I just voted in the early caucus for Buttigieg.
Throughout 2019 I was rooting for Warren as a sentimental favorite, bitter by the corporatist slant and the ascendance of the GOP under the watch of the Obama administration. I was unconvinced by Pete’s youth, and harbored a deep suspicion of yet another precocious young white man, quickly climbing the ladder with effortless ease, leapfrogging others with much deeper resumes. However, as Warren’s campaign continued to stall, I became concerned about her political acumen, falling for Trump’s ancestry gambit and a lack of results from the first two contests.
After the results of New Hampshire, I surveyed the field. Klobuchar’s cruel treatment of Myon Burrell as well as her own staffers scratched her off my list. I didn’t need to lose another election to Trump by trying 4 more years of Biden. Gabbard is in her own universe. Tom Steyer does nothing for me other than clog up the Facebook feed. Yang quit. And Bloomberg isn’t even on the Nevada ballot.
I voted for Bernie in 2016, preferring his clarion call of income equality and fearing Clinton’s hawkishness. Even then, I knew I was overlooking the problem of whether the dude could actually govern. I’ll still happily vote for Bernie over Trump, but after almost two years inside the department of “Administration”, I have much greater appreciation for the vast apparatus of government. I suspect the federal civil service is already tottering, and I worry about the lasting damage that may come with a revolutionary firebrand immediately following the current lout. Income inequality is important, but I am one of those dreaded “temperamentally conservative” liberals, so this issue is not my end-all, especially after becoming intimately familiar with the daily exertions of good government.
Which brings me back to the primary protagonists, both of whom I trust will execute fine administrations. Up through this Tuesday, my knowledge was merely a mental collection of memes, vibes, and clips. So I finally decided to listen to their campaign announcement speeches and compare the two candidates as politicians. How did Buttigieg and Warren sell themselves on day one?
From those two speeches, Mayor Pete won my vote – not in policy but in approach. I think the two candidates are headed in the same direction, they are both quite progressive. Warren wants to get there a little faster, which is great, but she is proposing even more fighting as the route to the promised land. As much as I relish the idea of fighting force on force, the Dem’s are awful at direct confrontation with the GOP.
We live in a 45/55 society which has been gerrymandered towards the minority, in the House, the Senate, the electoral college, and the Supreme Court. We can keep banging our heads against power politics, but we’re a diverse rabble running up against the well drilled formations of a conformist political party in the grip of an awesome propaganda machine. The progressive ideals I hold are so self-evident and Trump is so repugnant, I have to believe there must be another way to create an overwhelming majority that could engulf the GOP’s steadfast obstinance. After all, if we can merely flip a tenth of Trump voters we’re in Nixon-McGovern territory.
That said, I’m not pollyannaish about our prospects. I can see the stubborn recalcitrance of most Trump voters, especially as the economy hums along. It is a well nigh impossible task to reframe the current dichotomy to create a new paradigm and convert or attract new voters outside of the polarized mess that is making our mass and social medias stratospherically wealthy.
However, after listening to those two speeches (colored by my feel for the trajectories of these two campaigns) I have come to the opinion that Warren will be crushed by Trump in the general campaign, whether she wins or loses.
If you want a direct confrontation with Trump, you must be ready to battle beyond rules or norms, as he has been happily doing his entire campaign and administration. And even if she wins the general, her victorious path to the White House will have exacerbated the current polarization and enmities. I feel guilty for saying it, but I’m just tired of the prospect of four more years of this siege warfare. I’d rather take another flier on a hopey changey guy who has a shot at outflanking the opposition. Does that make me a sucker?
Yes, I’m betting on a lot of unproven potential. During my short time in government, I have observed the unique difficulties of being an “executive”, though we all must still acknowledge that South Bend is vanishingly small compared to the gig he’s pursuing. I know the guy’s perspective is circumscribed by his white, male privilege, however the recent New York Times article shows an ability to learn, grow, and develop alliances in spite of initial missteps. I know he’s taking money from rich folks, which is not preferable, but not disqualifying in this particular game we’re playing. He certainly loves his rhetoric. Is he also likely to defer too much to the corporations or dawdle in the hope of building a non existent consensus?
Maybe. But if he can defeat the wannabe authoritarian with small hands, advance parts of a progressive agenda, and restore a functioning government, I’ll take the trade.
Will Pete succeed in doing rhetorical jujitsu on Trump’s full frontal assault? Does his celebrated 2019 performance at the Fox News Town Hall translate for the general election? Will it reach the voting masses in swing states, beyond caressing the intellectual erogenous zones of the coastal elites? And if he gets elected, is there any way he can get anything done with an obstructionist GOP, that will likely claim one or both houses of Congress in 2022 if Pete is president?
I doubt it. But at least I can see a glimmer of hope.
So take it for what it’s worth, a tepid endorsement for the youngster out of South Bend and for Freedom, Security, Democracy.