play russian roulette until there is only one left.

You are every bit the punk you reflect here.

[Ethereal]

I watched the back-to-back CNN town halls on Monday. I still liked Elizabeth Warren by far the best. I really liked her ideas about college debt forgiveness in particular, as well as really every position that she articulated, including, not least of all, her leadership on the question of impeachment, which she did the best job of articulating easily. Any other American who did what Trump has done would be in jail and that's the truth! She's awesome and I hope it gives her a boost in the polls.

It's just disgraceful to see such an IMO outstanding and principled candidate now being out-polled as a sitting Senator with clear and very detailed positions on all the issues she's asked about and the most progressive platform in the race no question by this random 37-year-old mayor from Indiana whose popularity I struggle to understand. Maybe you (anyone else) can explain it to me because I don't get it.

Pete Buttigieg is slick. That's what it seems like to me. He talks in stories and that seems to be part of his appeal. I dunno, he just lost me a long time ago with his stated opposition to the Green New Deal. That's non-negotiable for me. We have one decade to take serious action on the climate. There is no room for any more delay or unserious programs.

Buttigieg has a long-winded explanation for everything; one so long that you forget what the question was by the time he concludes, which I think is the aim. He's got one for his urban gentrification program and how that supposedly benefits poor people of color (), he's got one for why he fired the city's black police chief for investigating a racist conspiracy against him within the police force and replaced him with a succession of white police chiefs, etc. When you put it all together with his now-infamous "all lives matter" refrain for which he has only recently apologized, I think a seriously problematic ideological pattern emerges that's somewhat unlikely to appeal to poor, working class, and black Americans in particular. Or so one would think anyway!

The Daily Show made a comment on that, how Warren has to have her policies detailed perfectly to be taken semi-seriously while Mayor Pete can just tell random stories and be a front-runner who out-polls her. I found that to be a telling truth about the implicit sexism of this campaign; about how Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are systematically avoiding the female candidates in this race, despite their varied programs and how numerous they are, because Hillary Clinton's defeat last time apparently proves that women are terrible candidates on principle who Obama-to-Trump middle America would never vote for. I find as much discouraging and feel that "the lessons of 2016" are being hence over-learned. We're learning the wrong lessons from that experience. Elizabeth Warren is NOT Hillary Clinton, I'm sorry!

Kamala Harris I don't know about. I mean I like most of the positions that she takes, but she's too reluctant and, well, lawyerly about everything. One senses that she stakes out a lot of positions based more on momentary, perceived political expediency than actual principles. Warren I believe.

I don't know about Bernie anymore. I like him in principle for sure, but I'm not sure why he had to defend Trump against the idea of impeachment or why, of all things, he felt the need to advocate convicted-and-jailed rapist/murderer/terrorist suffrage. I don't understand these things (and found it almost hilariously predicatable that Kamala Harris went along with that we-must-enfranchise-literally-everyone-in-America line on the issue seemingly just because her town hall immediately followed Bernie's). Why?

(A campaign-related aside: I understand Joe Biden has delayed his formal announcement until tomorrow due to having trouble figuring out what message to launch with. I think that sums up the point of the Biden campaign pretty well, actually: there isn't one.)

But back to Buttigieg, the current bane of my existence in this contest (a certain president notwithstanding): what makes him such an appealing candidate to so many people?

I ask you in particular other left/center-left people here, such as @Green Arrow (if you're still around), @Safety, @Agent Zero, @alexa, and @AZ Jim. What are your thoughts?

I know very little about this guy except what you've told me here and maybe one article I read about him, but from the way you describe it, it just sounds like Buttigieg is more likable than Warren. So it doesn't really matter how detailed her policies are when people simply don't like or relate to her. Personally, Warren doesn't seem genuine to me. I don't really believe anything she says, so I have little interest in what she's saying. Maybe a lot of people feel the same way that I do. Just my two cents.

[Lummy]

You are every bit the punk you reflect here.

Well, that wasn't very nice. Actually, I have no idea why Buttigieg appeals to her. The liberal mind is not well understood.

[stjames1_53]

He's a whiner
https://dailycaller.com/2019/04/24/t...whining-power/

.....and whining is popular nowadays, almost as popular as identity politics.

[stjames1_53]

You are every bit the punk you reflect here.

punk? why do you need 20 candidates to run for one office? Sounds more like a gang than anything else. Gangs are where you find punks

[IMPress Polly]

I know very little about this guy except what you've told me here and maybe one article I read about him, but from the way you describe it, it just sounds like Buttigieg is more likable than Warren. So it doesn't really matter how detailed her policies are when people simply don't like or relate to her. Personally, Warren doesn't seem genuine to me. I don't really believe anything she says, so I have little interest in what she's saying. Maybe a lot of people feel the same way that I do. Just my two cents.

"She's not likable", "I don't trust her"...I find that people say these things about all female candidates for public office regardless of their politics. WHY is it that you don't like or trust Elizabeth Warren? Because she's a principled person with a consistent record on the issues? Because she has a human background, used to be a Republican, and knows better now? Because she's a gifted public speaker? Because she's tough and resilient and not vulnerable enough? Because she's over 30 and thus too ugly to be seen in public in your view? I feel that people should try and understand, and maybe sometimes question, their instincts.

[Admiral Ackbar]

I wasnt on your list of those you wanted to share but I thought I would offer mine in case you just forgot to add me to the list

Warren has zero chance to win the nomination, no reason to even discuss her.

Buttigiegs appeal is two fold, hes homosexual and hes liberal, two valued traits by progressives, other than that hes just another full of $#@! white male liberal saying things his base wants to hear to get elected.

Kamala Harris has zero chance to win the nomination she has already flipflopped more than Mitt Romney and her prosecutorial phony past pops up and bites her on the ass now and then.

Cory Booker so far has run on one issue Race

Bernie is going to far left socialize himself out of the nomination.

Last man standing Old White Guy Joe Biden

Of course theres plenty of time for this to change and someone "Normal" to seek the democrat nomination

The main reason the Leftist like Mayor Pete is that he is a butt pirate.