Why Pete Buttigieg Enrages The Young Left

He really needs to quit making those "serious" faces. He looks like an idiot.

You can never have too many threads on Mayor Pete!

Is it 'cause the young left is dumb?

“Young and activated”

Could have fooled me. Young voters never vote.

He TRIGGERS them far more than Trump or any republicans could dream of achieving.

He's the mayor of a small town in Indiana. And apparently not a great one. He has real problems with his relationship to communities of color there.

It seems more than a little arrogant that he thinks he can make the jump from that small-town job that he's not actually done very well at, to being lead of a super power and leader of the free world.

Honestly, he's just not qualified. He doesn't have the necessary experience. Maybe he'll get a job in the next Democratic administration somewhere and gain enough experience and maybe even some wisdom to where he'll be qualified in the future.

But his time is not now, and I really question the sanity of people who think he's ready for the job. He's not.

My non-US outsider perspective is that the US' left is ridiculously self-sabotaging. They lack leadership that is politically savvy and influential enough to keep their left-wing's eyes on the prize. Anyway, the left-wing's absolute lack of political pragmatism and realpolitik will bite them in the ass in the long run.

What the article doesn't mention is the elephant in the room: The blatant homophobia, camouflaged by the left's woke righteousness.

Considering how little Bernie has achieved with over 30 years in the Senate - is he actually that qualified?

R6 for the win.

I cannot wait until the primaries are over and for Mayo Pete to drop out and return to South Bend.

You have no fucking clue, R7, except for the alt-right lingo you've come to shit out here.

Call me cynical but if someone goes from literally no tangible political accomplishments on the national or even the state level to having enough funding to kickstart a *presidential* campaign, something is odd there. Sure, he has visibility now to fundraise but who gave him the start-up money before any of us even first heard of him? He doesn't seem like a bad guy, but who's been orchestrating all of this in an already crowded field of contenders except to polarize minority vs gay vs other Democratic voters?

As an addendum about the left's homophobia: I'm always baffled that they are the first to tell you that the US are not ready for a gay president or that it's time for a woman now (someone who is not "white, male privileged"), but at the same time, they think that the US are ready for broad systemic changes to their healthcare, without a choice, or that old, white, straight Bernie Sanders is suddenly okay.

Hypocrites, all of them!

Go fuck yourself, R10, you ugly cunt! I don't care, I'm not living in your country and don't have to live with the consequences. I tell it like I see it based on my reception of US media.

As opposed to all the experience Trump, Schwarzenegger, Sarah Palin and cast of hundreds of Republican politicians brought to the table, I'd say Pete is supremely qualified.

I want someone smart, honorable, and is guided by good instincts. The requirement of having to have many years of Senate or other experience is just bullshit.

R7 the lack of practicality and realpolitik has already bitten the American left on the ass. Trump has stacked the courts with lifetime tenure conservative federal judges

[QUOTE] Call me cynical but if someone goes from literally no tangible political accomplishments on the national or even the state level to having enough funding to kickstart a *presidential* campaign, something is odd there. Sure, he has visibility now to fundraise but who gave him the start-up money before any of us even first heard of him?

Gay Hollywood, R10. There’s nothing nefarious about it.

The article is sort of crap.

He mentions a poll in passing, but relies primarily on the Twitter feeds of a handful of More Woke Than You'll Ever Be Leftist politicos and journos and can't even be bothered to interview them--he mostly regurgitates their Twitter feeds and then repeats the theories that two different Atlantic authors have offered.

But actually interviewing some of the more extreme Sandersnistas or even just random 20 and 30somethings in Iowa? Far too difficult

[And FWIW, the short answer seems to be that they're jealous. They're annoyed that Pete took the more difficult road (Army, mayor of a small midwestern city) rather than getting The Right Job in DC and they're annoyed that AOC is still too young to run.]

R9, and guess who else is not going to be the nominee? Bernie and Warren. I'll come back for your meltdown.

It's hilarious to me that the wokesters whine "but it's not his turn" and "what's his experience?" He has executive experience (granted, on a much smaller scale). You never hear the same assholes complain about Andrew Yang's complete absence of government experience. I guess that's because he's bribing them with a promise of $12k a year just for existing.

R11, no one from the left has claimed that? You want to pin homophobia on the left, now, instead of fighting your real enemies?

Bernie was supporting gay rights before it was fashionable and Pete has been in the closet most of his life.

When they say "he doesn't have experience" R16, what they're really saying is "he didn't do what me and my friends did and we were the ones into politics from the beginning. He was just another drone who got a job at McKinsey, but then he found Jesus, joined the Army, got elected mayor of some no-name city and WHY IS HE THE CONTENDER FOR PRESIDENT AND NOT ME?????

The resentment by the Comb Salad candidate blasts in waves.

Wut ^

Is the Klob mad, too, r19? She's definitely not the Young Left.

Because young leftists are incredibly stupid. They think Bernie Sanders is morally pure and will save them all. Few of these people have ever looked up what Bernie has accomplished in the senate (i.e. nothing) or his history of speaking without doing. Pete hasn't accomplished anything on a national level but I do think he would make a great cabinet member or VP for Joe Biden. I want Sanders and AOC gone.

R21, Klob is great. I want her in the senate though. She has accomplished so much there, she is basically a younger Pelosi. I don't want a person that great to leave the Senate.

Mizz Nina Turner hates Pete.

Sorry, but I'm still laughing at the audacity of Teen Vogue calling out someone else for being "Bourgeois."

[quote]It seems more than a little arrogant that he thinks he can make the jump from that small-town job that he's not actually done very well at, to being lead of a super power and leader of the free world.

As opposed to Sanders, who hasn't accomplished a single thing of note despite decades of being a Senator?

[quote]It seems more than a little arrogant that he thinks he can make the jump from that small-town job that he's not actually done very well at, to being lead of a super power and leader of the free world.

And yet he refused to get involved when the LGBT community wanted political leaders to speak out against a possible constitutional amendment preventing gay marriage back in 2004.

Sorry that last comment was for this little chestnut:

[quote]Bernie was supporting gay rights before it was fashionable and Pete has been in the closet most of his life.

Actually, when push came to shove, he really didn't. But that's typical Sanders.

R26, that's the essence of Bernie in a nutshell. Talk and talk and talk until it comes to actually making things happen.

I liked Bernie in '16 but this run is just ego.

I really don’t know why being in the closet is held over Pete’s head like it can somehow diminish the fact that, at this very moment, he is an out and proud gay man running a serious campaign for the presidency. Bernie Sanders was down with the gays way back and, hey, good for him. But I’m going to guess that the stakes for a heterosexual self-identified socialist coming from liberal territory are very different than the ones for the young gay guy growing up in Beat Up the Fags Indiana.

They are immature.

I personally agree with the idea of youth fighting to maintain the progressive spirit of our aging demographic. I think of the 60s, the youth from that era were supposed to be enlightened and all about change. In reality, they grew up to be a disaster, overseeing the destruction of our middle class and standing within the world.

I like the idea of fighting to maintain the liberal spirit of the upcoming generation. Pete is a poster child for the status quo, wrapped in a gay man. Obama was the poster child for the status quo, wrapped in a black man. Clinton, was the status quo wrapped in a straight white man. These people have educations from the same universities, pull from the same well of Wall Street corporations, cycle in the same K-Street specialist, and allow the Pentagon to lead us by the nose from one war to the next. When Republicans get into office, a slightly worse group of the same characters take over. Nothing really changes because that narrow Wall Street & K-Street mindset dominates the White House year after year after year. Some people are sick of it all.

Would I attack Pete in some of the disgusting ways I've seen? Naw, I'd rather point out the benefits of my preferred candidate. Can Bernie change DC? Hahah, naw, but maybe he'd try. Would I support Pete if he's the nominee? Hell yes! I'll take slightly better Pete over the devil in the flesh Trump. But Pete's my number 3 candidate choice so I can live with him.

Because he's a square, the article says. Sounds good to me! Who cares what some recent Sarah Lawrence or Hampshire grad thinks is cool.

The reason progressive millennials and younger don't like him is because he's attacking progressive policy proposals.

It's pretty simple.

As for the "I don't care if he has Senate experience or DC experience" argument - look back at Jimmy Carter's presidency and tell me how that worked out.

Pete buttigieg is definitely not qualified for the oval office. Plus, his past keeps coming back to haunt him. He's also very racially ignorant and insensitive and unaware. He's gay, but his cultural ignorance is what puts him in the very same category as other white men. To me he's no different than the others, and I think he in over his head.

Also, people are still suspicious of pete because of that police controversy back in southbend and all off the racial tensions surrounding that. That and all of his other racial gaffes, will be the reason he won't be the nominee, nor the next president. And when all of this is over, hes going to right a book and cash in anyway he can, just like everyone else does.

R35 “hes going to right a book”

BORIS, how much are you playing for those ESL classes??

[quote]As for the "I don't care if he has Senate experience or DC experience" argument - look back at Jimmy Carter's presidency and tell me how that worked out.

So they support Sanders, who has decades in the Senate with nothing to show for it. Makes total sense.

The problem with purity politics is that everyone else is supposed to play by one set of rules while their own candidate can do whatever they want.

But at least some of his supporters seem to be catching on to this game.

R37, that's just de rigueur for Bernie, AOC and their supporters. Hilariously, I have seen some of his fans argue that people should vote for Bernie BECAUSE you shouldn't vote based on moral purity. How does that make any sense? These are the people who are establishing purity tests and then they claim their candidates are the victims of this? I shouldn't be surprised though. Look at the reaction of Corbyn supporters when he lost: "we have lost a great candidate. We don't deserve Corbyn." No, morons--Corbyn doesn't deserve Britain, that's what the vote proves. If you lost by THAT large of a margin, it is time to do some deep introspection, a trait most of them seem to lack.

R29, Bernie in 2016 was like a cockroach version of Nader in 2000 (who was already irritating just by himself). When he lost the primary, instead of accepting the defeat, he and his supporters claimed the DNC was rigged against him. Why the hell should the DNC champion Bernie when he refused to identify as a Democrat until it was convenient for him?

The loudest voices of the parody-leftists are still entranced by the 2016 promise of college-loan forgiveness.

They can high-five trans intersectionality until the vegan-safe cows come home, but they have $100,000 in student-loan debt, and their esoteric degrees have not equipped them to pay those off.

These shouting pseudosocialists view Pete as a class traitor.

But there are only about 5,800 of them, all retweeting one another and interviewing each other for their woke blogs and podcasts that are still failing to pay the bills.

I am starting to think that Putin gave Pete the job that went to Jill Stein in 2016. Divide and conquer.

If Pete wanted to do the right thing, he would just primary Trump as the Republican he really is.

R40 The sad part is that Hillary had a forgiveness program that she would have implemented and it would have at the very least dramatically reduced people's payments by large amounts.

They hate white people. It's about the blacks. Negros are opressed angels for them. I'm so tired of this bullshit. Wish I could live in Russia, they don't have blacks or woke left there.

R41, Buttigieg is more "Republican" (what does that even mean?) than Biden how?

Besides, what good does it do, if you present the most progressive agenda and candidate if the vast majority in the relevant states ('cause Electoral College) don't want a hardcore progressive? Just to shoot yourself in the foot for some imagined purity's sake? Idiotic! You need a politician in the WH who is politically savvy and knows how to gain the mandate of the majority of people, not just the loudest minorities.

Legitimate question: if he were "queer" or "fluid" rather than classic "I like cock" gay - would they hate him this much? I honestly doubt it.

R45 or if he came out and said for now on call me Patrica Buttigieg.

R43 Racist Nazi.

R44 According to most of these people, anyone to the right of Lenin is a Republican. What they don't seem to understand is that, that would make 85-95% of voters "Republican."

R43 for the win! Demos will sacrifice anyone for their hapless expression of white guilt. They stumble over each other, trying to be the first at any open mic to virtue signal and finger wag about the American Faberge Egg: The Black American.

Sanders has been in the Senate for 13 years, not decades. He was in the House from 1990 to 2006, with all but 4 of those years in the minority party with the Democrats. The "he did nothing" attack lines are just bullshit, people in the minority don't do anything in the House. The same people screaming that bogus attack line also ignore Buttigieg's record of nothing just as they did Hillary's in 2016. But none of this will matter anyway. I've made my peace with Joe Biden being the nominee, nothing is going to prevent that now.

Those folks dismiss the possibility, as a decades-old political junkie I'm not so sure that Biden can really afford poor showings in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

R43 and R49 Are exemplified ideals of white entitlement, and ignorance.

[quote] Legitimate question: if he were "queer" or "fluid" rather than classic "I like cock" gay

He is still supportive of transwomen in female restrooms and non-binary and all that stuff. He is no friend to normal Americans, no matter how straight acting he is.

R50 Actually, there are numerous members of the minority who are able to achieve something. Being able to achieve, even one policy, while in the minority, is a sign of accomplishment because it shows the ability to work across party lines and get things done. Only an inflexible loser whines that you can't accomplish anything because you are in the minority.

R51: Hey, maybe this will FINALLY be the year the rest of the country tells both states to fuck off with their superiority complexs in picking Presidential nominees.

Radical transformation rarely happens

Small steps are more likely.

Obama was able to get elected as a (half) black man because he was not perceived as radical.

Pete is electable as a gay man because he is not perceived as radical.

FDR was able to force more radical change because he was an entrenched member or the establishment.

R54: Oh yeah, he was totally supposed to work with Snot Gingrich, Army Dick, Hastert the Bastard and the rest of the Nazi right. You do understand Gingrich FORBAD his 1994 caucus from even spending free time with anyone who was in the Democratic caucus? And you expect any Democrat to work with that? Sure, Jan. That is not how the House works.

If Biden was so terrific at working across the aisle, why couldn't he get more done while Obama was President?

NOT this Bernie...

THIS Bernie!

The United States is not South Africa. I can't stand all the attention the left gives to black people. They are a worthless minority that is overrepresented in everything, especially in crime. Stop it. They destroyed Detroit, Baltimore and St. Louis. We really need more representation from these people?

R61. Racist pieces of shit which explains why you support petey.

R62

For R57

Remember when Detroit was a great city? Blacks destroyed everything. We need another white flight. Let these animals kill themselves.

Frankly the only reason I ever heard of Sanders before his last run was as an oddity as the only socialist elected. I never heard anything else - nothing he said, nothing he did, nothing he had passed. We all sympathetically said it was because he was the only socialist, what can we expect the poor guy to do yadda yadda.

The only thing I like about Bernie Sanders is Larry David's impersonation on SNL.

[quote] They hate white people. It's about the blacks. Negros are opressed angels for them. I'm so tired of this bullshit. Wish I could live in Russia, they don't have blacks or woke left there.

[quote] The United States is not South Africa. I can't stand all the attention the left gives to black people. They are a worthless minority that is overrepresented in everything, especially in crime. Stop it. They destroyed Detroit, Baltimore and St. Louis. We really need more representation from these people?

[quote] Remember when Detroit was a great city? Blacks destroyed everything. We need another white flight. Let these animals kill themselves.

Yawn . . .

White supremacist troll you’re boring us with your nonsense.

Muriel go ahead. Give this idiot the red tag; that she so very much desires.

[quote]Pete is electable as a gay man because he is not perceived as radical.

No.

Pete is a Republican masquerading as a Corporate Democrat.

Zuckerberg anyone? McKinsey? Corporate donors (with wine cave supporters courting ambassador positions....ye gads)

Please.

I'm 62, and was an enthusiastic supporter of Pete until he transformed into the younger Republican-Lite option to that aging geezer Biden. No thanks, Pete. I'm not enraged or young, but you've become a milquetoast candidate to me anyway. This country needs a dramatic shift because incremental progress can be undone at an alarming pace if a demented narcissist gets elected President and has enough obsequious minions in the Senate to enable him. This is exactly what is occurring post-Obama.

I assume you're a Bernie supporter, R70. Please give me a list of things that Bernie has accomplished in Congress over the last 30 years, dramatic or otherwise.

So many people here completely brainwashed. Wake up people, the left wants white people all dead. It's us against them. Do you really think they will be kind to us once POCs are a majority? They want our extinction. It's time to fight back.

[quote]They hate white people.

If that were true there wouldn't be so much love for Bernie Sanders.

All this talk of we must have a black or woman on the ticket, as well as a general obsession about minority representation seemed to come from two places:

1) White establishment engaged Democrats who are absolutely terrified of low turnout.

2) Woke, swole, whatever term you wanna use (and those who thrive on it). The "reparations" crowd.

[quote] This country needs a dramatic shift because incremental progress can be undone at an alarming pace if a demented narcissist gets elected President and has enough obsequious minions in the Senate to enable him. This is exactly what is occurring post-Obama.

R79’s point is well taken.

And stands in contrast to your push towards slow progress (and hence, justification of Repub Pete), R56.

We certainly haven’t had “small changes” since Trump arrived on the scene.

Why, then, should we have to settle for such?

They hate him like the fraus hated Hillary: because she made something of herself against all odds. While they chose baby diapers and office cubes.

R54 Either you are truly an idiot or you were just a very positive thinking person Who doesn’t understand the American system of government. In both the House and the Senate, every member can introduce a bill. The only way for a vote to happen on that bill, is if the majority leader brings it up for a vote. One of the most destructive decisions Republicans made around 1998, is that they decided they would never bring anything up for a vote unless a majority of Republicans Supported it. Before that, the majority leaders would decide what they wanted to do, and work with the minority party in order to get a full majority vote. They only cared about getting a majority overall and for 20 years we’ve had a system where they only will bring up a bill if a majority of the majority is behind it. Notice, the minority leader has no say in anything. So when you say the minority can get stuff done, I’m guessing you cannot point to a single piece of legislation over the past 25 years that passed because the minority was behind it and was able to bring in some majority members in order to get over 50%. Because it doesn’t work like that. There are some very simple gun control measures that over 90% of the American people support and because the Republican party is split and pretty much owned by the NRA at this point (on the issue of guns) there will be no vote. If we could snap our fingers and make a vote happen, you would probably get about 70% voting in favor with the republicans split down the middle. But they would never bring anything up for a bill that would split them down the middle. I hope you learn something here.

Pete...[italic]Who?[/italic]

R71 - not a Bernie supporter, no. He's too old, and I find him a bit one note. At this point, I'll hold my nose and vote Blue, but none of the remaining candidates give me optimism for the future. Maybe Liz Warren because she enrages the greedy corporate billionaires, and does have some progressive policies, but I'm lukewarm on her. I genuinely believe we need a significant generational shift in politics. Younger, more forward-thinking candidates who seek to retire the old model of governance in favor of a fresher one more suited to today's world. Getting rid of the electoral college should be the first thing to do in this regard. The influx of younger and forward-thinking candidates is starting to occur in the House elections and some Senate elections (for the Dems. The GOP is a lost cause at this point and they and their dwindling base deserve to go extinct.) In any case, there's a lot to love about Pete, but not for President. Perhaps a cabinet position, should a Democrat win the White House this time around.

Elizabeth Warren at least has a proven record of getting things done (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) and doesn't talk in airy generalities like "We need a revolution!"

R77: Exactly my point. R54 is living in the 1970s....

This thread is straight out of the bullshit Twittersphere. Pete's town halls are full of young people. Pete's a Democratic Progressive, not a Bernie Independent Socialist. Pete understands perception in messaging. Bernie would lose 49 states.

R82 - It's not just the "Twittersphere" that is unenthusiastic about Pete although that may be a more vocal arena with the most vitriol expressed. If that's the only place you're seeing reticence about him, then you need to broaden your perspective with some deeper research. As I mentioned above, I supported Pete a lot at first blush, but he's done a definite Centrist pivot that is distasteful to me, which will only preserve the ineffective status quo. Maybe he's just pretending to go more Moderate to get elected? If that is his strategy, and he does manage to get in the White House and then makes a decisive progressive shift, I'd be ecstatic. I'm too cynical about government to believe that is possible. Not so long as the rich are buying access and manipulating policy with their funding.

From what I've seen there are a lot of people who like Pete personally, and would be happy enough dealing with four years of him as president, but honestly don't feel he could win. Kind of like a black guy with a Muslim name...

[quote]He really needs to quit making those "serious" faces. He looks like an idiot.

8 WWs for this comment. What the fuck has happened to DL?

[Quote] They hate him like the fraus hated Hillary: because she made something of herself against all odds.

Lol. What odds were against him as an able bodied "straight" white man?

R56, didn't FDR also pack the supreme court with his own judges? i'm sure that helped.

[quote]Bernie was supporting gay rights before it was fashionable and Pete has been in the closet most of his life.

Oh, yeah, like saying Vermont shouldn't introduce same-sex marriage years after they introduced civil unions because, and I quote, "the people have been through enough." And by that he meant straight people in Vermont had been too traumatised by civil unions already. The only major candidates who skipped both LGBT town halls as well. Actually, his campaign called the CNN the same day he had his stroke and said he now actually could make it... so the optics would be better once he cancelled again and offered the stroke as the reason.

Fuck that walking corpse right in the ass. Won't even release his medical records because they're that bad.

*major candidate

I still don't understand why people are so obsessed with the whole McKinsey thing. He was an analyst there, not some big shot. Elizabeth Warren worked with many, many "Corporate overlords" as well, so she is in no position to talk.

[quote]Bernie was supporting gay rights before it was fashionable and Pete has been in the closet most of his life.

Macaulay Culkin is two years older than Pete and Bernie is three years younger than modern sunscreen. If your point is that Bernie is older, then yes, he sure as hell is. And please don't lecture me about Bernie's support of civil right when he skipped most of the elections... right until the moment it was time to vote for himself.

r90 I have no idea. They have nothing else to grab onto, I guess. If they go after his mayoral stint, there are articles upon articles about how life there objectively became better under him, and the independently commissioned polls support that view by the locals as well. So they obviously can't hit him where it actually matters.

R92, bingo. And honestly, none of these "attacks" have been that bad. Imagine what would happen if Biden or Pete brought up the fact that Sanders was a USSR fan for decades. How he hung the flag of the USSR in his office in Vermont. How he and his wife honeymooned in the USSR and were singing "my land is your land" ON VIDEO. How he got kicked out of a commune because he was so useless ( I'm not sure how that's possible in a commune, but wow). How he has proven he is all talk, no action for the past 30 years. How his wife bankrupted a community college. How he has multiple houses. How he was caught chanting "the yank will die" with Sandinista protestors. How his healthcare plan for Vermont was a complete and utter failure (a preview of what's to come if Bernie gets in the oval office).

he's unattractive, centrist, and unlikable. It's not that deep

Agreed R94.

Young people are generally progressive.

Pete is a centrist.

It's not more complicated than that.

R77 I don't have time to look at every bill passed but doing a simple search on Congress.gov showed that 422 bills introduced by and primarily sponsored by a Democrat was able to go to the President and become law between 1994-2008(when Democrats controlled the House) Meanwhile, Sanders had only one law introduced by him, during his entire House career become law, the law "To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1 Marble Street in Fair Haven, Vermont, as the "Matthew Lyon Post Office Building," in 2006, if nothing else he should have a few more of these type of bills to his credit, considering he served in the House for over 15 years. He did sign on as cosponsor for 170 bills that became law, but most of them had large numbers of co-sponsors so it isn't a real accomplishment.

R83 Pete is Progressive but smart enough to make it sound moderate. He understands that the Democratic voting block in the General is not enough to win. Moderates and Independents are needed. And the black vote is unreliable.

Agree with everything except the part about black vote being unreliable R97--the black vote is very loyal to the vote for Democrat.

R98 They didn't vote for Hillary in 2016.

R91 Macaulay Culkin is two years older than Pete and Bernie is three years younger than modern sunscreen.

LOLOLOL

R96 Sorry, I meant " between 1994-2008(when Republicans controlled the House) "

Clinton and Obama are to lefties who served two terms. Pete is a lefty as well. Good omen, I hope.

What's crazy too me is how the cynical DLers are acting like we should all bow down at the greatness of Pete. He's s a good checklist candidate, minus the glaring issue of licking cock and limit political experience. I don't see how offering a centrist policy will pull swing voters. The stock market is strong, unemployment is down, we haven't had any new wars or major terrorist attacks. Why should voters choose Pete/Biden/Amy when the country is having the largest amount of economic growth this century? As the saying goes, "It's the economy, stupid." At the very least, left leaning people are transparent about their desire for change. The more center leaning Dems will try to run against Trump's personality, but it simply wont work unless the economy falters. I prefer Warren and Bernie's fight for structural change and policies geared at tackling Wall Street's unregulated greed.

[quote]The stock market is strong, unemployment is down, we haven't had any new wars or major terrorist attacks. Why should voters choose Pete/Biden/Amy when the country is having the largest amount of economic growth this century?

Umm...so using your argument, why should people who are not far-left vote for a Democrat at all if everything is so great now? If I go in thinking the economy is fantastic, then why would I ruin it with Bernie's socialist policies that will seriously raise my taxes. The election absolutely is about Trump, his insanity, stupidity, lack of leadership at home and abroad, authoritarianism, corruption and more. And Pete has plenty of structural change initiatives in his platform including getting rid of the electoral college, restructuring the Supreme Court to make it less partisan, proposing Medicare for those who do not have or do not want private insurance, etc.

r104 like I said, those centrist Dems wont have much to run on beyond the "I'm not Trump" mantra. Meanwhile, other candidates are offering actually bold changes that give voters a real alternative. If someone comes along close to Trump in policy or worse, seen as the same type of politician that lead us into the Great Recession and destruction of the Middle Class, then I fear that swing voters will stick with bombastic Trump and his roaring economy.

Are you being serious, R105? I just gave 3 examples from Pete's platform that are bold. What are you talking about?

R99, what? Almost 100% of black voters voted for Hilary in 2016.

[quote]The sad part is that Hillary had a forgiveness program that she would have implemented and it would have at the very least dramatically reduced people's payments by large amounts.

You know what else reduces people's payments? NOT BORROWING LARGE SUMS OF MONEY YOU CAN'T REPAY. Why should the taxpayers bail out these people? They knew what they were getting into. Maybe they should get a part-time job while they are in college like I, and thousands of others, did.

R108 we bailout huge corporations all the time. Why can't we bail out those with huge student loans instead?

R108 Most of them are first generation college students who were fed the lie that if you have a college degree you will automatically get a great paying job.

[quote]we bailout huge corporations all the time. Why can't we bail out those with huge student loans instead?

I don't agree with bailing out huge corporations.

BUT, at least they employ people who pay taxes. And many of those companies are invested in by 401k and pension plans. What does bailing out individuals who made poor choices get us?

[quote]How he got kicked out of a commune because he was so useless ( I'm not sure how that's possible in a commune, but wow).

Because he was [italic]TRIFLING,[/italic] R93. The success of a commune depends upon everyone pulling his/her own weight. Bernie was a lazy blowhard who always acted like everyone should float him because of his "brilliance."

Not much has changed since then.

R111 they don't pay much taxes, not anymore.

R107 Black vote was down in 2016 as opposed to 2012 for Obama.

Well, Obama was the first black president. What do you expect, R114?

R115 Bill Clinton was the first black President.

Dude, I complain about Andrew Yang's utter lack of relevant experience all the damn time. He's terrible. Just another stunt candidate running a vanity campaign.

Warren can't really run a campaign. Not a good sign. And her lie about Indian background really disqualifies her.

Black vote was down in 2012 as opposed to 2008 for Obama.

Civil Rights leader Lamell McMorris endorses Pete.

[quote] Nina Turner hates Pete.

Nine Turner is toxic. She’s an idiot who bought the Bernie bullshit hook, line, and sinker. Fuck her.

Lamell McMorris does not speak for all black people. He definitely doesn't speak for me. He's nothing but a sell out coon to white people. Fuck him.

And Obama definitely doesn't have any influence over black people. At least not my generation. Everyone has a mind of their own, and nothing Obama says is going to change that. He was another failure, who every time you looked up was always in the faces of white people. Just one of the reasons AA's are completely disillusioned with Obama.

He really was a fucking failure, and I voted for him in 2008. And Corey along with Kamala wonder why they got no where with black voters. Obama messed it up for them etc.

R122 Try harder at trolling.

R122 is white.

R124 You're wrong, I actually black. You're free to check my history.

R122

I voted for Clinton in 2016, because everyone said it was her turn. But apparently it was Trumps turn instead. So this year it's Bernie Sanders turn and that's who I'm voting for. I don't want petey boy.

Besides, king Bernie just raised over $34.5 million dollars in the last quarter, and that is a statement. We all need to throw our support behind Sanders and just shut up.

.@MichiganDems vice chair Mark LaChey endorsed @PeteButtigieg saying he's the only Democratic primary candidate who can beat Trump.

The link is from Facebook. Look it up yourselves.

Sanders isn't going to win shit. He's 100 years old and has a bad heart. Get your heads out of your asses.

[quote]Warren can't really run a campaign. Not a good sign. And her lie about Indian background really disqualifies her.

Not to mention she's a hypocrite. About a month ago, she was in a campaign stop and someone asked her about school vouchers. She said she was against them. She's against parent's having control over their children's choice of school despite having sent her son to a private school. She even lied about it and said he went to a public school. That unleashed several of his classmates posting a yearbook online demonstrating that indeed her son went to a private school.

R130 Its going to be Bernie or bust. You're boy "pete" doesn't have the experience, and he has crazy weird racist tendencies that keep being exposed. He ain't gonna win shit, he is to fucking dangerous to be in the oval office. He'd probably end up being a bigger disaster than Trump is.

r132 the majority of Americans are not going to vote for Bernie.

At least we know Pete won't drop dead on Inauguration Day. The same can't be said for Bernie or Biden. And nobody wants "Scold Librarian" Warren as POTUS. She'll probably pass an Executive Order that school children have to eat lima beans twice a week.

And my generation (millennials) are not going to vote for a fraud like mayor pete from some flyover shithole town out in the middle of nowhere. And hes gay. Certain groups are not going to get behind him.

I'm just saying.

So don't get behind him r135. Nobody gives a shit.

[quote]So don't get behind him [R135].

Definitely not. He's a total top. I tried one time and it didn't go very well. He's not accustomed to surprise anal.

Yeah right. Pete supporters do nothing but trash every other candidate and then cry about homophobia when Pete is criticized. Never mind their own ageism, and sexism toward the other candidates.

Ageism is appropriate when discussing the presidential race. You can't have a fucking president who's 80 years old.

[quote] And my generation (millennials) are not going to vote for mayor pete

I will and I know plenty of other people my age who will. Nobody anointed you the voice of a generation. Speak only for yourself.

Most young people are desperate, poor, and are tired of being ignored and fucked over. Buttigieg is just more of the same. We want real change and that's why we are energized by Bernie.

Most young people are energized by empty, populist rhetoric which is why they love Bernie. There is no other explanation. It's definitely not for his accomplishments (whatever those are).

Bernie is a turd. There is no way he can win against Trump.

R142, you obviously know nothing about Bernie if you actually think that.

R144, what has he accomplished on a national level? Nothing. He has been talking for decades and achieved almost nothing.

Bernie’s pro dictator, pro Russia videos are airing on Twitter as we speak.

R145, Bernie managed to amass two and a half million dollars while advocating for socialism. That's an achievement.

Bernie has one foot in the grave and the other foot is on a banana peel.

America: he can be your daddy too. Just give him a chance!

R147, HAHAHAHA! Yes, that is quite the accomplishment. This whole "moral purity" idea of knocking billionaires and millionaires down for their wealth is weird to me. Because the people establishing these purity tests don't have an issue when it is they or their messiahs who rake in the money. It's only wrong when OTHERS do it.

I find it fascinating that Biden has released his medical records yet he continues to be made fun of by Bernie supporters for being out-of-touch and out of his mind. And yet, Bernie PROMISED to release his medical records and has not done so. This proves how dishonest and near-death he really is. This man cannot and should not be elected.

This link here is typical Sanders behavior. Establish moral purity for others while you, yourself, cannot uphold these standards. He does not deserve respect from any actual Democrats after how he claimed the DNC was "rigged" against him (why would the DNC support an "independent" who only became a Democrat when it was convenient) and how he attacked Clinton.

R138. You forgot they can be racist piece of shits, judging by some of the pro Pete comments in this site.

More Bernie dishonesty. How shocking.

So the young left hates him. Fine. What about young people generally, especially his own generation?

R155, Pete does OK among young voters, not amazing. But really, who gives a fuck. Younger voters can make a difference but their sense of importance is tremendously exaggerated. Younger voters are the ones least likely to vote anyways, it is OLDER voters who have higher rates of voting. Biden and Buttigieg do MUCH better than Sanders among those 45 and older. Warren seems (or is it that "seemed") to have the most consistent support among all age groups. And also, Biden actually does slightly better than Buttigieg among those between 30 and 44. I can't link to the web site that has the info, but it is from a business insider article with a headline saying, "There are just 6 weeks until the first primary. Here's where the Democratic contenders stand based on gender, race, age, and geography."

By the end of the day, Buttigieg will be on television reminding everyone that he is the only candidate who served in the military in the Middle East.

Yes, Pete will Save.

[quote] What about young people generally, especially his own generation?

He's not young, he's almost 40. He only seems young because the other top 3 candidates are over 70. In the real world, 40 is not young.

Great article on Bernie. One of the comments lists it all for Bernie (I agree with most, not all of it):

He was an unemployed bum before entering politics who siphoned electricity off his neighbor and didn't pay child support.

He wrote crazy misogynistic things in his thirties, not as a young man, like women fantasize about being assaulted, cancer is caused from girls not masturbating, and kids should touch each other like in Brave New World.

He confessed he didn't vote until he voted for himself, during pivotal times in American politics.

He is nepotistic with his wife and son.

He used to talk about millionaires and billionaires but changed it to billionaires when he became one.

He thinks there is no need for multiple brands of deoderant as a criticism of capitalism but owns more than one home.

He Honeymooned in the USSR and there is a video of him singing shirtless in Russian.

He used to tout Venezuela as more in line with the "American Dream"

He is a class reductionist to his core and ignores core constituencies of the Democratic Party.

He has accomplished no major legislation and has spent 40 years naming Post Offices.

He runs as a Democrat to keep out competition then runs as an independent.

He repeats the same stump speech over and over and doesn't amend his "policies" when experts tear them apart.

His policies are bumper sticker level.

He worked with the NRA through most of his career, and now is trying to play it down.

From the article:

[quote] Somehow, Sanders never takes as much as he gives out. Imagine if Hillary Clinton had a heart attack, promised to release all of her medical records and then only put out letters from her doctor? She would have been under assault for weeks. That’s what Sanders did, but neither his opponents nor the media have pressed him on full disclosure of his health records. Warren was forced to put out a funding plan for Medicare-for-all. Sanders told my Post colleague Robert Costa he does not have to. “I don’t give a number," Sanders said, “and I’ll tell you why: It’s such a huge number, and it’s so complicated that if I gave a number you and 50 other people would go through it and say, ‘Oh . . .'”

R155. I am an older millennia in my thirties and I can't stand him. It is young people in general who can't stand this fake ass corporate whore.

No leftist Democrat has ever won the WH. FDR, JFK, LBJ, Clinton, and Obama were Moderates with Progressive agendas. They knew how to explain their policies without scaring the horses.

Bernie's just a millionaire socialist. Warren doesn't understand perception in messaging.

I’m in my 30s, Democrat, gay, and love Pete.

r-59 that is truly a frighting picture of Bernie. Yikes! I’m a Warren fan myself, with a door cracked for Biden, Bloomberg, and Pete. If we can’t change anything, might as well go with a strong centrist or rich as fuck billionaire. I’m still not sold on the idea that Americans want to represented by a gay man. The only pro-Gay legislation done on the Federal level was the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Americans knew it was a cruel rule, so I understand the supper for removal. I don’t think Americans will like their male Presidents to kiss another man.

Happy to be proven wrong, but I’ve seen how straights act in private. Their comfort with the LBGT community is shaky at best, unless your in a major city.

I meant r159

Can the Bernie supporters and the Pete supporters please list SPECIFIC accomplishments they've achieved?

We know about Warren's accomplishments, Amy K's accomplishments, and Biden's accomplishments (and mistakeks (Anita Hill, Crime Bill)).

But can the B & P supporters show us why we should back their candidates?

SPECIFIC accomplishments, not simply age or promises.

Because all the rest is just noise. Most REAL Democrats don't care a fig about wine caves, pie-in-the-sky promises that are impossible if GOP retains the Senate, stuttering, heart attacks, or gay vs straight.

R166 Pete brought back a dying city to life. He is the only reason South Bend’s population went up for the first time in decades. Before him South Bends population was on steady decline as people chose to leave the city for better opportunities. Pete completely changed that. The avg income went up and the unemployment rate came down.

South Bend, That sounds like dancing!

R157, he forgot about the equally odious Tulsi, if he said that.

He never forgets Tulsi, r169. He always thanks her for her service.

I told you that Biden was surging and would soon take the lead in Iowa now that voters are actually paying attention. The Iran conflict will strengthen Biden's position even more.

R167. I have to laugh and thanks for the comedy.

R171, good.

Pete was leading in the last poll. They're extrapolating based on national polls. As far as I know, PB is still leading Iowa, but who knows until a new poll comes out?

[quote]He's not young, he's almost 40. He only seems young because the other top 3 candidates are over 70. In the real world, 40 is not young.

Pete isn’t “almost 40”. He’s 37. On January 20, 2021, Pete will be 39 years old. He will be younger by 3 years than the previous youngest president, Theodore Roosevelt, who was 42, nearly 43, when he came to office – but he wasn’t elected president. JFK was 43 when he was inaugurated; he is the second-youngest president we've had to date.

I like Pete, but he’s young to be president. He's also younger than most voters this November will be. The article below estimates that 62% of eligible voters will 40 or older. But, unless this year is radically different from every other election, older people will vote at a higher rate, so the percentage of actual voters who are older than Pete will be even higher.

It's reasonable to be concerned about his youth, in terms of both electability and experience, just as it's reasonable to be concerned about someone over 70 for other reasons.

R175, I really like Pete--I think his platform is truly the best of all the candidates and it avoids the BS populism of Bernie and Warren--but I agree he is too young to be president. I think the nomination will go to Biden (my second top choice) and I think he will give Pete some kind of cabinet position. And I think he will ultimately choose a female as his VP (it's about time).

LMFAO at Tulsi and Bernie--and people will go on about how Bernie has "accomplished so much".

For anyone who still thinks Bernie is so superior to all the other candidates like Pete and Biden: Bernie passed 7 bills in 28 years. Harris passed 4 bills in 3 years. Warren passed 9 bills in 7 years. Booker passed 9 bills in 7 years. Gillibrand passed 25 bills in 11 years Bennet passed 10 bills in 11 years. Klobuchar passed 34 bills in 13 years. Biden passed 42 bills in 36 years.

The distaste for Pete has nothing to do with the other candidates.

Pete is unlikable. He comes off as a phony and wildly arrogant. He has a horrible record as mayor and no other leadership experiences. He pals around with fascists and his policies sound like he nicked them from Mitt Romney's playbook.

Little Mayo Bo Pete comes across as just condescending and arrogant enough to convey the impression that he thinks you’re stupid — but not so much that he couldn’t try and deny it if you called him out.

I think it's funny that the youngest candidate is so out of touch with most young people, and the oldest candidate is so in touch with us. This won't happen with Ocasio-Cortez when she runs.

OP, Insulting your potential voters is no way to gain support for your candidate.

R182 what young people read Datalounge?

Thanks for the advice grandma. Go back to your coma.

R181, Bernie isn't "in touch" with anything, not even himself.

r184

Keep telling yourself that, boomer.

Meanwhile, Bernie leads in N.H. and Iowa.

R185, WOW, I'm shocked!!! He is leading in NH and Iowa? Now I'm convinced he will get the nomination. All hail the do-nothing king, Bernie Sanders.

R185, maybe you don't know how to read, but a three-way tie in Iowa between 3 candidates doesn't demonstrate that Bernie is leading.

Correction, R185. He's tied with Pete and Biden in Iowa for first. Also, he has the highest number of first time caucus-goers (read: young people) who are not to be relied upon to actually show up on the day of.

R188, younger voters really overestimate their own importance in elections--older voters are far more likely to vote. When Bernie loses the nomination, expect too see many people on twitter and facebook posting things like "I can't believe he lost--everyone I know voted for him!!". Social media means this people are in their own echo chamber.

*these people

Wow, R183, you're a real charmer, you've made me support Pete so much more with your clever conversation.

Honestly, I'm tingling with excitement at your repartee.

R191, R183 is one of those younger people who has no idea about anything except his/her own worldview.

If you’re tingling, then go take your heat pills and change your Depends, grandma

R192, is not a good judge of people, at all.

R192, sorry, didn't mean to post that to you.

R195, no problem.

Because of Pete, South Bend sounds like a cool place to live.

Remember, we heard about "rigged" elections from Bernie long before Orange uttered the phrase.

Expect a great deal of whinging when he loses Iowa in less than a month.

R198, I can never forget that. How he accused the DNC of working against him and "the people", when he independent who decided to run as a Democrat for convenience. And then 15% of his voters didn't vote for Hilary in the election--fucking rat.

Lol

The far left are BernieBros who are independent socialists.

JFC, the r200 link

[quote]Pointing to Buttigieg’s “mesmerizing, hypnotic blue eyes” as an obvious tell, Poikonen alleges that the candidate even confessed to having “botched” an interview with the intelligence agency during a 2017 interview on campaign strategist David Axelrod’s podcast, which, he says, is actually proof that he passed the interview. Such mental gymnastics are emblematic of the tinfoil-hat YouTube genre. (The Daily Beast reviewed the podcast in question and found no such confession; upon listening to the podcast again, Poikonen told The Daily Beast that “either I heard wrong, or it was edited. Both are possible.”)

[quote]He is the only reason South Bend’s population went up for the first time in decades

Well, that and all the fucking.