*** OFFICIAL VIEWING PARTY: Pete Buttigieg to officially announce 2020 presidential campaign!

Are they playing showtunes? The answer is yes.

He's going to have to something besides Barbra Streisand at his rallies if he doesn't want to be stereotyped.

How to pronounce his last name? Butt - gig?

"Peter" sounds too formal...and slightly titillating.

What the fuck has he done? Never heard of him.

He supports the transing of gay kids. Not interested.

R5 Google and YouTube is your friend. Do some research you lazy bitch.

[quote] What the fuck has he done? Never heard of him.

Well he has never grabbed a pussy.

When he started playing Barbra Streisand I said "well gal, it was a good run, but ya just lost."

I missed the Streisand. I tuned in for a bit and heard showtunes.

MSNBC will be showing Pete's announcement live.

His crowd is h u g e.

If he doesn’t get on with it he’s lost my vote.

There are only 7,000 viewers on YouTube. That’s pretty sad.

It was an over flow crowd with many waiting outside, Pete went outside to speak to those people waiting in the cold and the rain, which might be why he is delayed.

Mayor Pete's name is pronounced "Boot-edge-edge".

I rather like Steve Adler. He is doing a good job with the introduction speech.

OMG HERE HE IS!!! *cries*

Why aren’t there more people on YouTube? Why isn’t he wearing a jacket?

If you do pronounce it Boot-edge-edge you need to say the edge-edge part really fast more like ed-edge.

Buda-judge also gets you there.

Let's hear a little fire in the belly now.

The official stream is way behind MSNBC

He has really good energy, but I don't think he is seasoned enough. This round, probably not, next round, very likely. He would be a great VP.

Jeez, too many trolls on this thread. Moving on...

"our two dogs"

Hooray! Cheers the crowd

???

Woooooo-Hooooooooooooo!!!!

Will You Eat Pete!!

New slogan

Did they just yell, "Pee, Pee, Pee, Pee!"?

Just so you know, it is raining and cold in South Bend, there is precious little parking near this location so you had to walk or take a bus shuttle to get there, many of these people showed up at 8-9AM and waited in the rain for the doors to open at noon, there is an overflow crowd who is outside in the rain. These people there are dedicated supporters.

R12, Anything else huge about him?

Sorry, as an eldergay, this is making me cry.

WHY ISN’T HE WEARING A JACKET!!!

I like him and it kills me that this country will not vote for a gay man as POTUS. I just don't see it.

R25, the Buttigiegs’ two dogs, Buddy and Truman, have their own twitter account. Chasten runs it. The crowd has seen it. They often post dog pictures. The dogs are rescues and one has one eye.

R32, he never wears a jacket. It’s his trademark.

[quote]WHY ISN’T HE WEARING A JACKET!!!

Because he does not want to be seen as a businessman but one of the people

Yes, let's put all our time, energy, and money behind an openly gay candidate with the words "Peter" and "butt" in his name.

I sometimes wonder if Dems actually ENJOY losing.

I really like this guy. I think it was weird that the crowd didn't pronounce his name correctly when chanting it. It is unusual, but not THAT hard to say.

His YouTube viewer numbers are indeed really low. Surprisingly so.

He says “freedom, security and democracy” is his slogan.

He’s now talking that.

“and to chasten, my love....”. 🤮

I’m back to supporting Beto.

I would love for him to win. I really would.

He’s live on MSNBC and CNN, so people are watching him there.

The things he says about what freedom is are poignant and true.

If i was running for office i would have gone with changing me last name to like Burgi or something

There’s sure a lot of anti-gay trolls on here. Where are you people coming from, Russia? You’re on the wrong site for gay haters.

He's on Persicope via Twitter. It is on FIRE.

R40

Obama often acted lovey-dovey, but that was OK?

r45 Who the hell are you talking about?

I am a bit disappointed that there isn't more activity on this thread though.

I just don’t like Chasten. Has nothing to do with gay hating.

[quote] If i was running for office i would have gone with changing me last name to like Burgi or something

Well thankfully most people with a brain care more about what a candidate wants to do to make a country better than what their last name happens to be.

“Children fleeing violence ought to have NOTHING to fear from the greatest country in the world!”

Now talking about white nationalism and climate change.

This is our guy gays. Start sending money and buying merch now. I embarrassed that there aren't always 300 posts on this thread. Don't let this moment pass us buy.

What a typically ignorant Trumpian comment R37.

"pass us buy..."

Some things I didn’t know about Buttigieg (there’s a lot more than just being gay and the mayor of South Bend, Indiana):

He served in the U.S. Navy from 2009-2017 and deployed to Afghanistan in 2014.

He graduated from Harvard and was a Rhodes Scholar at Cambridge.

He speaks fluid Arabic and taught himself to speak Norwegian.

Anyone else?

“Climate security, a life and death issue for our country.”

What the hell kind of name is Chasten?

Love him. I think he has the goods to go all the way.

[quote]Well thankfully most people with a brain care more about what a candidate wants to do to make a country better

Sadly, a lot of them don't vote. And those with no brains rush to the polling places.

I like his speech and I hope he gets far in the Primaries.

To have a gay POTUS would be extraordinary.

R55, have you been living in a cave?

Now mention Republican voter suppression, citizens United, and gerrymandering.

He reminds me of a young Mr Rogers.

[quote] What the hell kind of name is Chasten?

Troll clearly the most important thing to you is someone's name, so why don't you just go the fuck away to some right wing thread and support Trump.

[quote] What a typically ignorant Trumpian comment [R37].

R37 is most likely "And trump just won his second term" troll.

R60, a lot of people on here don’t know the candidate, so now’s your chance to inform them.

I’m not sure they’re all trolls, R45.

I have a couple of gay friends who have ragged on him, and it struck me as really self-loathing. They had nothing negative to say about him other than to make fun of his name and insist that Americans would never elect a gay president.

It’s not the first time they’ve made gay self-loathing comments, so it fits, but still disappointing.

I like him well enough that I have the World Figure Skating championships on mute and am listening to him.

Now talking about abolishing electoral college. Big applause.

He has such a sexy profile. I love his Roman nose.

R32 Shirtsleeves is let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work, businesslike, youthful and vigorous. And much more appropriate for the event than a formal suit and tie.

If they care more about his name than his ideas then they are trolls.

Internalized homophobia perhaps, R66. Same as misogyny in women who couldn't bring themselves to vote for Clinton in 2016 (other issues notwithstanding).

R14 Not so fast; there are almost 7,600 people watching now on Youtube. This thing is picking up steam!

Me too R31. What him soar in the polls.

Now talking about his military service.

If you’ve been watching his other appearances, a lot of this was his stump speech. If you haven’t, listen.

I see 10000 people watching on YT.

I see over 10k viewers, R73

Introduced his mom, talking about her healthcare. Someone in the crowd shouts, you did good, mom!

No fake platitudes like Booker and his “extending grace” bullshit yesterday.

She is right over WHERE? The person doing the video direction for this should get the boot.

He's not that famous, yet. How many viewers did you guys expect?

Now talking about gay marriage and its rights. And his dad who died this year.

Talked about Chas helping him care for elderly sick parents. And Medicare.

He's so relaxed talking about his husband and his parents and his in-laws. It's wonderful to see that on a national stage.

Pete already has strung together more coherent sentences in less than half an hour than Trump has in the two years. That's a feat in itself. Small feat, granted (since most people can do it), but still a feat nevertheless.

A lot of people probably didn't even know about this speech. I just happened to tune in because of this thread. Also, he doesn't have tens of thousands of bots padding his numbers.

From a T-Shirt posted on another thread-

[quote] His name is pronounced "Boot-a-Trump."

He is really hitting the kitchen table issues hard. You don’t have to have a degree to understand him.

“Starting today, we’re going to change the channel.” Cheers.

It will be the debate stage in June where Pete will get known by most of Americans, most aren't that tuned in yet. Thankfully he will be on that stage.

“The horror show in Washington”

[quote] He is really hitting the kitchen table issues hard. You don’t have to have a degree to understand him.

Yes. I thought the same thing.

Thanks R82, from those of us who are still without radios or televisions.

R48 I thought there would be more activity too!

I’m not seeing the anti gay trolls

I hope he continues to pick up steam and doesn’t pique too early. When to the debates begin?

[quote]“Starting today, we’re going to change the channel.”

I want that on a T-shirt.

Awesome.

R91, half this thread is apparently living in a vacuum and know nothing about this guy. Maybe they don’t have radios and televisions.

And no comments about his lack of a chin!

R45 is the only troll I see.

Sorry if this is OT, but anyone else feel that for whatever reason Trump may not well make it as far as November 2020?

He is doing a great job of humanizing himself and his family. He’s describing himself as a little bit, “wondering if his last name will be a stumbling block for the rest of his life. ..If I told him what was ahead, would he believe me?”

R93, the first debates will be June 26 and June 27. Ten candidates each day.

He's so terrific... this speech sounds like Obama. He can deliver a speech effectively which puts him so far ahead of some many in this crowded field.

Talking about his teenage self “feeling a certain way about other boys in the hall at school.”

I wouldn't blow him but I'd vote for him.

Wow. This guy is really turning on my waterworks. I'm so emotional as I type. He's the real deal.

Is anyone else getting a boner?

Yes, R102, I thought that too. Sounds like Obama, looks like MisterRogers...

Is he with child?

Jared, r106.

He mentions waking up and seeing reports about getting too much coverage as unbelievable. And imagines telling himself as a little boy, that one day he’ll announce as President with his husband looking on.

He comes off as so intelligent. He’s so well spoken, and it sounds sincere.

(Thanks r101)

[QUOTE]Sorry if this is OT, but anyone else feel that for whatever reason Trump may not well make it as far as November 2020?

For fuck’s sake, yes, he will make it. With bells on. He’s not going anywhere unless he’s removed at the ballot box.

[quote] Yes, [R102], I thought that too. Sounds like Obama, looks like MisterRogers...

He has warmth that Obama lacks.

He has the Obama “It” factor.

R99 Trump will make it to 2020. He’ll also be re-elected unless Pete picks up steam, which I think he will. Pete is the only one to beat Trump.

Will he kiss Chasten on camera when he finishes speaking?

Should he?

If only his husband was black, he'd have the nomination sewed up!

A New American Spring.

Well done Mayor Pete. Good job.

[quote]Pete already has strung together more coherent sentences in less than half an hour than Trump has in the two years.

Irony.

R115 is trolling.

R110 that was the grossest comment ever.

VOTE, PEOPLE!!!!

*****BUTTIEIEG*****

He just kissed a MAN!!!

“You and I will have a chance to usher in a new American spring.”

He didn’t run away from Trump. Good. But he introduced himself very well.

[QUOTE]He has warmth that Obama lacks.

Obama never lacked any warmth. The fuck are you talking about?

R121 you need to learn what trolling is.

Walking offstage hand in hand with his hubby. Amazing images.

CNN is now doing the highlights. They’re giving it good coverage.

Time cover.

I loved it. As an elderlez, I never thought we'd see this.

[quote]VOTE, PEOPLE!!!! *****BUTTIEIEG*****

Uh, maybe spell the man’s name right.

What is gross about R110?

He's got some really hot supporters!

Pete Buttigieg:

#SpringIsComing

This is history, folks.

He cannot continue to use Streisand’s music. I don’t care that it’s a stereotype as much as I care about her statements regarding the Jackson molestation victims. He needs to be more aware of things like that. She is persona non grata.

I cried at the end. A part because he's gay. A part because he's an effective speaker. But mostly because it was so refreshing to hear once again someone clearly and sincerely about ideas and ambitions and decent things.

That dude in the knit cap wants Chasten.

Really R136?

Spring notwithstanding, he is such a breath of fresh air. Maybe it's just because he's a genuinely effective natural speaker but it was so nice not to hear someone delivering a presidential speech delivered as they imagine a presidential speech should sound.

[quote][R121] you need to learn what trolling is.

I know what trolling is, my friend. Like saying that trump will win 100% in 2020. Based on what?

R138, MARY!!

R133 it just sounded too “inner child” to me. But I know everyone else love it.

He’s not as fiery a speaker as Obama but he’s real and sincere which is a breath of fresh air these days. Not a crusty old weirdo like Biden or a flakey arm-flailing poser like Beto.

I think the Streisand may have been Chasten’s idea. He mentioned it on Twitter.

CNN is having five back to back Town Halls of five candidates April 22. He is one.

Are candidates eligible to receive Secret Service protection once they announce?

President Butt, do you swear to have care for and respect your butt? The Butt’s of the USA

America, don't mess this one up.

That was an excellent speech. He's a natural.

[quote]Really [R136]?

Yes, it is amazing to see a male candidate for Presidency with his husband on a national stage. When was the last time you saw that in the US?

R142 who said Trump would win 100%? Can you cut and paste since I can’t seem to find anyone saying that? Seems you interpreted something differently

Beto has already become a parody of himself.

That was well done!

[quote]I think the Streisand may have been Chasten’s idea. He mentioned it on Twitter

It may have been, but the candidate (or those who advise him) should have vetted that a little better.

Thirteen photos of people arriving at the Buttigieg announcement. Click through the arrows at the upper right.

CNN is still covering shaking hands in the crowd as well as their own commentary. He’s getting good reviews from them. Fangirling over calling Chasten “my love.”

I can hardly wait to see the evangelist preachers freak out over that.

The best kickoff speech yet, by far.

My mom said she’s not ready for a gay president.

[quote][R142] who said Trump would win 100%? Can you cut and paste since I can’t seem to find anyone saying that? Seems you interpreted something differently

Here:

[quote][R99] Trump will make it to 2020. He’ll also be re-elected unless Pete picks up steam, which I think he will. Pete is the only one to beat Trump.

So Trump wins, even though there is absolutely nothing to support that suggestion. Maybe I am naive, but I do think that the majority of people will vote for whoever is on the other side of Trump in 2020.

C-SPAN has the best coverage.

For r147,

[quote]Serious presidential candidates begin receiving Secret Service protection during the primary campaigns and continue to get coverage through the fall election if they become the nominee.

I’m proud of him.

I'm cautiously optimistic about this guy. I don't want to close myself off to other candidates this soon, but he's certainly off to a great start. I do wonder though if his candidacy would be quite as intriguing without the gay element, but thankfully he has "something" that sets him apart in this already bloated field of candidates.

Can you see a Buttigieg/Warren ticket?

[quote] My mom said she’s not ready for a gay president.

Well she has over a year and 9 months to get ready.

R160, stop being so dramatic. Even the piece you quoted says nothing like what you said.

[quote]Trump will make it to 2020. He’ll also be re-elected [bold]unless Pete picks up steam, which I think he will. Pete is the only one to beat Trump.[/bold]

[QUOTE]Are candidates eligible to receive Secret Service protection once they announce?

He doesn’t need Secret Service protection.

And it was raining ice!

R165 He can do better than that.

Phonetically spell his name for me I cannot pronounce it.

What Streisand song did they play?

[quote]it was so nice not to hear someone delivering a presidential speech delivered as they imagine a presidential speech should sound.

Good comment.

I noticed a lot of blue collar people and lots of blue collar men in attendance. That's a good Democratic sign.

Let the Russian trolls begin.

R166 I love you! As long as they are not socialists she can work through it.

[quote][R160], stop being so dramatic. Even the piece you quoted says nothing like what you said.

[quote]Trump will make it to 2020. He’ll also be re-elected unless Pete picks up steam, which I think he will. Pete is the only one to beat Trump.

Let me show you something R115 / R152:

- Trump will make it to 2020. He’ll also be re-elected unless Beto picks up steam, which I think he will. Beto is the only one to beat Trump.

- Trump will make it to 2020. He’ll also be re-elected unless Bernie picks up steam, which I think he will. Bernie is the only one to beat Trump.

- Trump will make it to 2020. He’ll also be re-elected unless Biden picks up steam, which I think he will. Biden is the only one to beat Trump.

You'd think that people would be over the divisive tactics of 2016, but I guess not in your case.

That's all I have to say to you.

R160. You are a troll. I don’t see 100% in there anywhere. You take others words and then get mad when you give them your own interpretation. thats why Pete is such a good candidate. He has sense and isn’t on the defensive like you. You make Democrat’s look bad because you are an idiot.

#PeteForAmerica is now trending at #2 on Twitter. It skyrockted from out of nowhere shortly after his speech.

R159, my elderly uncle said the same thing about Obama. They were raised in a racist family. He wouldn’t vote for him and voted for McCain. They were also very hard core Democrats.

His brother voted for Obama. He was pretty racist too, but he didn’t want a Republican. It will probably come down to tribalism. You want to vote for the gay guy, or four more years of Trump? Every day Trump is in office he does something worse. He’s his own worst salesman. Just imagine when his taxes come out.

R177, see my post at R176.

Think before you call someone like me divisive.

Just donated $50 to pad the coffers.

R172, Chas said it would be “Don’t Rain On My Parade,” because it was raining.

R156, thirteen photos and not a single person of color.

Oh, obviously R177 is R115.

Look, you think if it's not Pete than Trump wins, fine. I disagree with you and I hope most Democrats have a more flexible view of the Democratic field than you do.

[quote]I do wonder though if his candidacy would be quite as intriguing without the gay element, but thankfully he has "something" that sets him apart in this already bloated field of candidates.

Fair point but I think it applies mostly here. I also think he's a novelty because he's only been mayor of a small city and is under forty... so there's other kind of WTF? aspects of the candidacy.

But he's landing... look at the recent Iowa polls... third behind Biden and Sanders. So whatever the basis for his intrigue it is broader than just what registers here.

And I think that's fucking awesome.

R159 I think it’s just new for her. Before she mentioned he’s gay she said he seemed too wimpy. So the wimpy personality bothered her more than gay.

Pete can win back the white male blue collar vote that the Democratic leadership ignored.

[QUOTE]Pete can win back the white male blue collar vote that the Democratic leadership ignored.

What “Democratic leadership”? You mean Hillary Clinton?

R171, BOOT EDGE EDGE said fast. Bootejej. Bootejej.

That's like a friend's 70 something year old mother who said in 2008 that she is not ready to vote for a black man for POTUS, R186. My friend's response to her was: there may not be time for you to become ready sometime in the future. Cruel, but true.

How many announcements does each candidate get, lol? It’s free press so I don’t mind

R182, Will Babs support Kamala Harris, her Senator?

In October, Omarosa will release the N-word tape. And Pete — if Pete has reasonable border-security plan — will win!

He has really stoked the trolls. The Kremlin is nervous. This thread smells of vodka and cigarettes.

R186, he looks wimpy but he’s got a steel spine. He probably got bullied a lot for being gay. He’s been through it. Indiana is conservative.

Tell her to watch his CNN Town Hall, it’s on YouTube.

Tiger is stealing all of Pete’s thunder with his masters win. Stupid golf.

R160 I’d be more inclined to agree to disagree and I’m going to focus on casting my vote for the right candidate which I do really hope is Pete. Best to you.

[quote] He has really stoked the trolls. The Kremlin is nervous. This thread smells of vodka and cigarettes.

Unfortunately I think the trolls so far are either Trump supporters or Democrats supporting other candidates, I don't get why at this point they can't just support their candidates.

[quote] Will Babs support Kamala Harris, her Senator?

Kamala is my senator and I'm all in for Mayor Pete.

That’s why I was surprised they covered it as long as it did. Tiger won minutes before the Buttigieg event.

R171, just like Ellen said, Buddah-jedge, if you say Boot-edge-edge at a normal rate, it comes out exactly the same. Boot-eh-jedge

Don't worry, you will be hearing it a lot.

[quote] My mom said she’s not ready for a gay president.

Then you tell her that you're not ready for her. Don't put up with that shit.

r196, what is this golf you talk of?

Pete and Chasten spoke the crowd outside that wouldn't fit inside before his speech inside.

What are his views on environment, economy for America, seniors, immigration and health care? We need to start talking about those so people who read this thread can see if it’s something they want to get behind.

He has a good speaking style and comes across as more sincere than Beto, but he will not go anywhere if he is associated with trans.

R86 Ahahaha! Love that! Boot-a-tRump!

The crowd stuck outside in the rain.

Yes! HIStory! Fish to the back of the line! It's Gay Men's time to shine!

Don't be divisive, R209.

R210, I have lived my entire life in homophobia, more often than not from women. The US having a gay man as president, or even just as a nominee would be earth-shattering for me. I've spent enough time falling in line behind 'allies'. Now I want my man to lead. So fish can shut up.

I love his calmness and presence.

I didn't hear Babs, but I did hear CCR. Was I hallucinating? Agree, r212

PETE

To those explaining how to pronounce his name, I thank you. I’ve been seeing it written here on the DL for a while and never knew how to pronounce it.

Is he a Norwegian Episcopalian?

I say Buddha judge.

Boot-edge-edge.

It would be so fucking fabulous if the gay 37-year old defeated the full-of-himself, criminal, fraud and liar Trump.

[quote]What are his views on environment, economy for America, seniors, immigration and health care? We need to start talking about those so people who read this thread can see if it’s something they want to get behind.

Well, most people who read this thread also heard his speech, where he covered those things.

I finally got to see him speak and *whew*. Today's voters want pizzazz, energy, ideas, wit and personality. There is no there there.

[quote][R210], I have lived my entire life in homophobia, more often than not from women. The US having a gay man as president, or even just as a nominee would be earth-shattering for me. I've spent enough time falling in line behind 'allies'. Now I want my man to lead. So fish can shut up.

It's too bad about your experiences with women and it's too bad you can't be the bigger person.

Well, he's on the radar now. He should take the first potshot tweet from Trump as a badge of honor, which, I'm sure, is coming soon.

[quote]Today's voters want pizzazz, energy, ideas, wit and personality.

Trump doesn't have any of that and yet he somehow got elected.

R205, a good start is watching his CNN Town Hall. He covers a lot of issues there. He’s doing another CNN Town Hall April 22.

He’s very interested in healthcare. Both his parents were very ill last year and his dad died, so he’s talked a lot about Medicare and affordable healthcare. His platform is “Medicare for all who want it,” in other words a public option where you could voluntarily sign up for Medicare, but if you don’t want it no one’s making you. He thinks people would gradually migrate to Medicare but they have to try it first in some cases.

Very interested in addressing climate change.

R220 I totally disagree. Today’s voters want short, gay intellectuals who can speak broken Norwegian.

[quote]There is no there there.

Paradoxical use of this phrase, to apply it to a lack of style (over substance). Most of today's voters actually want a steady hand and someone who pays attention to the concrete effects of policy. And won't steal from regular people to enrich the rich.

Watch the trannies fuck this up as well.

r225 As opposed to a candidate who speaks zero Norwegian? Your deplorable anti-intellectualism jumped out, troll.

R225 That's a vast improvement over a fat, orange-washed misogynistic/xenophobic criminal who speak broken English.

R221, an experience with gays and women that comes to mind is a dear friend of mine who got AIDS in the 1980s. He was single and his parents threw him out and disowned him. A group of his high school girl friends, whom he’d remained friends with for years, got together, took shifts and nursed him around the clock. The parents never came around. The friends were with him until he died.

You’d better “MARY!!!” me in advance, r230, cause I am now crying like a little girl. Go ‘head, I can take it.

Thank you for posting that incredible, heartwarming post.

R230 here. I’m not ”MARY!ing” you. That’s exactly how I felt about it too. What great friends. He was a lovely person though. Just very lovable and funny. That was back when they couldn’t do much for people other than nursing them.

I'm not going to allow myself to get too excited and hopeful, been there and done that with the Mueller report, but, I was so proud and so impressed. He is charismatic, photogenic in a Kennedy sort of way, compassionate, relatable and intelligent. He is a much needed soothing presence.

I missed it!

Any gay porn stars in the audience?

That kiss between Pete and Chasten was phenomenal.

The Democrats like and respect women. Not all Republicans can say that. We need to be united folks. I like all if the Democrats and it drives my republican family nuts as they try to pit me against other dems. Not biting, grandma

There were 65k people on Twitter live for most of the broadcast I've followed, including that over enthusiastic 70 year old black lady claiming she was both Obama's confidant and Pete's second mother.

Old farts here need to keep up with technology to understand it's cross plataform nature. I bet Twitch was even higher in numbers.

I’d like a candidate that can speak Norwegian.

Would Kamala/Pete work? or Pete/Kamala?

Or would either work?

You can replay Pete's official 2020 presidential campaign announcement here

Here’s something interesting, they’ve designed campaign logos for every state. They’re very well designed, take a look.

No, r239. No.

I will not vote for a ticket with her name on it. I’d rather not vote.

R242. Keep your eye on the prize. Stay focused. The point of all this is to defeat Trump however possible. We must defeat Trump. Not voting or throwing away your vote in 2020 is unacceptable. Throw your ideology aside, hold your nose and do whatever you have to do, but the goal is to defeat Trump. And if Kamala is on the ticket, you must vote for her and work toward defeating Trump.

I don’t like Washington’s logo. A bit basic. I think it can be better and more bold

Wow, I was reading further about the campaign logos that were designed for each state. They were designed not in red, white and blue, but in colors that have meaning to South Bend local residents. One of the colors is a Studebaker blue car color. Studebaker had a big abandoned, rusty old plant there and Pete pushed to have it remodeled and made into a local business center and landmark of the town. Another color is a local candy store, another is for the decorative lights Pete had put out on the river, another landmark locally.

And two of the colors are named after the Buttigiegs’ two dogs, Buddy and Truman, local celebrities with a big twitter following.

The logos do a good job of representing the individual states. A lot of them look like they’re based on local team logos or license plate styles. A lot of thought went into this. Well done.

I agree R243. I am voting for every Democrat across the board. Of course there will be some candidates I don't like, but I'm voting for them anyway. My vote is to make sure we don't have 4 more years of the criminal we have in office now. I would love it if Mayor Pete becomes President Pete, I truly think he is "the one", but right now, any Democrat will do.

Any Democrat will do but I really really hope it's not Bernie.

THAT SPEECH WAS FUCKING AWESOME.

I hope you bitches vote for Pete! I'm not a US Citizen so I'll just have to cheer in spirit.

I liked his speech, although the kiss was a bit of a cop out. They went for the cheeks (and looked a bit stilted). Is this normal for straight nominees as well? If so I'm just reading into it I guess, although a quick peck on the lips would have been better!

R188 I mean Pelosi, Schumer, Hillary, Obama. Out with the old.

What about Biden and Sanders, R250? Not old enough?

R249, Al Gore gave Tipper Gore a passionate kiss when he ran for President and people cringed horribly. Just awful. Like a wooden robot trying to be “passionate.” They said it was like watching your parents kissing. I’d say a kiss on the check is pretty normal.

His speech was basically everything hes been talking about lately lol it was fine, but nothing amazing. He's my guy, and I'm sure he'll be picking up steam very soon!

How much longer do you think the other dem candidates will continue to not come after the others?

Chasten is a very lucky man. Every guy wants to meet a man who is the total package like Pete. Not gonna lie, I'm jealous.

Cheek, not check. ^^

r252 Thanks for the backstory! I looked up the clip, it looks like they had a quick peck followed by the snog. I think Pete and Chasten should have went for a quick peck. Do you think they're kiss looked a bit awkward? Part of me thinks Pete is a bit embarrassed by PDAs.

He doesn't have enough experience ffs. Mayor of a fucking small town. NO FUCKING WAY. I doubt he can handle NYC, let alone the fucking country.

R239 no. Kamala is Type A as is Pete. Pete will already win CA without Kamala. He needs a Midwestern Veep like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who'll have 4 years as Governor with a Michigan economy that's already turning around.

I kind of think that Pete will need an attack dog as a VP, R257. And Kamala Harris may be the right person to do that job.

R255 not as awkward a kiss as Al Gore and his wife at the 2000 convention.

Agree, someone like Kamala will really give it to Pence in the VP debate. Last time, Tim Kaine was far too soft spoken and had weak debate skills.

No, r3. It's Butt-I-gag.

Maybe you had to see it live and know the context, but this was very out of character for Gore and people were covering their eyes and diving off the couch, like when you watch a horror movie.

[quote] it looks like they had a quick peck followed by the [bold]snog[/bold]

I am loving this new word I just found out about.

For R3:

R263 = decidedly not British ;)

I forgot how much I visually enjoyed Gore back in the day. Zaddy af!

This should be the campaign poster!

I haven't been able to post all day (was it primetime- maybe that's why the thread was so slow) but can now. I watched, cried, donated and got (so far) several of my previously uninformed /disinterested friends watching and discussing Mayor Pete also.

r256 He has more executive experience than Trump, ffs! And I'd take a mayor over a parliamentarian any day.

r166 is a much better person than I am

r269 No primetime; hasn't been on in a while.

hmmm. maybe I was being spanked?

[quote]but I did hear CCR. Was I hallucinating?

Up around the Bend was the first song after Pete spoke

Yeah, 24h soft bans happen sometimes.

[quote] Any Democrat will do but I really really hope it's not Bernie.

Bernie is the only total dealbreaker for me.

Is Chasten short for Charlesten?

Another anyone but Bernie. Bernie and Trump are my two dealbreakers.

Bernie is having a big ass rally in Pittsburgh.

No mention of Pete on the ABC evening news. Shameful.

R257, Gov. Whitmer will not have anything close to 4 years as governor by the 2020 election.

[quote]Just so you know, it is raining and cold in South Bend,

"South Bend! It sounds almost like dancing!"

R281 Whitmer s been a state legislator, Senator, now Governor. More than enough experience to be Pete’s Veep.

I really like him. He has snowball's chance in hell of being elected.

One of my friends, the biggest Bernie supporter that I know, said her husband watched it and he said that several times he felt like he was watching history being made. So, now she's watching it

MSNBC pundit says he's too weird and Trump will prevail.

[quote]He has really good energy, but I don't think he is seasoned enough. This round, probably not, next round, very likely. He would be a great VP.

Harris/Buttigieg would be the best ticket.

I love Pete and he’s still my fave! We didn’t end up driving to south Bend today because this snow in Chicago is a real bitch.

But he’s still so great. None of the others have caught my eye and I am 85% convinced any other candidate save Biden has no chance in hell.

Frightening ... yeah, that's it!

[quote]MSNBC conservative: Pete Buttigieg is ‘so unusual and frightening’ that people will ‘flock to Trump’

Because there's nothing unusual or frightening about the dotard.

He had more people show up to his official announcement than Booker! Love it!

Booker is DOA.

r286 "Unusual" and "frightening" - I really do wonder what those two code words stand for. Is it his knowledge of more than one language, or the fact that he served in the military, unlike their turd leader?

Who am I kidding, of course she was referring to the homo part.

r293 - "Unusual" and "frightening" are code words for "Episcopalian"

Unusual and Frightening is a good description of Bernie Sanders.

"Unusual" = "gay."

"Frightening" = "extreme leftist," i.e. supoorts Social Security and Medicare.

This is boilerplate Republican code. Usually they spell it out, though.

I like the Pete's healthcare platform. Medicare for all who want it. It's not some sweeping thing that rethugs can use to scare rural America (who are the ones who'd benefit the most) into thinking the government is out to control their lives.

I think Chandelle's turkey neck is frightening and unusual.

"but he will not go anywhere if he is associated with trans."

He did not say the word "transgender" once in his speech, and they're already raising hell about it on Twitter.

"He needs a Midwestern Veep like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who'll have 4 years as Governor with a Michigan economy that's already turning around."

He needs to turn Wisconsin around. And I'm gonna dare to dream...

He's so unusual and frightening that he's frightened people into donating over $1MM since he made the announcement a few hours ago. Scary!

R286 I don't think he's weird but I don't think he will get the black/Hispanic/Asian vote or the deplorable vote, leaving just the whites in coastal cities.

[quote]"He needs a Midwestern Veep like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who'll have 4 years as Governor with a Michigan economy that's already turning around

We don’t need two executives on the ticket. A Mayor and a Governor with zero Washington experience.

His running mate will need to be a Senator.

Terrible candidate, though an eloquent speaker. Utterly unqualified, zero experience to match the “job’ he is seeking. I’m gay - so who cares about that issue. Nothing whatsoever in his mayoral background qualifies for the White House. Americans are so desperate for someone that can speak in complete sentences they have totally embraced the Deplorable’s “who cares if He doesnt have experience!” Well Americans better START caring.

If you think experience doesnt matter - look no further than the 9/11 attack on NYC - and the actual events that unfolded in its wake. Thanks to Sen Hillary Clinton NYC rebounded within days - minus the bldgs - the city was up and running within weeks. Her experience as FLOTUS gave her a birds eye view of the need to immed source funding to rebuild the city. Bush had no idea - Hillary had a financial assessment at her fingertips within hours: Small Businesses, infrastructure, public transportation, health care, EPA, etc. Within hours with her status as Senator of NY - she had procured itemized funds and rallied every branch of the gov. THIS Is what extensive DC insider experience looks like. Lives DEPEND ON IT. Pete?? NONE.

Dont compare him with Pres Obama’s thin governmental bkgrd. OB knew the players in the Dem party. Every single institution in the government was functional and staffed with long term highly experienced and professional staff. Pete? Well Trump, Jared, Miller, Bannon, Minuchen, DeVos etc have displaced, laid off, fired 50% of those professionals. (Why do you think Hillary Clinton spent the past 2 years urging gov workers to remain, dont quit, rebuilding these agencies is going to be ahorrific task.) ..... Pete? No. FUCKING. CLUE.

That is not a task for an On The Job Training Candidate. Instead we would have a man that competing parties will be trying to gain influence over. That is a principle diff between Pete & Beto vs everyone else. Nearly all candidates have trusted advisors they have worked with on other high priority federal issues.

Lastly, we need highly experienced Prosecutors for the upcoming election. If Grifter survives and campaigns Dems will need a HIGHLY EXPERIENCED, SUCCESSFUL, PROSECUTOR that can make a a case about Grifters Lawlessness - including his ENTIRE appointees. The election will surely be contested - an experienced Prosecutor like like Harris, Klobuchar and Warren - will fight and be able to comprehend every avenue to win against these pricks.

A WINNING PROSECUTOR WILL BE EXTRAORDINARY. She will have to be tough as shit, experienced like no other and with KILLER INSTINCT. Pete? He will be learning how to order his tea while Putin Amasses troops on the border of the Balkans.

If I was Putin, I would be pouring a TON of money into Pete’s candidacy in the LGBT community, If I was Putin with my pathological hate for Gays, I would be pushing this guy at every turn - along with Beto on the Left and straight white crowd. IF I was Putin I would be pouring a ton of money into Bernie - like before.

If I was Putin I would be trying to peel off votes from the candidates, the Law & Order, highly successful women Prosecutors, the Lawyers that would stand in contrast to Don the CON - I would fear Kamala, Amy and Elizabeth the most of all. They have balls and they will FIGHT and humiliate the GOP and all of the Trumps.

If I was Putin I would pray for Pete’s success/or Beto’s - the most inexperienced, prettiest talker, most unprepared guys that would be strung up for months as I sacked the West and it’s allies. I would make his LGBT status the single issue. Our community would certainly abandon common sense for it - look no further than this thread for evidence of that recklessness.

He will if he has a black or Hispanic woman on the ticket, R302.

Wait, are you Putin, R304?

No one likes Kamala, R304 deal with it.

This song was even written for her.

[quote]but I did hear CCR. Was I hallucinating?

He’s a fan of CCR. And Hendrix. (He was interviewed on TMZ.)

EEWWW! I don't like R304

R304, yes, I agree Hillary was the best and most qualified person to be President, but that ship has sailed, and we don’t have a Hillary any more. I think Mayor Pete, with his limited experience, is intelligent enough to rise to the occasion. I have high hopes for him.

R 304 NO I am not Putin. I survived 9/11 and am appalled at the otherwise smart LGBT communities that are lining up for this 3rd tier lack of experience over actual accomplished candidates that have done things like participate in Senate Justice Committees, Senate Intelligence Committees, have qualified for Top Secret Clearances, etc.

I also have worked in war zones, dealt extensively with foreign governments hostile and allies. I am STUNNED that this guy could actually take votes from highly qualified loyal American’s that fight everyday for our Democracy and have a clue about the actual dangers facing this country - like Cyberwarfare briefings.

Pete is a fucking distraction from the crisis at hand.

High Hopes? Wow, the actual security of the US is at stake.

Personally I am looking for proven track reactors and qualifications. Not big words.

[quote]Lastly, we need highly experienced Prosecutors for the upcoming election.

I agree that a Prosecutor will make the strongest candidate this time around. I think Kamala will easily take on Trump.

Did Pete reject you on Tinder, r304?

*proven track records and problems solved.

R304, for an American you have a very uncertain command of spelling, capitalization, and the apostrophe s.

I wish Stacy Abrams would through her hat in the ring already. I think a Abrams/Buttigieg ticket would be formidable.

Trump had no experience, which isn’t the worst part. The worst part is that he doesn’t have the intelligence to learn on the job. He’s been there two years and he doesn’t understand any more about how government works than he did two years ago.

Buttigieg would do two things Trump never will: one, be intelligent enough to roll with the punches, which any President must do. Virtually any President’s number one issue is something nobody ever heard of when he was running. 9/11, Pearl Harbor, etc. You can’t plan for that, you have to adapt. You have to be quick on your feet.

Two, hire smart people. If Trump had admitted he knew nothing about governing, and hired one capable person after another for his cabinet, he would be doing much better now. But his number one priority is people willing to cover up his wrong-doing. Competency isn’t even on the list.

Harry Truman didn’t even know there was a Manhattan Project when he became President. FDR left him out of everything. He had to be briefed about virtually everything when FDR died because he was outside the loop, and there was a war going on. He did okay.

I like Mayor Pete

Stacey Abrams is never going to happen.

Pete is not only incredibly intelligent, he's a diplomat. Even those who don't like him have nice things to say for the most part. That's what's needed.

R309 - “EEWWW! I don't like [R304]”

You’re not alone R309; nobody likes R304.

Stacey has just as much of a chance to "happen" as Mayor Pete does.

R318. Incorrect. none of your examples work.

Trump, Tillerson, Bannon Kushner have fired nearly all the heads of Institutions. There is little experience to draw upon. When compiled with Pete’s total Lack of PROVEN TRACK RECORD, total lack of HISTORY Working with DC we will have Dem Light when we need. Overwhelming competance.

How selfish is this man - he doesnt know what he has no clue about. I like my mayor also - but I sure as shit wouldn’t want her running the country. Pete is White Man Vanity Project and the misogyny in here is palpable.

Yuck. No more pushing of prosecutors as the be-all, end-all apex of politicians. More scientists, diplomats, professors, those who have actually served in combat and know the human face of war -- people with empathy, not just some iron fist.

^^^^^^^^^

Uhhh, no she doesn’t. Sorry, next! Thanks for playing.

I like Pete and would vote for him but there is a little part of my cynical brain that says there is little bit of something "Stepford Gay" about him.

R304, in the United States, the President doesn’t work in the Justice Department, and the President does not enforce the law. In fact, the Justice Department is supposed to be held at arm’s length by the President and be independent of the President. Trump is extremely abnormal in that respect. Obama had nothing to do with the Justice Department which is normal precedent.

The President is not a law enforcement official, does not prosecute crimes and does not put people in jail. The President is not a judge and does not bring people to trial. That is a separate branch of government in the United States

I'm sorry, r324, what kind of experience does Kamala have besides being AG in CA? And don't say the Senate. She was elected 2 minutes ago. The job of an AG is nothing like that of a president. Maybe she should throw her hat in the ring as the AG in the next administration.

[quote]Overwhelming competance.

Oh, dear!

Running against Don the Con - you BETTER have a terrific strong Prosecutor for the Debates. Someone with gravitas that can close an argument against this fucking criminal. Americans will show up to turn him out by millions.

R328 - not my point. I am well aware of this. Pete is light in the loafers, no thanks. I do not want him at the helm of an emergency - Already been thru it on 9/11. America deserves a qualified President - not someone our enemies hope will win.

[quote]Would Kamala/Pete work? or Pete/Kamala?

I have a hard time imagining her vibe working with his vibe and vice versa. I really feel Kamala is best suited to busting balls in the Senate. I could see her at State though, if she wanted it.

Cheeto doesn't work that way, R331. He knows nothing, he just insults and humiliates. Pete is clearly an amazing speaker and debater. He's quick on his feet, knowledgable, and answers without sounding condescending. Kamala is not very knowledgable in anything but criminal justice (sorry, heard her speak), not very quick on her feet, and not particularly charismatic.

There are plenty of people that are not prosecutors that did okay in debates. What Presidents have actually been prosecutors?

FDR - no

Truman -no

Eisenhower -no

JFK -no

Reagan -no

Clinton -no

Both Bushes - no

Obama -no

Don’t know about the others. Nixon practiced law in California but that’s not a great example of an ideal President.

[quote]Pete is light in the loafers, no thanks

And there it is.

That didn’t take long.

"Pete is light in the loafers, no thanks."

Okay, thanks for clearing up what you don't like about Pete, R332. We should've guessed that's what it was about all along.

I was going to say, there’s the dog whistle. R332 thinks being gay disqualifies someone from being President.

Trump is running again, R332. There you go.

Not every expression is a “dog whistle”.

That poster’s point was that Pete is inexperienced. Which is true... he’s a 37-year-old Mayor.

No, R339. Light in the loafers has one meaning and it has nothing to do with experience. Thanks for playing.

: LIGHT IN THE LOAFERS - "light-footed - pertaining to a homosexual male. Cf. 'light' (sense 1). Light on his feet. (U.S. slang, 1900s.) light - 1. lewd; wanton (numerous writings attest since the 1300s)." : From "Slang and Euphemism: A Dictionary of Oaths, Curses, Insults, Ethnic Slurs, Sexual Slang and Metaphor, Drug Talk, College Lingo and Related Matters" by Richard A. Spears (New American Library, Penguin Putnam, New York, Third Edition, 2001).

: light in the loafers - or light on one's feet - (of men) effeminate or homosexual. 1967 DAS (Dictionary of American Speech)(Supp.) Lightfooted.Homosexual. Fairly common since c1955."

: From "Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 2, H-O, by J.E. Lighter, Random House, New York, 1997."

Blocking R332 took care of all the other unhinged posts.

Pete was most certainly not bullied in school. He's a very regular guy. I'm also gay and like him masculine and never had to deal with bullying much less for being gay. He might have gotten shit for being a nerd. We're roughly the same age but unlike him I don't come from boondock Indiana and I was raised by liberal parents.

Sounds like he was a self-hating closet-case for a long time.

I am fully aware what “Light in the Loafers” means I used it deliberately. When it comes to managing the entire Federal Government, handling crisis, wars, global enemies... I repeat it has urgency added - he is PROFOUNDLY “Light” in loafers/experience. Dangerously in fact.

I bet Putin is pouring millions into him.

I bet Putin is pouring nickels into you, R345.

He is being tolerated because he is masculine. A more fem-acting gay candidate would not stand a chance.

He's vastly overqualified compared to the OragneShitGibbon we have now.

these loafers?

He's also more qualified than Kamala as she has no executive experience.

Are there really any men out there like Pete? A relationship oriented, smart, driven guy who won't cheat on you? He truly is a unicorn. Evey gay man I've ever went out with pales in comparison to Pete. Pete and Chasten are so lucky.

Please learn when to capitalize and then get back to us, R304.

LOL R 350... Harris just ran the DOJ for Ca... so I guess his office job eclipsed that!

The difference would be say, a President Hillary Clinton picking up the hot line after some bs from North Korea in the middle of the night “Get me Under Secretary Wendy Sherman immediately.” Pete. “Who should I call?”

He’s blowing his load way to early. Being mayor of Jupiter Hallow, Indiana doesn’t impress anyone. If he wasn’t gay he wouldn’t have gotten a second of attention.

Nice try, R345, but you're making no sense. If you used "light in the loafers" deliberately, you meant to disparage Pete B. as a gay man.

"Pete is light in the loafers" certainly did expose our resident caps-lock enthusiast as a homophobic troll. The heavy-handed insistence that "I survived 9/11" and the eccentric spelling and punctuation should have tipped us off. The fascists must be getting a little scared of Pete. But why would a troll use Pete's lack of national experience as a demoralizing tool? We already know that about him, and we're more impressed by his performance than what's on his cv. Oh well, troll's gotta troll—maybe take a page from Karl Rove's book next time and target the opponents perceived strength, not his weakness.

R304 is Bernie supports. It and its ilk needs to be eliminated

There are a lot of Russian Bernie supporters. That actually makes sense.

Blowhard R304 obviously can't read the room if he thinks Kamala is winning the nomination. I don't even think she will win California. Of course if Pete somehow does get the nomination, he is voting for him, right?

I doubt R304 (etc.) is a Bernie supporter. Bernie supporters wouldn't go on and on about what a great job Hillary did in the aftermath of 9/11, and then (not so) subtly push Harris.

R352 - “Please learn when to capitalize and then get back to us, [R304].”

No, R304! Do not get back to us under ANY circumstances.

[quote]If he wasn’t gay he wouldn’t have gotten a second of attention.

This is true.

Any chicken little worried about how Pete or any Democratic President could possibly survive/thrive with hollowed-out agencies has no clue about how Washington works. The cabinet will be drafted throughout the summer before the election, and all through the transition legions of top-notch Obama-Administration people will drop their new, lucrative gigs for a chance to get in there and fix things. Agency pros forced or disgusted into early retirement will come back. Before Day One.

None of that happens, though, if we sit here nitpicking rather than working our asses of to elect a Democratic President, Senate, and House..

No, neither a troll, or berner. I am a life long Dem, survived 9/11 and was throughout the MId East in the aftermath. I am also queer, very very queer. Pete is unqualified, he is an eloquent mayor. He needs to run for something else, prove himself and get back to us after winning a statewide seat in Congress. Pfft. There are lots of “smart guys” everywhere. He will split the Dems, put Joe or Bernie in candidates spot and Trump will win.

Pete will be much admired by Putin. I stand by my previous remarks. I also agree that if he wasnt gay he wouldnt have gotten a minute of air time.

[quote] resident caps-lock enthusiast

LOL, R355. I'm still scratching my head, trying to figure out why R353 inexplicably decided to capitalize Under!

This guy is VP-candidate material.

There are good guys out there, r351. Exception is that most aren't as pretty as Mayor Pete.

R361, I don’t think so. I’ve been following him at least since the CNN Town Hall. It was like listening to a tranquilizer. “Don’t worry, we won’t have crazy people running things forever, there are smart people out there...it’s going to be okay.” It was like your parents telling you a soothing bedtime story. I think that’s what’s really so notable about him.

The others were all, “Trump sucks! Fight him with everything you have! Let me remind you of every frightening, horrible thing Trump has ever done!”

Peter: “Don’t worry, soon it will be okay again. All is not lost.” That’s what people are really responding to. It was so hopeful and refreshing. A promise of a return to normality no one else had.

By the way Senator Clinton certainly DID do an excellent job in restoring NYC after 9/11. Point in fact - Bush thought that ”bldg insurance would Take care of it.” Hillary presented a list and we received almost $20Bill in.funds.

In 2016 NYC voted for Hillary 9:1, GOP & Dems for her - nothing for Trump. Yes she was that good, Schumer just watched and wondered WTF was going on.

Pete? Not a prayer. Earn it then. Run.

I agree with you, r365. I think he'd be a compliment to any ticket and he'd probably be better served cutting his teeth as Vice President first and then go for the brass ring in a future election.

R 364 “Under Secretary” is capitalized. No wonder you love “Pete.”

As evident on this thread, Pete is going to have problems with straight women and PoC, because of the competition.

Poor Eric Swalwell had is own hometown rally this afternoon, and some random--and I think quite bitchy--commentator on CNN called him "the poor man's Pete Buttigieg."

I love his new Twitter profile photo. It makes him look like a saint when others retweet him.

I will push any highly experienced Senator, former Prosecutor that can take the case against Trump to the people. It can be Klobuchar, Harris or Warren. Pete is out of his depth and is deliberately refusing to discuss policies. Very unfortunate - because Americans have a crisis in leadership and want to know how “normal” is going to be restored. That takes implementing policies. Unless you are Pete or Donald, that is.

[quote] It can be Klobuchar, Harris or Warren.

Klobuchar and Warren are not even in the top five in most polls. Kamala is not even leading polls in her own state. It's looking very likely that there will be another candidate who gets the nomination, and you're just going to have to deal with it.

R351, don’t be so hard on yourself. Even a fuggo like Chasten was able to marry Pete. There’s always hope for you.

[quote]Buda-judge also gets you there.

So does “Boo! Da judge!”

I like Andrew Sullivan's phonetization: Booty Judge.

Pete Buttigieg is no Marianne Williamson.

I pronounce it “Big Cock-ock” but you must say it quickly.

[quote] Pete is out of his depth and is deliberately refusing to discuss policies.

And here, troll, you lose everyone who's actually seen him interviewed or giving a speech. Why do you persist?

[quote]Pete Buttigieg is no Marianne Williamson.

Poor Marianne. Her candidacy has sunk faster than you can say “Andrew Yang.”

He must be a top. With a beer can sized cock.

Do you think Marianne will get more than five votes?

Mayor Pete is absolutely the top. One look at the Mrs. tells me the only way he could get hard is on his back, with his legs thrown over his shoulders.

[quote] . Pete is light in the loafers, no thanks. I do not want him at the helm of an emergency - Already been thru it on 9/11. America deserves a qualified President - not someone our enemies hope will win.

Are you seriously saying that a guy who served as an intelligence officer in the Navy for 8 years and fought in Afghanistan is light in the loafers and unqualified to manage a crisis? You have to be a troll. You clearly have no idea what it takes to be in the intelligence field, let alone fight in a war.

Marianne Williamson? I thought we were trying to get a delusional nutjob OUT of the White House!

He's rising in the latest NH poll, not far behind Bernie.

I love the Buttigiegs but I fear Pete is mussy whipped. The Streisand music was cringeworthy.

My God, if this is true, Pete is unreal.

Just ordered my "20PETE20" mug. The shipping cost added more than 50%. Whoever becomes president should start by fixing what the Republicans have done to postal rates.

I see in Chasten tremendous potential to put a foot wrong. I am not saying he will... but I just get a sense of a barely supressed screaming queen in there, determined to rock the election, in one way or another. Bless his heart.

Today is the first day I have felt optimism in regards to politics since Trump’s election. You could tell there was a buzz in the air today. EVERYONE is talking about Mayor Pete. There is just so much excitement.

I think he not only has enough power to win the nomination, but I think he’ll beat Trump too. Our first gay president. I’m so proud of America right now.

R393, steady on...

Oh Marys calm down it's April 2019.

What Streisand song did they play? Don’t Rain On My Parade? If so, totally appropriate. If it was something else, that was pretty gay.

Whoever said Pete needs to put Stacy Abrams with him on the ticket needs to be punched in the face. Harris too.

That would just be handing the election to Trump.

I cringed when he kissed his boyfriend. They should have played Its Raining Men

Elizabeth Warren as his running mate would leave political pundit-land a landscape of exploded heads - - ha ha!

Who's his boyfriend? They are that open about their marriage and the boyfriend goes to events too? Like Dan and Terry and their throuple? Will the boyfriend go to the White House? Like the Roosevelts and their lovers?

What is the troll at R400 alluding to?

R400 is obviously exposing the true troll at R398.

Wait for the former military guy come out to say Pete looked at him in the shower.

Pete, like any clever self respecting gay, would respond, yeah I looked but there wasn't much to see, finally.

Beware "lifelong Democrats" on DL. It was ever thus.

[quote]Are you seriously saying that a guy who served as an intelligence officer in the Navy for 8 years and fought in Afghanistan is light in the loafers and unqualified to manage a crisis?

Someone did indeed assert that. About someone who has probably managed more crises effecting more people than any of the Senators or Representatives.

The troll in question was pretending to think that Pete was some inconnu who had just risen up in the local politics of South Bend without any other connections or experience and would be learning everything on the job.

[quote]Whoever said Pete needs to put Stacy Abrams with him on the ticket needs to be punched in the face. Harris too. That would just be handing the election to Trump.

Why? It makes a lot more sense that two white Midwesterners (like the Gretchen Whitmer suggestion earlier in the thread).

Do you realize how many Americans are not white? Motivating African Americans and/or Hispanics to go to the polls would generate far more votes than would be lost from racists who only want to vote for white people.

I noticed that. Mayor is “just an office job,” while being a prosecutor is apparently a “real job.” But not an office job.

That poster lives in a city where prosecutors prosecute while running through meadows of flowers. Or cruising the mean streets in a Mustang. Or whatever.

[quote]Today is the first day I have felt optimism in regards to politics since Trump’s election.

Similar here, but it’s my second. When Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House again, that was a good day too.

Here’s Kamala Harris prosecuting on the mean streets of San Francisco while Pete Buttigieg was only doing executive management from a desk in an office. Just her driving alone proves she would be a macho President. /s

Buttigieg needs to be careful about his running mate. Obama made a good choice. A guy that had a very long history in Congress and good working relationships there, but who was a second banana type. Not trying to hog the limelight or take away from the less experienced Obama, but a good sidekick.

Buttigieg needs to find somebody that has spent many years quietly slogging in a back room. Whose name is good but is not a glory hog. If he could find somebody with a lot of credibility that’s not currently in Congress, or in Congress but will be replaced by a Democratic governor, that would be good.

I actually went to an official watch party. There were over 15 people there.

There are so many idiotic anti-Pete, anti-gay messages on this thread. As [194] stated, "He has really stoked the trolls. The Kremlin is nervous. This thread smells of vodka and cigarettes. "

Olga [256], go back to the Volga. And take Boris Badenov, Natasha Fatale and the rest of your homophobic cohorts with you. You're wasting your time here. Two years from now, Pete and Chasten will be living in the White House and your man Trump will be out on his fat ass. So fuck off, evil trolls!

Anyone know how Pete's in-person attendance compared to Cory Bookers?

(SOUTH BEND) — Thousands of people packed the grounds of the Studebaker building to witness Mayor Buttigieg's campaign kick off this afternoon. The South Bend Fire Marshall says more than 45 hundred people made it inside along with another 15 hundred who stood outside.

It rained nearly the entire time and not just outside, but inside the building as well, but the cold and the rain didn't dampen the excitement the Mayor's supporters had to see him officially enter the 2020 race.

Supporters stood in line for hours to get a chance to see Pete Buttigieg in person.

Before the Mayor took the stage, he took time to address the more than 15 hundred people who couldn't make it inside.

"I'm impressed by the people standing outside...I am moved by the people standing outside," Buttigieg said.

Inside the packed house, the crowd cheered and waved their American flags as the Mayor made it on stage, staying energized through it all.

“I thought it was incredible. It was really inspiring and totally worth the drive in the weather," Kate Hauersperger, a student at Indiana University Bloomington said.

Several people called the mayor inspiring and intelligent. He even stopped on the rope line to do a short interview in Spanish.

“I just love Pete and what he stands for, his morality, his character, telling the truth," Alice Mayer, a supporter from Edwardsburg, Mich. said. "It’s time we had somebody with integrity back in Washington D.C. and we are just so proud of him in every way."

Many people are telling me they see the Mayor's candidacy as the start of a new beginning and are confident he'll make it to Washington.

"I wanted to be here on the day he announced his candidacy and I will join him at his inauguration as well because I believe he’s going to win," Cindy Leonard, a supporter from Michigan said.

Since his speech this afternoon, the campaign says it's raised more than a million dollars from grassroots supporters.

The Mayor will be in New York on Monday to appear on MSNBC's 'The Rachel Maddow Show.' He'll also be making stops in Iowa and New Hampshire later this week.

He got about 6,000 including the people outside.

Not bad for the middle of nowhere.

r304, Для американца ваше написание, заглавные буквы и апострофы очень расплывчаты.

Но мы знаем лучше.

DL ex-fave Rob Smith thinks Pete is being unfair to Mike Pence...says Pence 'isn't anti-gay'.

This guy is nothing if not deliberate. His current approach to campaigning mirrored his Harvard writings about the Democrats' campaign failures.

[quote] Since his speech this afternoon, the campaign says it's raised more than a million dollars from grassroots supporters.

Wow, that's impressive.

Pete, Biden it O'rourke for me, but I’ll vote for any Democrat, and quite happily

^^^ you know, Bernie is not really a Democrat. He’s an Independent that re-registers as a Democrat only for election season, then switches back to Independent. I agree with you as long as you’re not including him.

in just a month, he added 600k Twitter followers.

I've been keeping track. Pete got 100k followers on Twitter in less than 2 days.

R412, I would love for Bill Richardson to emerge from political retirement to run on a Buttigieg/Richardson ticket.

[quote]This guy is nothing if not deliberate. His current approach to campaigning mirrored his Harvard writings about the Democrats' campaign failures

Wow God forbid someone actually applies their writings and strategy to himself. I guess we have a Sherlock Holmes among us. 🙄

[quote] The South Bend Fire Marshall says more than 45 hundred people made it inside along with another 15 hundred who stood outside.

Who writes like that? 15 hundred?

He gave an interview in Spanish?!

How many languages does he speak? Wow.

7 languages.

Get out of here r431! Really?

Damn that’s impressive.

Pete is a genius. A truly intelligent guy. We need him to be president so badly to clean up Trump’s mess.

But he has to not support the trans agenda.

What exactly is the "trans agenda" and what constitutes the litmus test for not supporting it? Does he have to kick all trans people out of the military, like Trump?

This is a very exciting candidacy - but Pete's biggest obstacle will be his height in comparison to other candidates - both Dems and Trump. Biden, Beto and Trump all tower over him. I recently read the tallest candidate always wins. Hopefully this time is different. I wish him well.

Sometimes the shorter candidate "wins."

R435, Since you are not very up-to-date on gay issues, you should know that children suspected of being gay are being categorized as "transgender" by homophobic parents, society, schools etc. It is major child abuse in because of homophobia and in a general sense quite homophobic for society. Pete supports "transkids" and the trans ideology.

In England there has been some discussion about the issue and some recognize it for the homophobia that it is. See link.

The taller guy is supposed to win? Shit.

The height thing has occurred to me too. He will look like an elf next to Trump. Hillary of course was tiny compared to him and still got more votes, but that's not what it takes to actually win. Hopefully he will do a Dubya.

I'm perfectly up-to-date with gay issues, R438; your use of blanket terms like "trans agenda" and "trans ideology" would seem to cover a lot more than "transkids" issues. Do you lump all those issues together? I asked you a question at R435.

I hope everyone who is all in for Buttigieg at this point will plan to vote for the Democratic candidate regardless of who it is. Don't fall so in love with this guy that you become intransigent about the prospect of voting for any other candidate. Don't become Bernie Bros 2.0.

Pete’s discussions on the trans issue so far is this: trans kids need a place to go to the bathroom at school. (His husband and parents are all teachers so he’s very interested in school issues).

Trans people should serve in the military and not be thrown out. (He was gay serving in the military during Don’t Ask Don't Tell).

He is very pragmatic. Neither of these represents big concern about trans political issues, it’s just government accommodation for people within institutions.

R443 Trans were thrown out of the military because the military shouldn't have to pay $100,000+ a pop for someone's gender reassignment surgery. The money should be going to restoring blown off limbs and such. Not self-mutilation.

CBS' David Begnaud posts about Mayor Pete. Begnaud is my favorite news gay.

"It's not an endorsement... it's personal."

I hope to hell Pete and his husband have no skeletons in their closet (no pun intended) e.g. affairs, open relationship, grab 'em by the cock moments cause any minor thing and he'll be taken down in an instant. Repugs and many media organization do not want a fag in the White House.

R446 - I agree - but every once in a while someone comes along that is so perfectly without indiscretions you just can't believe it - I don't know about Chasten - but Mayor Pete strikes me as being as pure as the driven snow. He just has that way about him.

Some very obvious troll keeps pushing something about Pete commenting on the “trans agenda” in every single one of these threads.

It the right blogosphere is starting to get a little bit afraid of Mayor Pete and you can see that in the troll posts. He authenticity is very exciting and there is a palpable wave developing in his favor.

That CNN person might have been a little bitchy, but I totally agree with the characterization of Eric Swalwell as “the poor man’s Pete Buttigieg.” I also hate how shallow this is, but some DL poster a couple weeks ago said that Swalwell’s looks like he would drool with that mouth of his and now I think about it every time I see him. I also think about Beto and his flailing windmill arms. Pete is so calm, measured, and has such poise.

Chasten bears a resemblance to John C. McGinley.

[quote]Pete’s discussions on the trans issue so far is this: trans kids need a place to go to the bathroom at school.

PS: There is no such thing as "transkids" - only homophobes and sexist morons pushing kids that are a little different or a little gay to be trans. This is followed up with hormones, drugs and cutting off body parts. No one who cares about kids or gay rights supports that.

Will a sex tape leak? A sleazy grindr profile? You know people are digging. And there's money to be made. How much did the guy who leaked the Dustin Lance Black bareback sex tape make for his trouble? Remember Dustin was always lecturing others about safe sex and then the sex tape came out and revealed he's a hypocrite in that regard? Pete gives off a Stepford Wives vibe and that type always has a full closet of skeletons ready to come tumbling out.

I agree with someone above who said to hold back on projecting too much of your own ideas onto Pete just because he's gay as many people did with Obama just because he's black. He's a man. Not a deity. Too many on here are acting like Pete is the second coming. The smartest, the bravest, the hottest...

I hate to be that bitch, but this election is bigger than a couple of kids getting (wrongfully) transed and regretting it later There's climate change and SSM and abortion and income inequality and immigrants in concentration camps and their kids being given to evangelical families... at stake here. We can talk about trans issues the moment that turd is out of office. If this is your top issue, you just might be a Russian troll, a Republican, or a libertarian. Either way, you'd never vote for a Dem candidate in the first place so your opinion is irrelevant and not wanted.

R428, I meant that he's been very consistent in his approach since college. I'm impressed. It wasn't an insult.

Hear, hear, R452.

Sadly, it is more than "a couple of kids" R452- and further it is "teaching" society that a little gay means Trans. Extremely homophobic and dangerous. How can you downplay a major anti-gay issue? I guess it is gold to the homophobes (and Pharma Inc) to get not only Dems to push this policy but a gay guy, too.

He has a good speaking voice, but his comments on the economy are vague. What is he going to do about continuing stagnating wages, unemployment, precarious employment and more unemployment coming through technology? The candidates are all the same corporate Dems with trans and reparations thrown on as distracting sprinkles. Except "trans" is not progressive at all.

Sadly, there is no candidate for gay rights or for truly fighting against the corporate oligarchy that is destroying communities and the planet.

[quote]How can you downplay a major anti-gay issue?

Gay-acting kids are not being marched en masse into operation rooms to get their genitalia reordered. Get a fucking grip and focus on the actual issues. I mean, how fucking sheltered and privileged are you that you aren't bothered by anything else I've mentioned in my post?

The most important pro-gay thing ANY Dem president can do is to appoint liberal justices to the SC and the circuits. Anything else - like denouncing trans issues and condemning Chick-fil-A - is literal peanuts when it comes to gay rights.

[quote]pro-gay thing ANY Dem president can do is to appoint liberal justices

The "liberal justices" right now are supporting the anti-gay transing. Trans is the #1 anti-gay issue right now. Way bigger than chick a fil or cakes.

The trans crap is being pushed in schools, including younger grades - so yes, it is a major attack. It is very serious.

His comments are all vague about the other issues "hope etc" - Will he stand up against powerful corporate money? No, none of them will. There needs to be a grass roots movement re health and jobs but it is not happening because political organization is dead.

I will vote for Trump before I vote for any candidate that supports big pharma AND trans issues.

I don’t want special interest group rights. I want equal for everyone. Except illegal immigrants.

Those two issues will be very vital for me in who I cast my vote for.

Oh , you'll definitely get equal for everyone if you vote for Trump, R458. Good luck with that. Don't think you're gay or a minority so you probably have nothing to worry about.

r458, bot or troll?

R445, I like David Begnaud too. He and his bf are like a less superficial T&G. Glad he posted about Pete, and I hope more out celebs and public figures speak as well. Truly a historic and very important day!

The man knows he doesn't have a hope in hell of winning. He's simply out to skim all the campaign profits he can.

R462 = TROLL

He doesn’t seem like that at all. Not everyone is a con and a flimflam man like your Orange Judas.

R462 I was saying the same thing to someone just yesterday. Not about Pete. But most of them who surely know they don't have a hope in hell of winning. They're just trying to up their profiles in order to sell a book or get a TV gig. That's why they don't care if they ensure Trump's second term by spewing shit about reparations etc. They have no interest in the job they're "applying" for. They're all about making coins down the road.

Yes, I think Pete is trying to raise his profile, but it's not like he's saying anything ridiculous that would harm the eventual nominee. I don't see anything wrong with him raising his profile so he can run for statewide office or something more significant than mayor.

[quote]His comments are all vague about the other issues "hope etc"

Uh, no they're not, and you're not fooling anyone who's listened to his interviews. Eventually the trolls plainly reveal themselves as Trumpoid trolls.

so much for the naysayers who said that Pete wouldn’t get the support of women and older voters. He had both in that crowd. He can go all the way.

Slow down, R467. How about we wait until the primary and see who actually gets up off their ass and votes and for who?

[quote] His comments are all vague about the other issues "hope etc"

[quote]Uh, no they're not, and you're not fooling anyone who's listened to his interviews. Eventually the trolls plainly reveal themselves as Trumpoid trolls.

If you quoted what I actually said, it is clear that I am not a "Trumpoid troll."

[quote]His comments are all vague about the other issues "hope etc" - Will he stand up against powerful corporate money? No, none of them will. There needs to be a grass roots movement re health and jobs but it is not happening because political organization is dead.

The real left has been destroyed. All that are left are corporate shills spouting vague nothings, who also want to trans gay kids. Not inspiring.

A big, fat BLOCK to the psycho who has to stink up every thread with nonstop discussion about trans.

Moving on. Back to Mayor Pete....

A big fat BLOCK to R470 who cannot refute any points about important issues.

I can appreciate your cynicism without thinking of you as a troll r468 because the true believers always get let down. Hard. But I’m going to do the hopey changey thing, which usually makes me roll my eyes when I hear it, and choose to believe that he has a real chance. Because of WHO HE IS. It’s the best thing he has going for him. It’s time to pass the baton. And I truly believe that the American people will do that. So indulge me.

R472 Speaking of the hopey changey thing, you're falling into the same trap many did with Obama. You're projecting all this stuff onto Pete just because he's gay and would be the first gay president. You're turning him into a deity. A symbol. But he's just a fucking politician. Never forget.

R446, R447, R451 Pete gives me total "workaholic, geeky, too ambitious, not much of a dating/sex life before he met his husband" vibe. Not saying he's perfect at all, but he just doesn't come off as someone who has any major scandals in his past. I could totally be wrong, but I think he understands as the first ever openly gay candidate to run for a party nomination, he's got to have a super clean background. My hunch is if there are any skeletons in the closet, it's going to come from the husband. But you know those right wing trolls are out there looking for any dirt they can find.

I’m not, r473. I promise you. Pete being gay is the least interesting thing about him. I guess because I’m not. I’m as surprised as anyone that I have seemingly drunk the Koolaid. But there it is. Is he a saint? I doubt it. He can throw some shade when he needs to. But I believe he’s a good man. Genuine, authentic, intellectually curious, and comfortable in his own skin. And smart. Remember when that was a good thing in a president? That’s enough for me. I’m not looking for someone to worship. Gay or straight. We have had enough of that fuckery.

The vibe he gives out to me is, was in the closet for a while, maybe fooled around in college or with friends, didn’t have sex with anybody for an embarrassingly long time it would not be cool to admit, made up his mind he was going to do something about that and went online. And came out so when he did find someone he liked, he was not going to have to lie about it. He went after a life partner the way you do job interviews, very pragmatic. He does not strike me as super sexual or hot blooded person. He does seem like a cool headed, super ambitious and maybe perfectionist person.

About the trans issue, neither mayors or Presidents have much to say about it unless you’re an asshole like Trump. Congress makes laws, not the executive branch. At the local level, voters have more say.

About government accommodations, we have non-discrimination laws to reverse Jim Crow in place already. So legally, if you have a government building paid for by taxpayers, there has to be bathrooms for all, food service for all, services for all. Period. That’s settled law. The only thing not settled is how to interpret that. You can choose to have a trans bathroom or not, but people gotta piss somewhere and it’s got to be an equal accommodation. Ironing out details is more likely to be determined by Congress or maybe the Supreme Court. The President has 0 to say about it.

As far as providing public services equaling approving of the trans movement or trans surgery, that’s two different issues and trollery. In real life, if somebody says they’re trans, you can’t stop them. They have a First Amendment right to say anything they want, and neither Buttigieg or anybody else can stop them. If somebody wants to stand on a street corner in a dress, as long as there’s no law against that they can. If some teen and their parents wants to yell trans all day long they can. The President can do nothing.

A lot of this stuff is settled by case law (not the President), the Supreme Court (not the President), the voters (not the President) Congress (not the President) school boards, yadda yadda. Not the President. Worrying about little kids being bullied at school or scared to go to the bathroom is ok. These are kids, whatever grownups do or say is not their fault.

[quote]He went after a life partner the way you do job interviews, very pragmatic. He does not strike me as super sexual or hot blooded person. He does seem like a cool headed, super ambitious and maybe perfectionist person.

So he's a male version of Hillary.

Well that explains why so many on here have proclaimed him a deity too.

Maybe that’s what nerdy people are, R477. Hillary is a nerd.

[quote]Worrying about little kids being bullied at school or scared to go to the bathroom is ok. These are kids, whatever grownups do or say is not their fault.

This does not make a lot of sense. The kids are in danger because they are being labeled/brainwashed that they are trans because of homophobic and elements in society. Plus having boys in girls bathrooms will not be good for girls.

[quote]These are kids, whatever grownups do or say is not their fault.

What? What the "grownups do and say" is what it is hurting kids and society. No kid should be on hormones, have body parts cut off or brainwashed that they are the other sex. And all this stupidity and child abuse is because of homophobia and sexism

And what does the President have to do with that, R479?

Should the President go out in the street and attack trans people? Sign an executive order that says trans people have to be hunted down and shoved into a concentration camp? Then write in Mike Pence, because politicians who are anti-trans are, surprise, also anti-gay conservatives who disapprove of them on Biblical grounds. There are no liberal, “I love gays but hate trans” candidates. None.

Just be glad they’re not coming for you next.

No one says to "attack trans people" - do you not understand anything?

Children and minors are not adults. Children are being pushed into drugs, hormones and cut off body parts for an insane homophobic push because they played with the wrong toy or want a different haircut. This is harmful and it is happening because of homophobia. And there actually ARE camps for these kids, camps that teach gay or tomboy kids that they are "trans."

They are coming for anyone that is young and gay right now. And they are hurting women's rights too. So they are coming for a lot of people right now because of this trans bs.

DL anti trans trolls don't need to be Russian. I don't know how many we have. 1, 2, 3. ? Impossible to block for long.

Mental illness pushes him/them to post every day on every thread of any subject.

As if we don't know all the talking points, and don't agree. The point isn't conversation, or information.

The point is daily feeding of whatever OCD troll illness they have.

R482 Mental illness pushes a perfectly healthy person to chop off and add body parts until they look like Frankenstein's monster.

OCD is T who constantly claim things that are not true and will bully all to go along. And who get every thread or comment banned that tries to discuss their backward madness. It is very negative for children, gay rights and women's rights and and for a society that was supposed to advance. A society that is supposed to allow debate and basic knowledge about science.

R476 Agree on the not very sexual aspect. He seems somewhat close to asexual to me.

Never trust an asexual.

asexual

James Murdoch, Ryan Reynolds and Mandy More donate for pete. Yes, james murdoch

The Murdoch sons are NOT conservative.

Good to see some celebs behind Pete! Reynolds is loved by Twitter, so that will be great exposure for Pete!

bump

I just want Pete to stop all the crazy trans stuff and to keep these Mexicans out. Whoever promises that I will vote for.

Idiots like R492 should be purged from this earth. They waste precious oxygen and resources for other, more deserving life forms.

R492's posts are like a horror show of stupid.

R492, Donald Trump is the man for you. Doesn’t matter if it’s legal or not, he has no problem breaking laws at all. Why, if you’re really lucky, maybe he'll build a big gallows in front of the White House and start executing both!

[quote]The Murdoch sons are NOT conservative.

Wrong.

Lachlan IS conservative (and he won the battle for his father's empire). James Murdoch is more moderate.

I hope he doesn't emphasize the "reelected by 80%" thing. There's a lot of deception by omission there. It was an off-off-year election (2015), there were only 10k votes cast in total, the opponent had never run before, had no money or support and originally tried to run as a Democrat but couldn't on a technicality and so ran on the Republican ticket instead. In effect, he ran unopposed in a heavily Democratic city.

Lauchlan was well know for going the down low when he lived in Australia in his early years when he lived here both before his marriage and after.

r497, facts are facts.

and now you know what they are.

Pete is not really the one bringing that up, but news outlets are because it sounds impressive.

He was elected five months after coming out. And his voters did not include the college students from what I understand, they are in another city and don’t vote there.

Other nations want us to fight amongst ourselves. This is exactly what they are going for. I can see it now, we’ll all be fighting over the Democratic candidates and look so crazy over it that everyone will vote for Trump.

He's on Rachel right now.

How can you tell them apart?

That’s it. If he’s on Rachel I’m not voting for him.

Did she try to scissor him?

R503 he probably had a fair bit of celebratory fun last night! And I'm sure Chasten rode him to exhaustion, so I can understand why he'd be a little wonky.

R503 Do you mean Policy "wonky"? Or like that guys got a "wonky eye" wonky?

If it's policy, people keep wanting him to talk more about policy so...

He didn't come out until he was well into his 30s and I'm going to as far as saying he was probably a virgin and they won't find any dirt on him.

R509 I’m hoping that is true but I’m waiting for some former army guy to say Pete looked at him in the shower. Then again, that kind of scandal may be the perfect thing to make other candidates look bad.

Of course because so many gays are saving themselves for marriage.

Why is it so hard to believe this guy might be a normal person? I don't know about you but I have no skeletons in my closet either. He comes across as someone who was so conflicted with his sexuality he needed to prove his worth by excelling at everything, which apparently he did.

He's turned off a good chunk of his female base, including some who are pro-choice, with a comment mentioned in this article that reveals his real attitude towards women.

Adorable, R513. You mean he turned off right-wing nutbags such as yourself?

R513, stop being a stupid piece of shit and linking to stupid piece of shit right-wing websites that make up bullshit fake quotes.

R513, if the conservative men and women are so against abortion why don't they just stop having them? Problem solved.

Evangelists are running scared. Pete can get some of the Christian vote and if they can’t get it all, they can’t win. So they make up a lie to turn Christians off.

R513 is a "Biden is a pedo" troll:

- Joe Biden accused of sexual misconduct

[quote]Creepy Biden inappropriately puts his hands on the girls waist at 30 seconds (girl in red dress) and a few seconds later she becomes visibly uncomfortable and then a few seconds later removes his hands.

[quote]There are many videos of him groping or inappropriately touching young girls.

[quote][bold]It is well known among the Washington, DC crowd that Biden is a pedophile.[/bold]

[quote]If he does this in publicly, especially right in front of cameras, imagine what he does off camera. We don't need another sexual deviant/pervert in the White House.

[quote][bold]His colleagues know not to take their eyes off of Joe Biden for even a second when their children are within his groping grasp. They know his filthy hands will be all over their child. R30 I am sure the Obama's warned him and gave him a stern warning at that. He is known among his circles to be a perverted creep. It's no secret among them. So I'm sure the Obama's knew.[/bold]

R513 I like Trump but you need to knock off the fucking misogyny shit you’re trying to invoke.

Fuck you fuck you fuck you r513.

Pete said:“You’re not free if your reproductive choices are being dictated by male politicians in Washington,” he stated.

And he was picked up in a pro-birth right-wing blog. What bullshit. What Pete said was TRUE and you churned it into baby killing shit. Fuck you!

You like Trump.... BLOCKED 519

Here’s Pete’s statement about the Notre Dame fire as reported on twitter:

Cédric Faiche @cedricfaiche

"To the people of France I would like to say that Notre Dame Cathedral was like a gift to the human race. We share the pain but we also thank you for this gift to civilization. "

@PeteButtigieg at @BFMTV

And in French! 🇫🇷🇺🇸 #Our Lady

Here’s the link for R522.

The comments say his accent is pretty good. He got a twitter follow from Emanuel Macron after this. The French were fairly impressed it seems.

And a compliment from the French ambassador to the US.

So I left my YouTube on auto play and from the kitchen I heard a voice, self assured and confident. I thought what episode of Mama's Family is that? Pete has Vint Harper's voice, that is, if Vint got a back bone and a brain. Next time, listen to the vice and tell me he don't got the Vint tones at times.

[quote]I like Trump

WTF! That's like saying: I'm total scum.

Thanks, R523. He is so smooth.

Here’s Pete in Spanish. The commenters say his accent is pretty good, but he made a couple minor grammatical mistakes. Not too bad. Better than Booker they say.

I didn’t see an exact translation, but here’s a rough summary:

“Broadly summarizing: he wants to speak to a spirit of inclusion in our country, not only on the immigration issue but on other issues too like economic and security issues. He wants to get to know better the Hispanic communities in our country. We are together”

R492 ‘s posts are from the “Best of Stupid” category.

Everyone loves our Pete!

Although that is not the most flattering pic at r523.

#PeteforAmerica

#PetefortheWorld

I am so scared to go all in for this man bc I don't want the bloom to fall off the rose but I am very hopeful that he impresses everyone during the debates. He feels like the real deal, this must be what people felt during RFK's election. So much hope, I've found hope again after seeing Obama leave office.

I dare not get excited but every day he impresses me.

R530, that’s a freeze frame on a video, which always look horrible.

Play it, he looks and sounds much better.

R532 I know, I watched it, I'm just saying it was an unfortunate thumbnail.

Rachel asked him about his coming out. It was obvious that Rachel, who grew up in Oakland and came out very young, was disapproving of his answer that he didn’t even realize he was gay until he was much older than her. It sounds like he was celibate for a long time. I’m really getting the impression there were some homophobic family members or friends growing up. And also that he doesn’t want to talk about that because he doesn’t want to bash his family on national television. Okay.

He kept hinting that he was extremely apprehensive about coming out, you could tell. Rachel’s reaction was that he was not being true to himself, and SHE couldn’t stand being in the closet, it would have killed her. But he gently said that he took a long time to realize what he was feeling, unlike Chasten and her. He was diplomatic. I thought she was inappropriately pushy about something very personal. It’s pretty obvious he has no intention of telling every gory detail. Good for him.

Pete doesn't need to talk about trans-anything unless he wants to lose.

I didn't care for the way Rachel handled that line of questioning, it made me uncomfortable.

She seemed to be saying, if you chose to serve in the military instead of coming out as a teenager like me, you’re a phony and you should be attacked for it.

We didn’t all grow up in one of the most liberal cities on earth, Rachel.

English speakers should speak English, to keep the pressure on foreigners to speak it. Pete's comment is a setback.

It was like watching Yara Greyjoy interview Renly Baratheon.

Pete’s French comment was made to a French news network to be broadcast in France. So it was appropriate to say it in French so the French audience could understand him.

In the old days, French was the language of diplomacy. Even now, French is spoken at the Olympics and the U.N. Thomas Jefferson spoke French, and Greek as well IIRC. In those days, every educated person learned French as a sign of culture.

R538 blow it out of your Russian ass!

While Trump is an ignorant lump, Pete is absolutely Jeffersonian.

[quote]English speakers should speak English, to keep the pressure on foreigners to speak it. Pete's comment is a setback.

J'adore the uncompromising provinciality and exquisite concern-trollery of this phrasing.

R538 is Trump’s campaign manager.

What idiot doesn’t know that as a politician you appeal to the broadest base you can?

R537 Agreed. Pete's Maltese father was studying to become a Jesuit priest before becoming an academic. His mom is Episcopalian and from a military family. I wish Rachel would have been more empathetic to his situation.

[quote]Pete's Maltese father

While his father may not be the most attractive man, we really shouldn’t call him a dog.

The press will burn him out in about two months. Vice Prez is only hope.

Just watched Rachel interview Pete.

1) She was certainly a shade condescending towards Pete about when he chose to come out. 'It would have killed me!' Well, obviously it didn't kill Pete: while Rachel was free as a bird, Pete was experiencing yet wider life skills to enrich his character. It shows. To be fair, she gave him a long time to expound upon his trajectory.

He hardly seems to suffer arrested development now. In fact one could pick up a whiff of envy from Rachel about where Pete now is. Droll how she had to say about the draft en passant, 'I wrote a book about it…' Well done! And you came out young too!

2) The entire hyper-articulate intelligent half hour gives me hope for the future of America. Having seen it I marvel yet again that Quasimodo and his swamp court ever made it to the WH. They seem like a lesser evolutionary stage entirely - they look like the past, like relics from the Natural History Museum. Hope springs.

The reason that we have the LGBTQAI alphabet soup is because lesbians did not want to be known as gay women. That wanted a separate identity and modern Lesbianism was born.

There has always been a lesbian separatist segment of the gay women community hostile to white gay men.

I think that butch fem Rachel opened her corset and showed us her real self. I was the first out RHODES SCHOLAR DAMMIT!!!

You were in the military, I WROTE ABOUT THE MILITARY!!!

She threw a bunch of intellectual lesbian cuntery at him but Pete was calm and measured.

If he can handle this he can handle Putin.

Putin: isn’t it true you’re gay? Don’t molest the children here in Moscow. *smirks*

Pete: *answers calmly in Russian*

[quote]There has always been a lesbian separatist segment of the gay women community hostile to white gay men.

But not hostile to non-white gay men?

I don't have any issue with Lesbians getting their own letter. It makes finding porn a lot easier if they have their own category.

Lesbians invented SJW and shy away from demonizing minority gay men.

In my humble historical perspective...

Rachel and Pete are establishment toadies. Neither will speak about the #1 homophobic issue right now - the transing of [gay] children. Pete supports it. Rachel is deafeningly silent about it.

They will not save you. They will not save gay existence let alone rights.

They are traditionalist.

Go fuck yourself SJW @ 554

R554, Are you assuming the average DLer is a gay child desperately looking for help so their phobic parents don’t trans them? I think you’re on the wrong website.

SJW was and is a big attack on genuine feminists and lesbians. "Third wave" (SJW) was just a big backlash against genuine feminism.

The L existed before the alphabet soup. And it was actually homosexual, not gay in the early days. It was really the B that got the letters going. Pete is very much a part of the alphabet soup and supports the T push transing gay kids.

Pete is the SJW who supports transing kids.

R556, Even if you don't care about gay kids being transed, it will push anti-gay policy further in society in general.

People quit the "gender clinic" in the UK because they felt the trans kids surge was due to homophobia. They also wondered "will there be any gay people left."

Iran transes homosexuals. The point is to not have any gay people left.

Pete has never said he was either in favor or opposed to transing kids. His interest is, as the husband and child of teachers, that trans children have equal access to the facilities.

If it offends people that much to have to share bathrooms with trans kids, the logical solution is to have separate bathrooms for them. But schools don’t have enough money for books, let alone bathrooms. So it’s share the bathroom or pee in a jar. That is the fault of people who want something but don’t want to pay for it.

He’s from Indiana. What do you think he’s going to say, I think all you Indianan Christians should start cross dressing? It’s not the Castro. Even bringing it up takes guts.

[quote]that trans children

To say anything about "trans children" is to promote it. Those kids are not transsexuals or transvestites, they are kids being labelled "trans" because they seem gay, or tomboy, or different - and a lot of it is by homophobic sexist parents, now being encouraged by the media, schools, government etc - or the kids being influenced by this homophobic, sexist crap. These kids are not "trans" - numerous studies have shown that the vast majority turned out to be GAY if left alone. Get it? This is serious. They go on to dangerous hormones, cut off body parts. This is an unprecedented barbaric homophobic attack. Jazz Jennings penis being cut of was celebrated on TV. This is not pro-gay. (Or pro-child).

What he should be saying re trans as there needs to be an investigation for this surge of "transkids." People have come to the conclusion recently that this surge is due to homophobia.

If Pete cannot figure this out, than he is not very smart despite all his languages.

R554 isn't a SJW he's The Trans Troll, every topic is about the evils of Trans people to him.

R561 wants trans kids to have this:

Save your T propaganda, R563. You are pushing Nazi stuff with your homophobic barbarism. There are no "trans kids" - only kids being harmed by homophobes , sexist morons and profiteers.

PS: And your attempts, R563, to use an image from the civil rights struggle of black Americans of to push homophobic, sexist harm on kids is disgusting.

I agree with the posters who are afraid to get too excited, but I am very impressed with everything I've seen about Mayor Pete.

So often, we are voting for the lesser of two evils. In the last election, many felt that they were voting against someone more than for someone.

Mayor Pete possesses an air of competence and integrity that I've not seen in any candidate in a long time. It's exciting to (hopefully) have that option on the ballot. So many are looking for and intelligent and reasonable candidate to support. He is quietly charismatic. Other candidates are loud and try to sizzle while Pete quietly gets the job done.

Again, those are just my first impressions, but there's something special about this guy. I just today noticed (in one pic, unless it was reversed) that it appears he's left-handed. As a lefty, I do think our brains work a little differently (there are studies), so maybe that's part of that intangible quality that I can't quite put my finger on. Whatever it is, it's what other candidates wish they had.

R513 FUCKING CUNT FRAU RUSSIAN SHIT HOLE NIGERIAN TROLL

Another protester interrupting ⁦Pete Buttigieg⁩ with chants of “remember Sodom and Gomorrah”

[quote] “remember Sodom and Gomorrah”

It was pointed out that the whole Sodom and Gomorrah story actually has nothing to do with gays. It had to do with selfish, greedy rich people screwing over poor people and God got mad.

Iowa was a robust success.

Trump should be afraid.

Pete Buttigieg to officially announce 2020 presidential campaign!

IT HAS BEGUN!

I was on twitter looking at a story about Pete, and there was a tweet from a guy saying he was from South Bend and Pete never did anything for them and never would.

I went to the guy’s account. It said he was a retired cop, misspelled Indiana, and was opened in January 2019. The weird thing was, the first couple of people he followed were people like Trump and Hannity, but the vast majority were every Democratic candidate for President, Pelosi, AOC and some other Democrats.

Is somebody on Fox telling their viewers to harass Democrats, or is he a paid troll?

R574, how were his English skills?

His English seemed ok. There was a picture of an old white guy but that means nothing these days.

Ok, I made it to maybe 300ish posts, had to FF. For the poster who “lived through 9/11” I think you bring incredibly important observations and experience that should be a part of this discussion/dissection of Pete’s candidacy.. So if I may, one point I’d like to make is this. Your argument asserts that “bigger is better.” An Executive who manages 150,000 employees is “better” than one who manages 1500 employees. And they are both better than the manager of 150 employees. Substitute each of those examples with money. In my current position, I’m responsible for an operating budget of $2.5 million annually. To many small business owners, I’m a big deal. To top-tier CFO’s, I’m a joke.

Here’s what I do know after a lifetime of being at both ends (though usually in the middle). Bigger is not only rarely better, it usually SUCKS. Have you hung around many truly wealthy “successful” business people? Most are sociopaths. I won’t fuck them, much less be friends with them. There is SO much to be said for business people who work on a smaller scale because they are NOT so far removed from their employees. Their workers see what they drive, know where they park. This forces a level of empathy/intimacy that the Bigger is Better Crowd does NOT have. Just look at Jeff Fucking Bezos and how he treats his workers, he’s no better than the Waltons. I assure you, Pete did not choose to become Mayor because he couldn’t do “better,,” he did it because it’s what he cared about the most at the time,

I don’t disagree that in a perfect world we want someone with Hillary-level experience. But we don’t have that. I would put my money that Pete CAN deliver the “only the best” Cabinet we were promised. If Pete goes all the way, many many many will be there who DO have that insider knowledge and they will want to help him succeed and hit the ground running.

Besides, as it’s been said 1000 x’s befire, the old rulebookk no longer works people! My prediction? Should Pete manage to become the nominee— such a long shot, but if he should he will select a running mate who is not in the primaries, maybe something nuts like another mayor or an incredibly gifted leader from Silicon Valley. Who knows? It will be exciting! And I loved the kiss — warm enough to show he has zero Shane, respectful enough to the old biddy’s who have never seen that before, and most importantly, respected his own comfort level which my guess is no PDA’s.

Also, did Putin put tons of money into Obama being the first black candidate? Just curious. Russians HATE gays, so I have a hard time thinking they would spend on Pete, until you can show me something suggesting otherwise. Carry on.

[quote]he has zero Shane

Maybe Shane just has someone else.

[quote]how were his English skills?

[quote]misspelled Indiana,

You tell me.

[quote]Another protester interrupting ⁦Pete Buttigieg⁩ with chants of “remember Sodom and Gomorrah”

This country is a fucking embarrassment.

I still miss Shane. Shane! Come back Shane! And run for preisident.

[quote]Another protester interrupting ⁦Pete Buttigieg⁩ with chants of “remember Sodom and Gomorrah”

Pete: 'Can't say I do - how are things there?'

R573, how many times will he announce?

Announcing is like coming out of the closet, you have to do it time and time again depending on the audience.