this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2025
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[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 21 points 4 days ago (11 children)

I'm so glad you asked. Can I come in?

Pete Buttigieg primary qualification as a "politician" is his Mayoral victory in South Bend Indiana, 2011, where they got elected with 10,991 in a town of almost 100,000. The next time they ran, they got all of ~8k votes in an election where less than 10% of residence voted (2015).

Somehow this warranted Buttigieg to be present on a national stage, where in 2019, they decided to run for president. They were taken extremely seriously by media outlets like NPR and other corporate media outlets, often being touted as a kind of moderate but still progressive alternative to Sanders. Candidates like Buttigieg were used to split the progressive vote during the primaries, divides which still exist today. Buttigieg then went on to strategically depart the race 3 days before Super Tuesday, a primary consisting almost entirely of states that will never vote D and yet somehow considered the litmus for who the Democratic candidate should be, and then going on to endorse Joe Biden, who up until that point, who had no primary wins before that date.

Buttigieg was principal in the rat-fucking of Sanders in 2020 and was given a token position in the cabinet as a result. They are a cypher, a schemer, and the reason why you are seeing anything about them is because they have substantial backers from their time in consulting who would benefit greatly if they were in power. This article wouldn't exist if not for the fact that Buttigieg will 100% be touted out as the "reasonable" candidate in 2028. And as much as the rat-fucking might seem like the principal critisim I have of them, its actually fine. I can respect some rat-fucking (for example, if Warren had dropped out and endorsed Bernie, I'd have her face tattooed on my right ass-cheek). What I can't respect is the national media taking this guy seriously when they've won no elections of any real substance. Buttigieg doesn't get to be considered seriously as a voice in politics until they win a federal election or a Governership. They need to show that people actually want to vote for them before they should be taken seriously.

*(Earlier, I was mistaken to call them a one-time mayor; they did get re-elected)

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 12 points 4 days ago (6 children)

Between Pete, Warren, Gabbard, and Klobuchar, it's clear that the DNC would absolutely never allow Bernie to become the nominee. They had half a dozen others lined up, like Booker, Ryan, Delaney, and of course Harris, but none of them were charismatic enough to actually win some votes. Vote Centrist, No Matter Who.

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago (5 children)

Like I said, I can excuse the ratfucking. Its the name of the game. But what I can't excuse is people taking a guy who has never won an election of any material substance seriously. We can't afford to run candidates who don't have a track record of winning federal elections. The number one qualification for a candidate needs to be their ability to win the election.

[–] theherk@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

I actually agree with you otherwise, but I think a candidate could come entirely from outside politics and still be a good candidate. You won’t know them until you see them, but it can happen.

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