Political Twitter is unhappy with Pete Buttigieg — Does anyone care?

[quote]Anything is possible in a Democratic primary where not a single vote has yet been cast for any candidate. But if national and state polls are accurate, Political Twitter is in for a rude awakening when Iowa and New Hampshire finally vote. As Yascha Mounk wrote in The Atlantic in April, “the problem isn’t Twitter. It’s that you [italic]care[/italic] about Twitter.”

[quote]Candidates who cater to the unpleasable nature of Twitter’s digital Democrats may see their tweets go viral and their content trend, but it remains unclear that any of those efforts yields actual Democratic votes. Online activists may be saying boo to Buttigieg. It doesn’t seem like anyone is listening.

let's move on

We’ll have a reasoned discussion here about views about Mayor Pete on Twitter/social media. One of the top narratives it seems is that African Americans are at the center of his uphill battle. Even though support for him by the gay community is something like only 17%. The conversation gets wild when race is overlaid. But this thread should be less volatile since it is about social media reactions.

Twitter warps your perspective too much; I'm so glad left it behind. I also make sure I interact with other online communities outside of DL because you can easily get trapped into a bubble here as well.

[quote]The millennial core of Buttigieg’s campaign is versed in the futility of Twitter flame wars. Instead, they ignore the criticism, post the memes and amplify the message. They operate with the understanding that Twitter is not real life, but that boosting a positive image of their candidate can yield digital converts. Their strategy looks a lot like that of former President Barack Obama and dominant challengers like Warren. It also works.

Mhm, that's exactly the correct way to go about it. 😊

He should continue to ignore the Twitter morons. The more they attack in bad faith, the more I donate to Pete.

Twitter is not the place I go to for advice, opinions or information of any kind.

No, no one cares.

But is his taint furry?

Twitter users vote too, don't ever forget that.

[quote] Political Twitter is unhappy with

What else is new?

[quote] Does anyone care?

No!

[bold]The Woke Attack on Pete Buttigieg[/bold]

[quote]In The Root, Michael Harriot misreads the presidential candidate’s old comments on role models.

[quote]A beautiful illustration of the difference between Twitter and the real world is the viral status of Michael Harriot’s attack on Mayor Pete Buttigieg in The Root as a “lying MF.”

The more Progressives slam Pete, the more Pete will appeal to mainstream America.

New attack from AOC, saying Pete is expousing Republican talking points regarding education. I knew she wouldn't keep her trap shut for long - now she's just another Bernie attack dog.

The stupidity of the AOC / Bernie brigade is that they think that by attacking Pete all the time, they'll cause his campaign to flatline. Now, I have no idea if Pete's campaign will go the distance. But the only thing AOC and Bernie Bros are doing is making people who are not far left give Pete another look. They don't realize that most middle-of-the-road people are not huge AOC fans. The far left have already written him off; they're preaching to the choir there.

The candidates political twitter likes- Kamla Harris, Beto O'Rourke, And Julian Castro are all bombing or already dropped out.

[quote] New attack from AOC, saying Pete is expousing Republican talking points regarding education. I knew she wouldn't keep her trap shut for long - now she's just another Bernie attack dog.

Of course, R14.

If impeachment goes into February or March (or spring) in the Senate, then she is Bernie's best hope as a surrogate.

My question is will she pledge to support whomever is the nominee or is she going to be a spoiler. Anybody know?

r14 I bet Bernie is cringing hard that she's just put 2.5 million views on Pete's ad, as of this moment. Also, the last one to use the "Republican talking points" attack was Warren, regarding her M4A plan - and how did that work out for her?

Bernie and Warren will now have to defend paying tuition fees for millionaires' and billionaires' kids at the next debate. Hoisted by their own purity tests. Thanks, AOC!

Another interesting point to make - Pete is to the left of Biden, yet the Bernie Bros rarely, if ever attack Biden. If you find that strange, it's because they can't imagine a world where Biden gets the nomination, so they don't even bother with him. They're *that* caught up in their bubble. In addition, the polls have shown there's little overlap between Pete's and Bernie's supporters so AOC really should spend more time attacking Warren or even Biden instead.

R16, Twitter is a young person's game. Subsequently, the candidates that are great in principle don't hold up as well in reality. The loudest voice isn't always (rarely?) the correct answer.

[quote]I bet Bernie is cringing hard that she's just put 2.5 million views on Pete's ad, as of this moment. Also, the last one to use the "Republican talking points" attack was Warren, regarding her M4A plan - and how did that work out for her?

I think Pete is playing chess while the rest of the brain trust is playing checkers. They make moronic, unforced errors.

I do wish that the Democrats would stop attacking each other. So far, Pete has risen above that petty, nasty stuff. And that's the kind of leader I want. That is what shows strength of character and dignity. The country is already torn apart by the Republicans going after the Democrats. We don't need our own tearing into one another. The goal is to defeat the Republicans, not to help them. I know that all the Democratic candidates want to be the nominee and their supporters think that their candidate is the one, but attacking the other candidates only weakens the whole party.

r20 Yes, just look at AOC's all caps - it's all affect, all the time. Bernie is going to regret picking her as his surrogate in the end. I'm glad Pete is now weaponizing their outrage against them.

Perfect example of an outraged verified Twitter pundit. Not only is Pete basically just like Paul Ryan, he's probably anti-abortion as well!

I swear these people live in a separate reality to ours.

R23 I am cracking up at this.. These people have got to be paranoid and high as flying fuck to be tweeting crap like this

They're desperate, R24. They don't understand why the constant lies and bad-faith attacks aren't working like a charm.

Two can play at this game. I can Tweet "tell me how Bernie Sanders isn't exactly like Donald Trump except that one is orange. They're both populists and have a braindead following." People can say all sorts of shit; it doesn't mean that what they're saying is true.

Saying political twitter doesn't matter in how people vote is like saying that the fashion industry didn't select the sweater you're wearing.

If you look at the people that write pro-Pete tweets, it’s mostly whites of all ages and some minorities. Rather than thinking of Pete as, he can’t get black votes, why don’t some of these people think, if he gets the majority of the white votes, nobody else can win either? So woke blacks and other minorities burning him down every day is going to backfire long term. At some point the party has to coalesce around one person. That one person isn’t going to be black or a minority, from the looks of things now.

So constantly making comments about all whites are evil, they are the enemy of blacks (never Latinos, Asians, or anybody else) but coincidentally only making those comments in regards to Pete, not any other white candidate, is still pissing off whites in general, Pete fans or not. White people can read comments about more than one candidate.

Look at the pro-Pete tweets. Most of them are some version of, I like him because he’s a nice guy. How being a mean person, tweeting mean stuff, is going to influence voters that want a nice guy, is beyond me.

I also think a lot of these anti-Pete “whites can never understand me and are unqualified to be President because they’re white” Twitter comments are so extreme, they’re either being made by Russian assets or dummies that spend their time swallowing Russian propaganda whole. Then they’re re-tweeted by dummies that are helping Russia, unknowingly or not.

r26 I find your analogy... lacking.

The blue check mark folks have a lot less influence than they think. If the rise of Trump didnt show then that than the rise of Pete will.

[quote]I also think a lot of these anti-Pete “whites can never understand me and are unqualified to be President because they’re white” Twitter comments are so extreme, they’re either being made by Russian assets or dummies that spend their time swallowing Russian propaganda whole. Then they’re re-tweeted by dummies that are helping Russia, unknowingly or not.

r27 This is absolutely the case. Sow division, division, division - this is all the Russkies have to do, and we'll take care of the rest ourselves. It's all tribalism; notice how the outrage is never over finer policy points.

A few thousand people who circle tweet are sure to be enraged.

The average voter has zero fucks zugeben.

Why the hell was AOC tweeting that attack on Pete on Thanksgiving? Girl, just eat your damn turkey. And if you really wanted to bash on a gay guy, I’m sure one of your Aunts would have been open to conversation.

AOC has drunk her own Kool-Aid, as in she believes her own publicity. She has nowhere near the level of influence she thinks she does.

In a sensible world, Biden wins the nomination, promises to only serve one term to restore the sanity, picks Pete as VP, rightly ignoring the irrelevances that are both Black and Political Twitter. (There's way more Democratic Latinos now anyway and their centrist.) They beat the shit out of Trump/Pence and the country has a slight chance to be normal again.

I don't know who always has to post these negative Pete threads but it's obvious you aren't one of us. We have an openly gay, decent, smart candidate running for President and instead of being supportive and overwhelmed at the prospects we have to see these negative threads. And if the poster(s) are indeed gay, shame on you. This is a historic moment for gay people.

A gay president isn't going to make things better. It'll make some people feel good, the way Obama made black people feel good. And look what happened after that. Racism is as strong as ever, maybe even stronger. Democrats are now the party of identity politics. Pathetic.

Michael Harriot is the Dale Peck of Blacktivists.

R35, I really appreciate what you're saying here but he's running for President of the United States not head of your school's chapter of the Rotary Club.

He is going to be picked apart just like they all have been. There will be positive comments and negative comments in response to things he has said and things he hasn't said.

I am sick of people attacking black voters when he only has 17% of the LGBTQIA+ etc. vote.

He's catching heat on social media today for running this ad volleying at Warren & Sanders.

"zero fucks zugeben." i like that.

Well R36, the GOP is also the party of identity politics - white male identity.

I agree with R5 except neither Bernie or AOC are far left. America hasn't dealt with far left politics since the Black Panthers.

Lefty twitter is dumb and silly.

I want Peteto get the nomination just to see all the hateful pundits with egg on their faces. Here's a new tweet from Noted homophobe Joy Reidm apparently she wanted to discredit Pete once again.

"2020 analysis should never undersell how much we are watching & measuring older white (+older NV union & Latino and older black SC) voters' preferences, which lean toward less change and culturally familiar cues like modest Christianity & "politeness

Apparently she thinks Kamala will energize young people and that she is progressive, lol

No one is perfect R36. Obama did a lot of good things for the country, despite of all the obstacles and hatred he faced because he was black. He took the oath of office seriously and tried to be a President for all the people, even the people who hated him. Is Pete perfect? No, of course not. But he is sincere, intelligent, calm in the eye of the storm and is a step in the right direction in getting the country back to civility and putting the people first. I believe in him. If racism is stronger than ever, it's not because of Obama. He's still incredibly popular and has the respect of our allies all over the world. Trump has reignited the flames of racism and hatred and has made the US weak and nothing more than a joke far and wide.

Well stated, R44!

Peteto, Petawto

The AOC wing is not going to support Pete, so that does act as a veto.

R47, the AOC wing says they do not want to support any moderate, so I guess that means Biden too. So what are they going to do if it’s Biden? Not vote either?

Unfortunately, R47

oops, I meant R48

Bernie and AOC are Independent Socialists. They should just leave the Democratic Party and go create there own. I’m tired of these two dictating what they think the party platform should.

Joy Reid is upset Kamala is such a terrible candidate that she wants to blame Pete for it.

Joy Reid is a homophobic bitch. She will not make Kamala happen, sorry. As for AOC, she and Bernie and his Bros will make sure that Trump gets a second term. Nicely done.

Is he the Gay One or the Texas Cowboy?

" go create there own"

Their there, R51.

ICYMI: @washingtonpost calls @PeteButtigieg’s college affordability plan more progressive, more affordable, better targeted.

More progressive 👏 More affordable 👏 Better targeted 👏

Twitter sides with trans and hets over gays in the event of a conflict between us and either group. Fuck them.

Kamala needs to blow her nose.

These political folks are supporting the candidates that they've known and covered for years. It irks them to see a new guy come in and "jump the line" Especially someone who is gay white and male.

r43

She's right about Pete's numbers. You Pete stans aren't listening and you're in for a rude awakening.

R60 He has a much better chance than Joy's girl Kamala that's for sure.

Kamala needs a better catch phrase. She's tried several, but she needs something on par with "dyn-o-mite".

Kamala’s new catch phrase: I shot the sheriff, but I didn’t shoot no deputy.

I don't need to listen to homophobic bitch, Joy Reid, r60. And she needs to worry about her fave, Kamala's numbers, not Pete's. Last I checked, Pete is in 4th place and Kamala is a distant 5th (and that's only nationally; early states are even worse). If people were "energized" by Kamala, we would have seen it in her numbers.

Oh and Kamala is far from progressive. She's just all talk, but her actions as a prosecutor say something different.

I never thought he'd get this far. He is the only interesting thing about this election contest so far.

I agree r66. Amazing for him to get this far.

What's a progressive prosecutor? You either enforce the laws on the books or not.

All of that time spent tweeting useless memes and being up in arms about everything could be better spent attending local city council meetings and having their voice heard there, phone-banking for candidates they like, or hell, drafting petitions and obtaining signatures for things that may have a positive impact for their causes.

r69 that would require actual work, something the Twitter Warriors are averse to.

Barring a miracle Joe Biden will win the nomination. Everyone who is paying attention knows that. But this is a fun distraction in the meantime

But if his opponents are successful enough, they can leave Biden severely wounded.

Biden looked like the front-runner, but now it's not so sure.

Biden’s on a NO MALARKEY bus tour through Iowa.

‘Nuff said.

Political Twitter is a cesspool, the only thing I follow on Twitter are the porn stars,

The same people who deliberately took any criticism of Barrack and Jillary as racism or sexism now throw the most disgusting jibes at Pete.

Going by their own logic they must hate gays.

*Hillary

What is 'political twitter's response to Kamala quitting? Racism, sexism, not the horrid treatment of her staffers?

say howdy to him, the next prex o these usa !!!!!

One of the articles about Kamala's campaign claimed that her younger staff members were inordinately preoccupied with Twitter, which was skewing their view of what voters truly care about.

Well, I can tell you twitter wants: Infighting among all the Democratic candidates so Russian asset Trump will win.

The posters on Twitter are all Russian plants. Got it, r81. Nice detective work!

What's his chosen theme song?

"Stuck in the Middle with You" -- Steely Wheel

R41 Touche. I'd say all of American politics today is on the right side of the spectrum.

R35 “He’s gay so let’s give him the coronation!” Yet ignoring that he needs to win over the American people and not just white urban latte liberals in Iowa

the more the media beats him down

the higher his poll numbers climb.

people sense he is the real McCoy: smart, not criminal, a good man who loves his cuntry..

I find him supremely.basic.

Pete just received endorsements from three former Obama administration people:

Oop, they mad about this

I don't think Pete's "issues" with the black community are that hard to solve. And despite the false narrative, black people WILL vote for a gay person. Gay people HAVE been elected in major black districts. Pete just needs more recognition and he needs to hardcore target the black community. Biden has just had years of experience and getting involved with the black community which put him over the edge.

Pete isn't my favorite candidate by any means, but I think this black vs gay thing has gone way overboard.

Bernie Bros are the ones trying to make sure he makes no inroads with minorities (see their shameful, racist performance in South Bend). Of course, as always, they're more about stunts and less about actually thinking them through.

Trans actress Angelica Ross declares him to be a Republican, even though he's more to the left than Obama and Hillary.

[quote]Gay Whites: Many of you are blinded by Pete Buttigieg’s gayness that you’re not listening to black & brown folks from your own community who can name tons of reasons why he is not the one. Him being gay is NOT his greatest challenge in this race. Pete is a Republican.

Incredibly disappointing. Also, "gay whites"? FUCK. YOU.

Don’t you know, R92, you’re just not allowed to like Pete? Doesn’t matter what he says or does, he’s wrong. You’re NOT ALLOWED!

R92 what fresh hell is this??

r94 My reaction exactly.

This is what blacks are being told about why the black police chief was demoted, at R92’s link.

This is out and out Russian propaganda. There is no other explanation for this.

Sorry, link didn’t work.

lauren 🌈🖖🏻 @laurenjcoates · 4h Wait can someone please educate me what has he done that’s problematic 8 13

SpikedCloud [Single Payer M4A] @SpikedCloud Replying to @laurenjcoates and @angelicaross

Racists cops used Pete's rich donors as leverage to get him to fire the first black police chief in SB. The woman who uncovered the plot was also fired. This is just one of many problems

r97 Absolutely ridiculous. That chief was illegally recording the police officers and Pete even before Pete was elected mayor. And they trash-talked Pete as well on those tapes. You're right, this is starting to look like Russian propaganda.

And Angelica really needs to get out of L.A. now and then to see what a Republican actually looks like.

R92 Jesus what a (fake) CUNT

R90. You don't know black people. Again a white liberal assuming blacks will magically come around. The media is sadly not exaggerating. We are not feeling him and don't care for him no matter how hard the media tries to get us to care.

Remember that most voters find the Woke Left to be every bit as ridiculous at the Alt Right

And the fact that they are triggered by Pete is actually winning him point from people thinking "if he's not bending over backwards to please those idiots the way so many of the other candidates are, then maybe he has a spine after all"

r100 Except they DID magically come around Kerry, who was polling at 1% with them right until Iowa happened. He then shot to 34% basically overnight. And lest we forget, Hillary would have won the nomination had South Carolina been the first state to vote back in 2008 - that's how much stronger her black support was than Obama's. You know, before he won Iowa.

[quote]We are not feeling him and don't care for him no matter how hard the media tries to get us to care.

Please stop speaking on behalf of the entire black community in the US because it makes you sound like a petulant child. He's currently polling at 15% among black voters in Illinois, which is the most representative state in the country when it comes to reflecting the composition of the Democratic party. But I guess those black people don't count because they have a different opinion than you, right?

Oh, and I'm also black. 💅

[quote]Saying political twitter doesn't matter in how people vote is like saying that the fashion industry didn't select the sweater you're wearing.

Oh, look, Miranda Priestly's come to Datalounge!

[quote]All of that time spent tweeting useless memes and being up in arms about everything could be better spent attending local city council meetings and having their voice heard there, phone-banking for candidates they like, or hell, drafting petitions and obtaining signatures for things that may have a positive impact for their causes.

You mean . . . work?

But it so much cooler to type and press buttons!

[quote]the only thing I follow on Twitter are the porn stars,

probably more honest, truth be told

[quote]You don't know black people. Again a white liberal assuming blacks will magically come around. The media is sadly not exaggerating. We are not feeling him and don't care for him no matter how hard the media tries to get us to care.

I know a lot of black people. Including many who were just not that into Obama. In 2007.

Most were really into Hillary. Some for Edwards and his focus on fighting poverty. One for Kucinich.

Obama was a second or third choice.

Things change.

R59 that’s because they and everyone else knows that he was only able to jump in that line in large part to bring white, gay, and male.

Gay - got him on the early talk shows/podcasts because he was something new in the Presidnetial race. Blacks and woman have been done before. So he stood out. Add the Christianity and he became the inoffensive gay, sort of like Obama as a safe (half) black man. He had supper from the cash flush white gays, we know how to fundraise!

Male - people feel that you have to take on trump man to man. Pete’s deep voice and demeanor give off make confidence. Something a woman can rarely do effectively without being called a bitch or cold.

White - the name of the game in politics. White people love voting for white people. Iowa is a perfect place a Pete like candidate.

He has an impressive background, but that’s not unique in this cycle. We are flush with talent, but the talent is too old or too new to make it work. Pete might prove us wrong, but he caught the media’s attention because he’s a gay, white, man. Period.

^Or they judge him on the content of his character.

R108 character doesn’t mean crap in politics, and it never has. We’ve had too much racism, sexism, classim, and homophobia codified into law, to ever pretend that our politicians were of any character truly worthy of being a leader.

It’s 2019, I think it’s time for Dems to stop trying to be adults not the room and start playing dirty. Do what we need to win. I don’t want to elect another boy scout. We had that with Obama’s, it was wonderful, but doesn’t work against the current GOP. Now it’s time to elect someone that’s ready to cut a bitch if they cross our Party and ram through our agenda. We played nice and got shit on so now it’s tiem to be the bad cop.

^OK, Susan.

R102. Sure, since those imaginary 0 percent black vote nationally turned to 15 percent in Illinois. You make it seem like there are no whites in chicago. I am sure whites make up majority of the 15 percent.

Joy Reid has it in for Pete. As if it was his fault Kamala ran such a horrible campaign.

Pete didn’t have to do anything to point out what went wrong with Kamala’s campaign except exist.

The main difference between the gay civil rights movement and the black civil rights movement is how integral the church was to the latter. Pete talks a good game about Christianity but still needs to acknowledge this if he wants black voters to take him seriously.

R113. Black voters are never gonna take him seriously. If black people are not feeling you at all, it is never gonna happen.

I don't form my political opinions and preferences from goddamn Twitter.

So NO, I don't care.

[quote]Joy Reid has it in for Pete. As if it was his fault Kamala ran such a horrible campaign.

Did we have a "Her COLLAPSE is COMPLETE: She Will NEVER Be PRESIDENT!" thread for Poor Kamala™?

If the trans don’t like him, then that’s one point in his favor.

The guy who wrote that Twitter-approved scathing hit piece on Buttigieg for The Root took Nikki Haley to task for her gross and truly offensive comments on the symbolism of the Confederate Flag. Okay cool but it certainly seems like Ms. Haley is the one who actually deserves to be called a lying MF in the title of an article widely shared across the internet.

Kanye West said similar things about that flag recently, IIRC.

LOL 🤷‍♂️

Str8splaining racist white bitch says what?

She has a laughable answer to why she won't release her tax returns, in a world where the Clintons made them public going back to the 1970s.

"I've released more than Donald Trump, but you don't get to know about my time as a lawyer for major corporations. And it doesn't matter because Mr. Weinberger, Pete Buttigieg is eating a meatball sandwich right out in class!"

AND he’s been passing neauts!

Michael Harriot is a black nationalist extremist.

r124

Anyone who uses "black nationalist extremist" is a conservative/Russian troll.

Out Magazine has declared him cancelled!

r126

No one should be surprised. I remember when he first got in the race and I heard about how he defended Chick-fil-A. Buttigieg is no activist.

Then I declare out magazine canceled along with any of these sellout rags that refuse to stand behind the first openly gay male presidential candidate. Oh wait, except that he isn’t. Fred Karger is, and the same sellout rags that are attacking Pete refused to support him either.

r128

Fred is a Republican who just became independent only to vote for Pete. Most gays would never vote for a Republican. Are you kidding?

When did Out turn into such a rag?

R130 its all about being Woke,Queer now

"pete bootychug be like trans rights on the streets but salvation army in the sheets" - Uncle Pissmass on Twitter. How fucking stupid are these people? He is LITERALLY salvation army on the streets and trans rights in the sheets. That's how you win on both sides.

He's still that church kid with something to prove. Too bad White church kid energy repels Black and young people.