It's time to have a 2020 Presidential Election thread

[Timex]

Someone already pointed out, he’s buckaroo banzai.

[dionisus1122]

He is my top choice, but I want to see what happens when he hits some rough waters. It has been fairly smooth for him right now.

[Menzo]

He is my top choice, but I want to see what happens when he hits some rough waters. It has been fairly smooth for him right now.

Yeah, we all know how easy it is for a gay man to get elected in rural Indiana. He’s been living a charmed life up until now.

[Alstein]

South Bend is not rural Indiana, it’s a college town. One of the few places worth salvaging in Indiana.

[scottagibson]

I would have loved to see that Scott and Brendan James were active members of the Democratic circular fire squad.

Well, they give us badges, so why not?

I’m reminded that Hillary won bi-partisan support when she was elected and spent the first two years in the Senate, learning, and listening.

How’d that work out for her? How many of her Republican colleagues jumped off the Benghazi emailz train when she needed them?

[Don_Quixote]

He is my top choice, but I want to see what happens when he hits some rough waters. It has been fairly smooth for him right now.

Well, I’m not sure if this counts as rough waters, but I read this earlier today.

All About Pete | Current Affairs

Before I dive into Shortest Way Home ’s account of the life and career of Peter Buttigieg, let me be up front about my bias. I don’t trust former McKinsey consultants. I don’t trust military intelligence officers. And I don’t trust the type of people likely to appear on “40 under 40” lists, the valedictorian-to-Harvard-to-Rhodes-Scholarship types who populate the American elite. I don’t trust people who get flattering reams of newspaper profiles and are pitched as the Next Big Thing That You Must Pay Attention To, and I don’t trust wunderkinds who become successful too early. Why? Because I am somewhat cynical about the United States meritocracy. Few people amass these kind of résumés if they are the type to openly challenge authority. Noam Chomsky says that the factors predicting success in our “meritocracy” are a “combination of greed, cynicism, obsequiousness and subordination, lack of curiosity and independence of mind, [and] self-serving disregard for others.” So when journalists see “Harvard” and think “impressive,” I see it and think “uh-oh.”

If you come out of Harvard without noticing that it’s a deeply troubling place, you’re oblivious. It is an inequality factory, a place that trains the world’s A-students to rule over and ignore the working class. And yet, nowhere does Buttigieg seem to have even questioned the social role of an institution like Harvard. He tells us about his professors, his thesis on Graham Greene. He talks about how how interesting it is that Facebook was in its infancy while he was there. But what about all the privilege ? Even Ross Douthat finds the school’s ruling class elitism disturbing! Buttigieg thought the place fitted him nicely.

If you are Pete Buttigieg, at this point in your life you have the ability to take almost any job you want. These schools open doors, and you pick which one you go through. (Ask yourself: If I could do anything I wanted for a living, what would I do?) Pete Buttigieg looked inside himself and decided he belonged at… the world’s most sinister and amoral management consulting company…

McKinsey is in the news almost every week for some new horrendous deed, from advising Purdue Pharma on how to “turbocharge” OxyContin sales to counseling dictators worldwide on how to build more efficient autocracies. A former McKinsey consultant recently wrote a long exposé of the firm’s crimes for Current Affairs. The writer did not equivocate:

[If you believe that capitalism’s] continued practice poses an existential threat to governments, the biosphere, and poor people the world over, then the firm’s role is that of a co-conspirator to a crime in which we are all victims. McKinsey is capitalism distilled. It is global, mobile, flexible, and unabashedly pro-market and pro-management. The firm has an enormous stake in things continuing more or less as they are. Working for all sides, McKinsey’s only allegiance is to capital. As capital’s most effective messenger, McKinsey has done direct harm to the world in ways that, thanks to its lack of final decision-making power, are hard to measure and, thanks to its intense secrecy, are hard to know. The firm’s willingness to work with despotic governments and corrupt business empires is the logical conclusion of seeking profit at all costs. Its advocacy of the primacy of the market has made governments more like businesses and businesses more like vampires. By claiming that they solve the world’s hardest problems, McKinsey shrinks the solution space to only those that preserve the status quo.

[Tim_N]

That was a good article thanks for linking it. I’ve always given Pete the benefit of the doubt because he has only really been testing the waters. Who knew the personal narrative he crafted (all candidates do this at first to appear relatable) would be so effective and give him a real shot at this?

Now that he’s announced and has the media’s attention, I hope he says something of real value policy wise or he deserves to end up as an also-ran. Maybe he already started doing this in his announcement speech, still need to watch that.

[MarinusWA]

Which leads me to wonder – is the old saw that “issues don’t matter, personality matters” backward?

To Trump voters neither of those two matters. The only thing that matters is that Trump hurts liberals. As long as he does that his personality and stance on any issue are irrelevant.

[Strollen]

Buttigieg is the best speaker in the race. Beto, Kamala and Bernie are up there, too, but Mayor Pete has just as much presence. Love this guy. He can win.

(I may be getting a bit overexcited, but his speech has me all wound up and super optimistic)

I watched it live. I thought overall the introductions went on too long. I like the older black woman, was shocked when she said she was 70, but the rest were forgettable.

I don’t think Pete has nearly the oratorical skills of either Obama, or Beto. He is still a much above average speaker even for a politician. I think what separates him from the others, is that both his intelligence and decency come through. Plus I really like the substance of what he says. It is thought provoking and insightful.

[Alstein]

That’s Trump base. Trump’s base is not everyone who voted for Trump in 2016. My guess is he’ll lose 1% from his 2016 total.

[Timex]

Well, I’m not sure if this counts as rough waters, but I read this earlier today.

Nathan J Robinson is a hillarious caricature of the far left…to the extent that he talks in a fake english accent. He’s so far up his own ass, and it really comes out in that piece.

Nathan J. Robinson has no idea how to elect someone, because he is entirely out of touch with reality. He’s a super rich, ultra elitist, child. The idea that he’s suggest that someone ELSE is overly privileged, or elitist, is a joke on its face.

[triggercut]

Yeah, that’s a pretty terrible article and “expose” attempt. Guessing Pete’s team will ignore it, as it’s nonsense.

A far better article for Buttigieg’s team to hone its response crafting on is the one Henry Gomez wrote for Buzzfeed about how South Bend’s recovery has not extended into some of the city’s black neighborhoods the way it has in other areas. That’s a fair, and researched criticism to make and one worth their time to consider.

[Don_Quixote]

Nathan J Robinson is a hillarious caricature of the far left…to the extent that he talks in a fake english accent. He’s so far up his own ass, and it really comes out in that piece.

Haha, really? I’d never heard of the guy. Does it change the substance of what he said?

A far better article for Buttigieg’s team to hone its response crafting on is the one Henry Gomez wrote about how South Bend’s recovery has not extended into some of the city’s black neighborhoods the way it has in other areas. That’s a fair, and researched criticism to make and one worth their time to consider.

The article covered that pretty well, I thought? The was a whole section about the disparity in wealth there between African American/Hispanic pops and whites is much higher than the national average, and how his plan to ‘right size’ the housing on the city disproportionately affected the poor. I’ll go read your, piece, too, though.

[Dan_Theman]

…to the extent that he talks in a fake english accent.

While I find him to be over the top, this deserves a bit of clarification; he was born in the UK to British parents. The fakeness isn’t that he has the accent, but rather that he worked from a young age to keep it once here.

The Rise of the Hard Left

Robinson’s personal sensibility is what drives Current Affairs . And one thing you should know about the editor and his voice, in a literal sense, is that the British accent is kind of fake. He moved to Sarasota, Florida, from a village outside Cambridge, U.K., when he was 5 years old, in 1995. His father worked at an international corporate training firm and the family decided that they might find a better future in the United States. His parents became citizens in 2001, and Robinson along with them.

“Nathan realized early on that people love listening to a British accent. It gives you this air of authority that Americans seem to like,” his mother, Rosemary Robinson, tells me when I reach her on the phone in Florida. “I think he worked very hard to keep it.” Amber A’Lee Frost, one of Robinson’s initial writers and now a Current Affairs editor-at-large, freely describes him as “a poor man’s Doctor Who.” (He says the accent stems from “a stubborn fear of sounding American that began the moment I first arrived here. It’s far more unconscious than conscious, because I can’t speak in an American accent even if I want to.”)

[triggercut]

I think the wider point of all this is that if Pete wants to run with the big dogs – and he clearly does – then he’s also going to have to be ready to respond to the things worth responding to…and ignore the stuff that isn’t…and know the difference between the two. His next two months are critical – the transition from “interesting dark horse” to “in the top tier with people gunning for you” has taken down lots of other candidacies.

The good news for him is that one of the first hires for his team was Lis Smith as communications director. She’s very sharp (she led Obama’s rapid response team in 2012). So yeah. Stay tuned, I suppose.

[KevinC]

Are you saying we may not see a Mayor Pete youtube video talking about his DNA test results?

[Timex]

Haha, really? I’d never heard of the guy. Does it change the substance of what he said?

Ya, he literally talks in this kind of weird fake accent. It’s why his criticism of someone else as being too elitist is absurd.

In terms of the “substance” of what he said… I’d point out that there isn’t really a lot of substance to be had there. He says a lot of words, to be sure, but very little actual substance. It’s basically just a long winded statement of his opinion of Buttigieg from an extremely far left position, where Pete apparently isn’t giving enough attention to the specific hot topics and buzz words that Robinson wants to hear.

He makes pedantic nit-picking arguments like, “Oh, you think it’s alright to use an assault rifle as a soldier, but not to kill civilians at home, hmmmmmm?” Yeah dude, that’s what MOST normal people think.

Hell, eventually, he gets to the point where even he recognizes his own pedantry, and tries to hang a lampshade on it.

While I find him to be over the top, this deserves a bit of clarification; he was born in the UK to British parents. The fakeness isn’t that he has the accent, but rather that he worked from a young age to keep it once here.

This makes it KIND of better, I guess? I didn’t realize he was english at all, but what’s in his accent is like an intentionally elitist, snobby tone. I think it’s certainly amplified by the tone of his words combined with his voice.

The fact that he intentionally talks like that because he thinks it makes him sound fancy is actually worse, now that I think about it.

It’s just like… every criticism that he tries to level against Buttigieg is so much more just projection about Robinson himself. He’s so much more an elitist, snobby, rich kid than Buttigieg ever was.

I mean, he says he had a fear of sounding American, the moment he got here? When he was FIVE? The dude is so far up his own ass that he doesn’t know what sunlight is.

[Dan_Theman]

The fact that he intentionally talks like that because he thinks it makes him sound fancy is actually worse, now that I think about it.

Yeah, I tend to agree.

[Gordon_Cameron]

I know money isn’t everything (Jeb!) but anyway

Trump’s latest fundraising numbers show his campaign lapping the Democratic...

[KevinC]

Isn’t this largely due to the fact that Democratic fundraising is being split a dozen different ways?