I actually really like buttigieg, but he’s wrong. A woman of color AND a gay man? I wish we lived in that country but we don’t live in that country.
Yep, maybe after boomers and gen x have died off sure, but this country is still battling itself on lgbtq rights.
I think this is a common misconception about how electability works in a first-past-the-post voting system. There is no benefit to going with a compromise position or reaching out to moderates. The number of people who can be persuaded to vote one way or another is miniscule. The number of people who can be persuaded to vote or not to vote is massive.
If people are excited or scared, they come out to vote. With disenfranchisement primarily focused on progressive and minority voters, there’s not much left to gain in scaring regressive conservatives more, they already vote at high numbers.
While the last part about voting (being persuaded to vote or not vote) is true I think you overestimate the ven diagram of people who are both homophobic and racist. There are plenty who are one and not the other.
Honestly, I’d settle for a good one. Gay or not. Because a person’s sexuality and preferences are entirely irrelevant to one’s ability to be a fair and hard working representative.
Let’s not pretend that people would refuse to vote for a gay candidate.
Whether we personally consider it an issue it has likely massively hurt their prospects as a politician.
Also representation is really important. Especially for younger people.
it has likely massively hurt their prospects as a politician
Or, the complete opposite.
Do you think there’s any way Pete, the mayor of a town of 100,000 people, would have become a national presidential candidate if he wasn’t gay?
Absolutely. Hes one of the best communicators in the party. Dude is a fantastic surrogate. Especially when you send him into unfriendly territory. I’m not going to say he’s the right pick for VP (I have some problems with his policy background), but acting like he’s only where he is because of his sexuality is fucking stupid.
I’ve never in my life voted for someone because they were a heterosexual. I vote based on their track record. When we stop giving a shit about what people do with their genitals, we will be better off. We don’t need gender identity representation in our politics- we just need someone that will treat all people as equals- and enact policy that reflects this.
When we stop giving a shit about what people do with their genitals, we will be better off.
(From the people who brought you “JD Vance fucks couches”.)
Unless he himself has been saying that, you’re painting with too broad a brush. We aren’t all accountable for what our political allies do. Thank fuck. There are plenty of people in the left with more enthusiasm than ability to reason and communicate in public.
And I say that appreciating the irony that I will hold republicans accountable for allowing Nazis their midst. But the difference to me is they don’t speak out. Some of us will call out the left on bullshit even if we share similar ultimate goals. I see very few in the right ever do that.
Also, Vance fucks furniture is sort of obvious humor that no one takes really seriously, anyway, so probably not worth tackling that as a serious subject.
When we stop giving a shit about what people do with their genitals,
This is not how international politics work. Can you think for a second of the optics on the world stage? The us isn’t some international flyover state equivalent like Iceland. If Harris steps down and Buttigeg needs to meet with someone in the Middle East how do you think that meeting is going to go over? The US is a big fish and this is like, unprecedented for a world power this huge.
I imagine it would go something like this:
Hello Mr President welcome to my country.
Exactly. It would be an incredible way to push forward lgbt+ rights. I’d prefer a candidate with good politics, but I’d be lying if I didn’t like the idea of how it would ruffle bigots… But Harris’s main goal is to get elected.
Ok, fine I’ll give you that totally unlikely outcome. Pete then follows up with the question: Your nation executes homosexuals but decided to let me live, are you going to reconsider your policy on executing them?
How do you think that response will blow over? This is an unstable region with extreme hatred towards anything lgtbq. Very unlikely they’d even invite him to discuss any oil deals.
Ooh! Is it Fantastic Fiction Story Time?! Ok, my turn!
Then, President Buttigieg produces flowers from thin air with a “Tah-Dah!”, handing them to the foreign leader. The leader then embraces the president and everyone cheers!
Fiction is fun!
Again you might not but plenty of people would. I would say it’s a pretty large crowd as well.
Also sexuality has nothing to do with gender.
We’re not talking about gender, we’re talking about homosexuality. That has everything to do with genital preference.
Is america ready for a competent president? Will voters accept an adequate candidate? Its hard to say, without knowing first which divisive and inflammatory categories they can be sorted into.
…that’s kinda what he’s saying. He’s saying there’s enough people who agree with this now that the political backlash to it will be a drop of hate in a huge bucket of sensible sentiments.
Buttigieg is quite ambitious
#HarriButt2024!
Alright I wasn’t in before but… I mean what a strong name to platform on.
I’m sold.
McKinsey consultant
Thank you.
Sure. Not him though.
Still waiting for Americans to be ready for a Trans Atheist Single Childless Woman of Color President.
Not that one tho.
Not you, Gay Nixon.
But not him. He can’t even do the job he currently has
Luckily, VP doesn’t have to do much. And if you’re right, better to get someone else in that role, right?
He is better off if he just went back to Indiana.
As someone who was unfortunate enough to have grown up in Indiana, I’d rather Buttigeg stay there and keep trying to drag that state into the 20th* century.
*Not a typo, that state is just that far behind.
He’s not there though. He’s in DC as Secretary of Transportation.
Doing a fuckall job of it, too. To hell with Pete, why settle for this guy for VP? Why is everyone so hung up on him?
In think it’s because he’s an excellent communicator and stays that way even going on Fox News and such. Like even if we don’t trust him deep down, the skills he has are conductive to winning the election which is basically all that matters.
I don’t know if that makes him the most winning choice, because bigots, but we’ll see what happens.
Well then ask that bastard why my car broke down.
Imo we need an all woman ticket. If we can’t get that then we need someone from a swing state to potentially tip the scales there.
How about if the VP pick shores up the nominee’s shortcomings instead of doubling down
Is being a woman a shortcoming?
Get a trans person, cowards.
Can any of you buttigeg naysayers elaborate?
Just guessing from the replies, (I’m personally not that critical of Pete)
He used to be more left wing, had a deep appreciation for Bernie Sanders growing up, then he had a more right-ward turn. He worked as a consultant for a very unpopular and influential company (Mckinsey) for a few years, then he joined the Navy and was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Lastly the shenanigans around him very narrowly beating Bernie in the Iowa primary of 2020 probably all contribute to the negative sentiment.
None of these really make him worse than even more corporate Dems like Pritzker or Shapiro, so I’m guessing the antipathy is almost entirely because of 2020.
Sharice Davids?
That would be a fun ticket.
