Is Pete Buttigieg a Political Genius?

[USALiberal]

Earlier this week, Pete Buttigieg dared to weigh in on one of the great culture-war lightning rods of the past decade: Chick-fil-A. “I do not approve of their politics, but I kind of approve of their chicken,” the South Bend mayor said, referring to the fast-food chain’s historical support for groups that oppose same-sex marriage. Then, perhaps less seriously, he added, “Maybe if nothing else, I can build that bridge. Maybe I’ll become in a position to broker that peace deal.” These remarks counted as newsworthy not only because Buttigieg is a Democratic presidential candidate; he first gained national attention in 2015 for coming out as gay amid the fight against Indiana’s anti-LGBTQ “religious freedom” law (signed by then–Governor Mike Pence).

But Buttigieg has an uncanny sense of public opinion—or he’s done his research. As Slate’s Ruth Graham noted earlier this month, many on the left have “uncanceled” the chain since swearing it off at the height of the controversy in 2012. “[O]ver the years, the furor has faded, and many progressives have slunk back through the restaurant’s doors,” she wrote, adding that progressives “seem increasingly comfortable eating at Chick-fil-A” because the chain is “not as egregious as it used to be, and the product is irresistible.” Buttigieg’s remarks, then, may well represent the center of Democratic opinion on this critical issue: It’s OK to eat Chick-fil-A, but not without a little guilt.

It’s this kind of casual political cunning that has propelled Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of a city of just 100,000, to as high as fifth place in the Democratic primary polls. On the campaign trail and in his recent memoir, Shortest Way Home, Buttigieg studiously avoids taking sides in the political and cultural battles that have defined American politics for the past three decades, instead arguing that he’s the one who can bridge the dive between coastal states and fly-over states, between the party’s left wing and its center, between an anti-LGBT—but delicious—chicken chain and everyone else.

https://newrepublic.com/article/153424/pete-buttigieg-political-genius

[California_Republic]

1. He knows seven languages I think he is just a genius

[Celerity]

10. 8 actually (I think the 7 number comes from the media not counting English)

English, French, Spanish, Italian, Norwegian, Arabic, Maltese, and Dari.

Plus if you are fluent in Norwegian, Swedish is fairly simple to speak and read, Danish a bit harder (mainly to speak, as they sound like Swedes or Norse with rocks in their mouths, lolol)) but can be read to fair degree as well.

Also, Dari speakers/readers can have conversations in, and read with ease Farsi (aka Iranian Persian) Dari is Farsi in Afghanistan, more or less, with a strong accent. Buttigieg could deffo be understood by the Iranian leaders, and the Afghan leaders (but would surely conduct formal business in English via a translator)

[left-of-center2012]

25. "not counting English"

Trump,
head of his class,
in the finest schools,
butchers English.

[Politicub]

18. That fact alone burnishes his genius credentials

He impresses me more by the day.

[calimary]

27. Indeed. Me too.

[bigtree]

2. maybe

...but compromising on values (the celebrated example in your post) isn't much of a rallying point for me.

[USALiberal]

4. The link has the rest of the story, i'm not crazy about....

All of Harris decisions as AG either, but I realize you need to look at all the stances.

[bigtree]

6. the example cited as genius

...not so much.

[marylandblue]

8. Is he compromising on values or balancing conflicting ones?

There isn't is a shared set of values that can answer what to do on these cultural issues. There are two sets of values that clash in ever-worsening rounds of enmity, boycotts, legal battles etc. We each think we have right on our side. This sort of conflict only ends in one of two ways - a truce based on a new set of shared values or one side forcing it's will on the other side, often with violence.

I'd rather make a truce than be shot over a chicken sandwich.

I can understand if you don't like a compromise, but the alternatives are worse.

[bigtree]

9. the entire example is flawed

...and a ridiculous way to measure Pete.

But hey, go for it. I personally still hold onto boycotts from my youth, but this is a stupid way to present his values, and I doubt it's a good representation of him.

[marylandblue]

3. Yes, he is a political genius, because he speaks in values and policies.

He wants to pack the Supreme Court as many ledtists do, and it issomething the right wants to use against the left. But he says the value we all share is a non-partisan court, therefore I suggest this policy to meet that value. His plan is to add one more political appointee to the court for 10 members, then have the ten members select 5 more members by unanimous consent. Total is 15 members, with 5 always being nonpolitical centrists.

Brilliant. We leave aside constitutionality for the moment, because that comes later, but it shows his shared value and a simple, original way of getting there.

[PeeJ52]

5. I don't know enough to say he's a political genius, but he's a fine human being...

I like the guy. He's so unpretentious. It seems he doesn't even have to think when answering questions. He knows what he feels is a good answer. It might not be the best, but it's not a bad one like Beto's raising the Social Security retirement age.

[doompatrol39]

7. I've been slowly drifting his way.

.....and seeing the recent post that showed all the early endorsements and seeing his name nowhere on that list nudged me even more in his direction. I loathe early endorsements (and primary endorsements in general), so whoever is furthest away from that and working from the outside is going to be likely to get my support.

[matt819]

11. Buying from red companies

I buy packaging supplies from U-Line. They are headed by ultra right wing extremists who fund trump and RW causes.

I stopped buying from them because of that. You know what? There are no other companies out there - at least that I have found - that have the same selection, price, quality, and customer service. I've tried a few, with absolutely no success. Prices may be lower, but box quality sucks (yes, that's a thing). Box sizes are available from U-Line that other companies just don't have. U-Line's shipping prices are higher, sometimes, but the deliver within 2 days, sometimes overnight.

Maybe not a great comparison to chick fil a. After all, there really are fast food alternatives in most places. Not so much in packaging supplies. Look, my boycotting U-Line is not going to make a bit of difference to them. And, yes, it sucks that my money contributes to them being billionaires. But they run their operations very well.

[USALiberal]

13. My wife donates to Planned Parenthood to counter her chicfilet guilt! Nt

[patricia92243]

22. I love this !! :)

[Gothmog]

12. I am struggling to see the appeal of a small town mayor

[USALiberal]

14. I totally understand that! Nt

[DavidDvorkin]

15. Small city, rather than small town

And it's not out in the boonies. It's on the outskirts of the greater Chicago metro area.

[Gothmog]

17. In Texas, this is a town and not a city

[DavidDvorkin]

21. It's not in Texas.

[elleng]

23. Thanks

[Gothmog]

41. It is still a town

In the real world, there is a Settlement hierarchy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Settlement_hierarchy

High Density[edit]
More than one million.
Megalopolis - a group of conurbations, consisting of more than ten million people in total.
Conurbation - a group of large cities and their suburbs, consisting of three to ten million people.
Metropolis - a large city and its suburbs consisting of multiple cities and towns. The population is usually one to three million.
Mid Density[edit]
Less than one million.
Large city - a city with a large population and many services. The population is less than 1 million but over 300,000.
City - a city would have abundant services, but not as many as a large city. The population of a city is between 100,000 and 300,000 people.[citation needed]
Low Density[edit]
Less than one hundred thousand.
Large town - a large town has a population of 20,000 to 100,000.

There are suburbs of Houston with more than 100,000 in population and I would not trust the mayors of these towns to be POTUS

[demmiblue]

16. There are also people saying he can't get elected because he is gay.

I think that those people need to do some self-reflection.

[Gothmog]

19. I am a father of a LGBT child

I have strong doubts as to whether this young mayor can be elected.

We were not evidently ready to elect a woman for POTUS. I think that we are far more likely to elect a woman as POTUS this cycle than a small town mayor

[demmiblue]

20. Oh stop. We were ready to elect a woman for POTUS. n/t

Edit: I hope you don't share your thoughts with your child.

[Gothmog]

39. My child block walked and campaign for Clinton and knows how politics work

I asked her about Mayor Pete and her response was that Mayor Pete is cute and adorable but is not ready to be POTUS. She like Senator Harris right now but may change to Beto.

Again, I was active in the Clinton campaign and I can assure you that there was blowback due to her sex. I live near Houston which had a LGBT mayor for three terms (Anise Parker).

I wish that the country is ready for a gay POTUS but I doubt that Pete will be that candidate in 2020. Maybe n 15 to 20 years if he actually accomplishes something besides being If I was going to support a mayor or ex-mayor for POTUS, I would pick Anise.

[marylandblue]

24. The appeal is based primarily on his unique communication style and visionary message.

Based on analysis of certain historical trends ( which might belong better in an OP), reviewing how prior winners, from Reagan to Trump) were able to control media narratives better than their opponents, and a little knowledge of public relations, I've concluded that the next president needs to to do two things:
1) Be a visionary.
2) Be able to control media narratives so that the media covers the candidate's vision, not Trump's distractions, insults and lies.

Warren is a visionary, but has trouble controlling media narratives. O'Rourke is good at controlling media narratives, but is not a visionary. So on down the list of candidates.

Part of my analysis is about what is NOT important in a general election: resume, minority status, positions on specific issues, electability as generally perceived by the Democratic base, or location on the political spectrum. Not that these things have no significance at all, of course they do. But they take a back seat to the two factors I mentioned, especially when fighting a demagogue like Trump.

So based on all that, Buttigieg is by far the best at meeting my criteria. I thought so before he began ticking up in the polls, and predicted that if I were correct, he would get a lot of positive media coverage and begin moving up. Since that's what just happened, I am confident in my assessment.

I am also confident in my next prediction: He will continue moving up until he becomes a threat to the front runners. At that point, there will be negative attacks against him. If he is the one, the attacks will only make him stronger and he will shoot to the top, and if he is not the one, he will plummet. So I am willing to make an early bet on him, knowing he himself will either prove himself or not. And if not, I'll pick the next best candidate.

[Gothmog]

38. Does he have any accomplishments besided being mayor of a town?

[marylandblue]

40. Valedictorian, Harvard Grad, Rhodes Scholar, Veteran.

Primary accomplishment as mayor are some significant revitalization projects. Next best accomplishment is creating enough of a buzz as a very non-traditional candidate to warrant people taking shots at him. What he does from here will determine if he has what it takes to become President. It's not about your resume, but how you run your campaign. We learned that in 2016.

[pink]

31. How big a town should it be before you think Mayor Pete is appealing n/t

[Gothmog]

37. Has any mayor of any town been elected POTUS?

What are this mayor's accomplishments?

[marylandblue]

42. Did any reality TV star or real estate developer become POTUS before 2016?

What were that person's accomplishments?

Whatever magic formula wins 2020, we know it won't include a list of accomplishments.

[left-of-center2012]

26. Mayor Pete's biggest critics on DU ...

Mayor Pete's biggest critics on DU appear to be Harris supporters.

I think they fear him.

[Corgigal]

32. They do.

I switched from Harris, so I understand it.

[Politicub]

33. Please don't generalize

I'm a Harris supporter who can walk and chew gum at the same time. I like Harris and Mayor Pete.

Unless you have statistics that back up what you said, you are painting us with a broad brush that may or may not be true.

[left-of-center2012]

34. I didn't take notes ... so there are no statistics

I am voicing my personal observations,
and will continue to do so.

I do find some humor and irony in that my post
"Mayor Pete's biggest critics on DU appear to be Harris supporters"
is attacked by a Harris supporter.

[Politicub]

36. You think what I posted was an attack?

You and I also differ in what an attack post entails.

And I'm going to call a double-dog-irony on you: You are accusing a Harris supporter of an attack on you, who was defending Harris supporters who support Mayor Pete.

At least we can both find humor in it. And the universe didn't collapse into itself.

[Kurt V.]

28. well hell. There's another thread with this title and i typed a response and im not doing it twice.

[Doodley]

29. I am near to switching to him from Biden. He is the most impressive communicator.

[duforsure]

30. The more I hear him speak

The more I like him , but still don't know where he stands on more policies, but so far he's been very impressive , and has the intellectual capabilities the present illegitimate fake president completely lacks. He doesn't lie either like this one does. At least nothing I heard was one from Mayor Pete, which this one does nothing but lie. He'd be a lot better than the one in office any day.

[UniteFightBack]

35. That would be really nice except the 'other side' is not interested in peace at all. They don't

want to build bridges. I wish that were not the case but it is.

[marylandblue]

43. I always have trouble with this kind of idea.

You don't make peace with your friends, you make it with your enemies. It's never a matter of whether the other side "wants" peace or not. It's a matter of whether you can make the benefits of peace outweigh the cost of war.