Who knew the wunderkind mayor of South Bend, Indiana, the 306th largest city in America, was also a musical genius who could change his tune at the drop of a hat?
Back when Buttigieg’s candidacy was but a glimmer in his eye — way, way, way back in January of 2019 — he had this to say about where he stood on issues of concern to millennials:
“The center of gravity of the American people is way to the left of the center of gravity of Congress and, in many ways, to the left of the national Democratic Party,” Buttigieg had told me earlier in the year. That’s especially true of millennials.
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Buttigieg’s peers are eager to embrace a politics that’s bigger and more ambitious — more New Deal than New Democrat. They want swing-for-the-fences solutions from politicians who don’t pretend that all the country needs is just some minor tweaks.
“Donald Trump got elected because, in his twisted way, he pointed out the huge troubles in our economy and our democracy,” Buttigieg says. “At least he didn’t go around saying that America was already great, like Hillary did.”
Yeah! We need “swing-for-the-fences solutions” because the “center of gravity of the American people” is “to the left of the national Democratic Party!”
And that damn Hillary and her “America is already great?” What does she know? Pete knows better! So Pete didn’t stop there...
“We need a bigger scope of ambition for people to rally around.” A return to the Clinton and Obama style of centrist incrementalism, he says, will invite disaster just as surely in 2020. “Change is something we need to face with clear eyes. It’s scary, but it’s also exciting.”
Let’s rePete that!
A return to the Clinton and Obama style of centrist incrementalism, he says, will invite disaster just as surely in 2020.
And Pete stuck to his guns! Well into February!
Talk about consistency! He was all in for “swing-for-the-fences solutions!” Way to go, Mayor (of the 306th largest city in America) Pete!
But he doesn’t want to stop at symbolism: His message for 2020 will be centered on a clean, sharp break with the Lite Republicanism that Democrats embraced in the 1990s. While older voters still tell pollsters they favor keeping taxes low and ambitions modest, millennials overwhelmingly support Medicare-for-all, free college, heavy spending to tackle poverty and climate change, and major infrastructure investments — social democracy, in a nutshell.
That’s millennial Mayor Pete! A clean, sharp break with “Lite Republicanism!” Rock on, Pete!
But wait…
Could it now be time for a millennial? When we catch up in early December, Buttigieg says he saw “glimmers” of it in 2018: “We saw indications that it’s okay to talk about our values as Democrats again. That the politics of conviction that appealed to young people, with Bernie in 2016, can also be articulated successfully by the next generation.”
I mention that the day before, Biden, on his own book tour, had proclaimed himself “the most qualified person in the country to be president.” Buttigieg laughs. “So was Hillary,” he says. Game on.
Yep, he has had conviction! (Back in January and February.)
- “Swing-for-the-fences solutions!”
- A “clean break with ‘Lite Republicanism!’”
- A belief that, “A return to the Clinton and Obama style of centrist incrementalism will invite disaster!”
Yet here we are today. As his supporters say, smart people get new information and change their views accordingly. And Pete is the smartest!
He’s so smart now, that he’s against Medicare for All. In fact, he questions the truthfulness of those who support it.
He’s so smart now, that he refuses to release his list of bundlers or open his closed-door, high-dollar fundraisers to the press, as Biden has done.
He once released his campaign bundlers, but he no longer does. And he won’t allow reporters into his high-dollar fundraisers.
WATERLOO, Iowa ― Pete Buttigieg struggled to explain why he does not open up his high-dollar fundraisers to the media or why he no longer discloses the names of his campaign “bundlers” during a brief press conference Friday night.
Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, clearly understands that there is some public benefit to knowing the names of high-dollar donors. After all, he began his campaign by publicly releasing the names of his “bundlers,” the super-donors who give and raise large amounts of money for a candidate. But he has not updated his public list of bundlers since April, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
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However, Biden, unlike Buttigieg, allows press access at his closed-door fundraisers.
Buttigieg said on Friday that he would “consider” opening his fundraisers to the news media. But a reporter noted that Buttigieg has been saying that for months.
“I don’t have a timeline for you,” the candidate responded.
He’s so smart now, that he adopts “Lite Republicanism” framing on deficits and argues that Democrats should only propose policies and plans they can pay for (despite being hamstrung by deficits created by Republicans by reckless tax cuts).
Right now, based solely on observation on the road, I slot him in somewhere between Bill Clinton and John Kasich.
He’s so smart now, that he has an incredibly detailed “Issues” section on his website that, of course, addresses one of the biggest issues we face as a nation — the ever-widening chasm of wealth inequality that is intimately linked with tax policy. Except, there is no mention of his tax policy on the “Issues” section of his website or anything related to tax policy in the “Issues” section.
But he will not — I repeat, WILL NOT — “return to the Clinton and Obama style of centrist incrementalism!”
Mayor (of the 306th largest city in America) Pete is “swinging for the fences!” Yes he is!
Sing it, Pete! Change that tune!