Mayor Pete is too young and inexperienced

[True Dough]

Last edited Sat Apr 20, 2019, 05:58 PM - Edit history (1)

Not my belief. Not my argument. But you can read all about it here:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/128778689


Every candidate is going to have detractors. That will be Pete's Achilles' heel: "He can't make the leap from mayor of a smallish city to POTUS."

We knew we'd hear it and some of our fellow DUers are spouting it.

I'm confident Pete has the acuity, the sound judgment, the demeanor to be effective in the highest office in the land. And, just as importantly, I'm sure he'd surround himself with an outstanding team to provide guidance.

He's come this far. He's exceeded expectations by a country mile. And he's not done yet. Not by a long shot!

[Celerity]

1. my response in that thread

8 years as an executive overseeing a larger group of employees and staff and a larger budget than any Senator or Representative does. South Bend has a strong mayor system so the buck really did stop with him. He also had massive interfacing with the Federal and State governments as well, plus dealt with multivariate social, economic and public relations issues. Pete can scale it up just fine, and the POTUS also has a truly insane amount of support staff, so it is the big picture that matters, and he is aces in the big picture department.

[targetpractice]

2. Exactly. Thanks for that articulation!

I really didn't know how to chime into that thread. I appreciate your thoughts, Celerity!

[Celerity]

6. yw! goooooooooo Pete.

Also, if one does a truly deep dive into certain announced (and as of yet unannounced) candidates' journeys into the area of foreign policy, one may indeed find a road well travelled (in some cases for decades), BUT, how many of those foreign adventures ended up in anything other than true disaster? I am fully capable of making a devastating list, lolol.

[True Dough]

9. This has been my argument against some of the more veteran candidates

Some come with considerable political "baggage." It's not to say they're not worthy of the presidency but Pete's lack of federal experience means there's no missteps for his political opponents to throw at him.

[True Dough]

5. Very well stated, Celerity

I think that nails it. We're not going to convince them all, nor do we need to. Pete's message will resonate with millions more people, but not everyone on the DU. I'm okay with that.

[Corgigal]

3. He's fine.

I rather have a young candidate than some old dude.

[thegoose]

4. He's also highly intelligent

Can learn, adapt and work with people...unlike the current bloated squatter in the White House.

[SWBTATTReg]

7. What else can I say? You said it pretty good...

I'm confident Pete has the acuity, the sound judgment, the demeanor to be effective in the highest office in the land. And, just as importantly, I'm sure he'd surround himself with an outstanding team to provide guidance.

He's come this far. He's exceeded expectations by a country mile. And he's not done yet. Not by a long shot!

[California_Republic]

8. Watch congress question zuckerman

That’s a clue about age and governance

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. Your thread title had me going there for a minute, my dear True Dough!

But of course I came in for a closer look.

As you say, we knew we'd hear this and we are. The arguments against this stance are well laid out in your thread.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to do this!

[True Dough]

11. We're in this together, CaliforniaPeggy!

And the good news is that there's a growing number of us, despite the wanna-be party-poopers !

[Stonepounder]

12. The two best Presidents in my lifetime were

JFK and Barack Obama. They were both 'young' when they were elected. Mayor Pete is young and to my way of thinking we NEED new blood in the White House. I don't want the institutionalists. I love Joe Biden, but he's too old. As is Bernie Sanders. What I'd really like to see is either a Harris/Buttigieg or a Buttigieg/Harris ticket.

Mayor Pete seems to be a man of the people, rather than a life-long politician. And, like Obama he is scary smart and, at the same time, more than willing to listen to experts. Go Pete!

[True Dough]

13. Yes!

I think Pete/Kamala (or vice-versa) could go a long way!

Agree with all your others points as well, Stonepounder.

[marylandblue]

14. Something shifted in 2016 and the shift will continue through 2020

The most manifestly unfit, inexperienced candidate in history defeated perhaps the most qualified candidate in history. Perhaps we could dismiss it as a fluke, but in 2018, an unknown AOC did it again against a much more experienced opponent, and immediately became one of the most well known Representatives on the Hill. They did it partly by being unconventional candidates running unconventional campaigns. Also, they correctly understood who their voters were and why they could win. They understood what smarter, more experienced candidates and pundits did not.

So I walked away with several lessons. One is that experience is irrelevant in a time of change. The old rules don't count anymore. The winner is the one who understands the new rules best. The new rules are all about controlling the media narrative. Make yourself irresistible on TV and on Twitter, and they will come. It doesn't matter if you are loved or hated, as long as you can get attention and make the media want to cover you. That's power in today's world.

The second lesson is that it is time for a new Democratic coalition. Both major parties are coalitions. Republicans are basically a coalition of social conservatives and economic conservatives. Trump added some white working class Democrats to the coalition by promising jobs and departing from free trade orthodoxy and won. But they aren't satisfied with him, which means a new Democratic coalition can get them back.

The candidate who understand these things best will win. And I believe Pete is that candidate. In terms of media narratives, he's created one out of almost nothing. O'Rourke did it before him, and Sanders did it in 2016, but it wasn't a conscious plan. O'Rourke knew he could attract attention by driving around and sounding inspirational. But he didn't have much beyond that. Sanders was always a dissatisfied crank who happened to have the right personality for 2016. But not for 2020.

Pete has used a conscious media strategy designed to get himself coverage. People think this is some kind of fluke, but it's not. He used the same strategies that professional publicists use to get coverage for sleeper movie hits with unknown actors. Trump uses some of these strategies as well.

Pete is also consciously building a new coalition that will include traditional Democrats plus some former conservatives who don't like Trump, or aren't happy with conservative orthodoxy anymore. It will also include dissatisfied evangelicals, who believe in the old Social Gospel. Every other candidate (except Booker) has written them off, but not Pete. The Social Gospel is dormant, not dead. He plans to wake it up. The religious right is freaking out because they are afraid that he will. They know the power of the Social Gospel, even if most DUers don't.

Pete's biggest weakness is African Americans. They may not trust him. But based on what I've seen so far, he has a plan for dealing with that. My prediction is that if he can get enough AA votes, he wins the primaries and easily defeats Trump.

[True Dough]

15. Fascinating read!

I agree with you, Pete isn't an attracting media attention by fluke. And his appeal to dissatisfied evangelicals is real, but not off-putting to someone like myself, being an atheist. It's similar to Obama. I knew he embraced religion and occasionally made reference to it, but he didn't aim to build legislation around it. There's a respect/tolerance threshold that he never overstepped.

And, you're right, the lack of diversity in Pete's support is definitely the biggest remaining concern, IMO. But his campaign will embrace minorities and find ways to improve their lives too, I'm sure of it. I looked up South Bend's demographics and it's 26.6% black and 13% Hispanic. So to become mayor, Pete had to reach out to that 40% of the population. It won't be something new to him. He just has to do everything at a national level now and, as analysts have pointed out, there's a lot of work ahead in establishing campaign groundwork across the country. One day at a time, we'll get there!

[True Dough]

16. I find the Bernie disciples are the ones who attack Pete the most

and some do it in a very defensive manner, trying to insist Pete attacked them and/or Bernie first. Some of them are very susceptible to becoming aggressive.

[IndianaDave]

17. I really enjoyed your use of the word "disciples" to describe Bernie's followers.

You're absolutely right. They're more likely to attack Pete on "purist" grounds than on substance. It's unfortunate that they tend to have rigid expectations of candidates other than Bernie, while they are always ready to make amazing excuses for any wavering in Bernie's statements or behavior.

Clearly, they are threatened by Pete's truly visionary approach to the next phase of governance in our nation. In 2016, they saw themselves as the future of the Democratic Party. Now, they are led by a candidate who constantly repeats ideas and policies from the past, and, for all his charm as a lovable old curmudgeon, is losing some traction in the polls, and is being displaced by a young, highly intelligent, charismatic leader -- Pete Buttigieg. I fully understand their dismay and frustration.

[Ron Green]

18. Experience - You can always get that.

But what Pete Buttigieg has got is lacking in all the others: the combination of intelligence, humility, bravery and honesty. All in a young and energetic body.

[Capt. America]

19. Don't forget...Barack Obama was only 2 years removed from the Illinois state senate.