Pete Buttigieg's Democratic Rivals: A Case of Sour Grapes?

Buttigieg at the Blue Commonwealth Gala.

Of the Democrat presidential candidates, I have only heard two speak in person: Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg when we attended the Blue Commonwealth Gala in Richmond back in June.  Klobuchar gave an impressive speech - or at least it was impressive until Buttigieg spoke after her.  Buttigieg is simply a phenomenal speaker.  This, combined with his more moderate approach to health care reform and other issues, explains, in my view, his popularity and fund raising ability (the Gala attendance in June was reportedly more than 25% higher than usual largely due to people wanting to see Buttigieg).  

All of Buttigieg's success is causing angst and annoyance among Buttigieg's rivals who feel they are more experienced and have "paid their dues."  Where all of this goes is anyone's guess, especially with the entry of Michael Bloomberg into the contest.  I believe there is a longing for change in the electorate, but one non-quantifiable element is charisma - something Bernie Sanders, for instance, lacks.  

Buttigieg also has an impressive digital campaign machine as I have seen personally since the husband and I seemingly are on every Democrat donor list known to mankind.  Of any of the campaigns, I get regular, if not daily communications from the Buttigieg campaign.  I've received NOTHING from the Biden campaign and little from most of the other candidates other than Warren and Sanders who I do not view as electable and who burned bridges with many Virginia Democrats in 2017.  

A piece in the New York Times looks at the griping of Buttigieg's rivals and how he is doing far better in the contest than some would ever have expected.  Here are excerpts:

In the still-crowded Democratic presidential field, one man has triggered an outpouring of resentment and angst. It’s not Donald Trump. As Mr. Buttigieg, the millennial mayor of a town smaller than a New York City Council district, rises in the polls, he has struck a nerve with his Democratic rivals.

Many of their campaigns have griped privately about the attention and cash directed toward Mr. Buttigieg. They say he is too inexperienced to be electable and that his accomplishments don’t merit the outsize appeal he has with elite donors and voters. His public punditry about the race has prompted eye rolls from older rivals who view him as a know-it-all.

And in a field where most candidates find themselves strapped for cash, they snipe at his ability to raise more than anyone else in the primary field except for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

More than a dozen participants in the Democratic campaign — including rival candidates and campaign aides — spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss their views about Mr. Buttigieg candidly. They conveyed an annoyance at the McKinsey consultant certitude with which Mr. Buttigieg analyzes and makes pronouncements about the primary.

Recently, though, some of the aggravation has spilled out into the public.

Campaign aides acknowledge privately that Mr. Buttigieg triggers some of his rivals. But they dismiss the criticism as little more than sour grapes. Over last weekend in Iowa, he drew crowds of several hundred people in towns that numbered just a few thousand.

“This is not a contest for who is the most established, it’s a contest for who is the most convincing,” Mr. Buttigieg said during an interview aboard his campaign bus in Waverly. “The better we do, I imagine the more we’ll feel some heat, but that just means we’re doing well.”

Mr. Buttigieg emerged from near-political obscurity to become a leader in the race, surpassing a flotilla of far more experienced governors and senators in the process. He now holds a commanding position in Iowa, one of the biggest bank accounts in the primary race and a string of field offices in the early voting states that is among the most of any candidate in the field. Even if Mr. Buttigieg fails to capture the nomination, he’s already won himself a coveted place in the political universe — as even those supporting other candidates acknowledge. . . . That’s part of what infuriates his rivals, who acknowledge Mr. Buttigieg’s political talent but also see him as benefiting from certain advantages.

Over the summer, a simple mention of Mr. Buttigieg’s name during a conversation in the Senate chamber between Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ms. Klobuchar was enough to make Ms. Klobuchar extremely agitated, according to witnesses.

Ms. Klobuchar, during an interview last weekend in Iowa, declined to answer when asked if Mr. Buttigieg is qualified to be president. Instead she pointed to his electoral record, which she said shows no signs he could beat President Trump in a general election.

It’s not unheard-of for one candidate in a large presidential field to become unpopular with the others. In 2004, established Democrats made no secret about their dislike for Howard Dean, the relatively unknown governor of Vermont who said he represented “the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.” During the 2008 Republican primary, Mitt Romney was so disliked by his rivals that only Ron Paul would speak with him backstage before debates. Barack Obama wasn’t popular among his rivals at the beginning of his 2008 race.

“It is a natural thing when a young candidate comes along and has success for other candidates who feel like they’ve toiled in the vineyards to resent it,” said David Axelrod, the chief strategist for Mr. Obama in 2008. “I think they’d like him better if he weren’t doing as well.”

As he’s increased his national profile, Mr. Buttigieg has taken care to cultivate important Democratic donors, party officials and strategists, an effort helped by his failed bid for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee in 2017. Many former Obama staffers, including Mr. Axelrod, have heaped praise on Mr. Buttigieg. Some donors and strategists who are backing Mr. Biden say they’re keeping a close eye on Mr. Buttigieg, as well.

In recent weeks Mr. Buttigieg has grown more aggressive in his attacks on his rivals, further angering them. Around Labor Day, he began defining himself as the centrist alternative to Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders. Then during the October debate in Ohio, he attacked Ms. Warren on health care, Mr. O’Rourke on gun control and Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii on foreign policy.

His supporters said it was about time Mr. Buttigieg adopted a more aggressive posture.

On the bus in Waverly, Mr. Buttigieg said his rivals had been unfailingly polite to him in their private interactions, though he acknowledged that his success may have irked those who have seen years of presidential campaign planning tossed aside by his rise.

“I’m not going to comment,” he said, “on the emotions of my competitors.”

As a member of the LGBT community - and one who was once fired for being gay - I will say that it continues to amaze me to see an openly gay candidate do as well as Buttigieg is doing.  In the age of Trump when my community is under open attack by the Trump/Pence regime, Buttigieg's success provides hope for the future.

Blue Commonwealth Gala - Reflections

Last night's political gathering was quite impressive - and much larger than I had expected.  A friend who is a regular at such things said about 1,400 - 1,500 people typically attend.  But, as the conservative (and typically anti-Democrat) Richmond Times Dispatch reports, 1,800 Democrats from all across Virginia gathered at the fundraiser featuring two presidential candidates -  Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar  - which party officials said brought in more than $425,000.  The event was designed to kick off the fall state legislative elections, but the desire to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 was palpable throughout the evening. 

Many people that we spoke with had never attended before and all seemed committed to seeing Virginia send another message to Trump and the Republican Party.  In 2017, Virginia saw control of the Virginia General Assembly flip from GOP control, with the GOP losing 15 seats in the House of Delegates.  That turned out to be a precursor for the flipping of the House of Representatives in 2018.   The goal in 2019 is to finish what 2017 started and to see Democrats win control of both chambers of the General Assembly which will set the stage for passage of a large number pieces of progressive legislation, not the least of which will be con control measures long thwarted by the Virginia GOP.  The other hope is that 2019 will be the beginning of the defeat of Trump and Trumpism which is nothing less than a cancer on America.

There were plenty of speakers, some of whom I have heard numerous times before (e.g.,Mark Warner, Terry McAuliffe and Tim Kaine), but the true headliner of the evening was Pete Buttigieg - who many first time attendees cited as their reason for attending.   Amy Klobuchar gave a fine speech, but Buttigieg's delivery was stellar.  If his debate performance on June 27th is as good as what we saw last night,it could shake things up and certainly make other candidates look tongue tied in comparison.

Naturally, Virginia Republicans put down the gala and were as arrogant as ever and described Buttigieg and Klobuchar as candidates have "zero chance" and tried to revive the February debacle when some Virginia Democrats allowed themselves to be played by far right operatives and engaged in a circular firing squad.   Similar arrogance and nastiness were on display in 2017 as well and, with luck, a similar humbling will hit the GOP in November, 2019. 

2019 Blue Commonwealth Gala

Over the years I have contributed to individual candidates - more recently Democrats - but have not gone to a political party fundraiser in over 20 years since I left the GOP after that party was taken over by Christofascists who turned that party into the equivalent of a rabid dog.  That was until now.  With all 140 seats in the Virginia General Assembly up for election in November, 2019, the husband and I will be traveling to Richmond today to attend the Blue Commonwealth Gala - a Democrat Party fundraiser - in Richmond (thanks to our friend Jenny who will be house/dog sitting for us).  Headlining the event is presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg who will now be joined by rival candidate Amy Klobuchar.  Other speakers include a who's who of Virginia's Democrat congressional officeholders.

For years now, the Virginia GOP's strangle hold on the General Assembly has held Virginia back and blocked an array of legislation that would benefit Virginians ranging from commonsense gun control, to LGBT non-discrimination protections, to ending medical care disparities for minorities and poor Virginians (Governor Northam is currently pushing to end the disparity in maternal deaths for minority mothers).  Indeed, winning Democrat control of the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate in November, 2019, will be decisive in determining whether Virginia will continue to emerge as a leading modern state or remain part of the southern states backwater that want to turn the clock back to the 1950's or earlier. 

I urge fellow Virginians to get politically involved, make sure you are registered to vote, and go out and vote in both November, 2017, in the Virginia elections, and in November, 2020.  We need to turn Virginia blue and send a message to Donald Trump.  Then, in November, 2020, we need to take back America in 2020 from the Trumpists and extremists who now control the GOP. 

Congressman Don Beyer (D-Va.) Endorses Mayor Pete

The political endorsement race has begun and Pete Buttigieg - who will be headlining the Virginia Democrats' Blue Commonwealth Gala in Richmond in June (yes, the husband and I are going) to help raise funds to flip control of the Virginia General Assembly to Democrats - has won the endorsement of Don Beyer, a former two term Virginia Lt. Governor and third term member of Congress from Northern Virginia. As Beyer notes in a piece in the Washington Post, Buttigieg communicates a rational progressive agenda while also displaying attributes that may ring positive with moderates and independents.  Stated another way, Buttigieg is not so far to the left - even though he's gay - as to lose moderates and independents.  Here are article highlights:

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg won his first endorsement from a member of Congress on Wednesday, as Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) announced that he was backing the young Indiana politician known as “Mayor Pete.”

“Everybody I talk to — even my Republican brother-in-law I had breakfast with — is excited about him,” Beyer said in an interview.

Beyer initially did not know what to make of the millennial mayor of South Bend, Ind., who formally announced his White House bid this month.

“I started off as a huge skeptic,” he said. But he looked into the 37-year-old’s background and liked what he saw: He’s a former Naval intelligence officer who served in Afghanistan, a Rhodes scholar who speaks seven languages, a Midwesterner who does not shy away from religion and a mayor with executive experience that many contenders lack.

What really won Beyer over was a series of interviews he heard Buttigieg give. “The thing that really most impressed me was listening to him,” he said. “I think he’s the most articulate of all the candidates we have. He speaks plainly but very thoughtfully. Politics is about communicating and being able to tell a story well. And I think he does it better than anyone I’ve seen since Barack Obama.”

Beyer endorsed Obama in early 2007 and volunteered on his campaign, knocking on doors for weeks in Iowa ahead of the state caucuses. Beyer, who is serving his third term in Congress, representing a deep-blue Northern Virginia district, plans to do similar work for Buttigieg.

“I endorsed Barack Obama early, having been moved by both his intelligence and his political capability,” Beyer said in a prepared statement. “I am similarly inspired by Mayor Pete. With him, I feel the promise of a new generation, and I see a way out of the darkness.

“In making this choice, I think of the qualities missing from the current occupant of the Oval Office. They are qualities that Pete Buttigieg exudes: decency, a grounding in history, optimism, a sophisticated grasp of the world and of the dangers of bigotry, and a generosity of spirit. The Democratic field is full of people with these traits, but Pete possesses them to an uncommon degree, and, just as importantly, has a gift for communicating them.”

Beyer said he does not think most voters will care that Buttigieg is gay, saying that America “has largely worked through” anti-gay sentiment. That the mayor is “in a stable marriage with somebody he obviously loves tells us good things about him,” he said.

As for his age, Beyer noted that Buttigieg would be 39 by the time he’d take office — “not much younger than Teddy Roosevelt and John Kennedy, and they did quite well.”