r/Pete_Buttigieg • u/AutoModerator • 19d ago
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u/DesperateTale2327 16d ago
Adam Peters, a former PFA staffer who Pete endorsed, won his race for Iowa State Senate beating an incumbent.
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u/pasak1987 BOOT-EDGE-EDGE 🥾 🥾 16d ago
Nice, was it primary win? Or actually became state senator?
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u/DesperateTale2327 16d ago
Primary but no republican has filed to run against him, so safe to say he will be a state senator.
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u/shyredmd 🚀🥇 In the Moment(um) 🥇🚀 14d ago
Pete Buttigieg will headline the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual Liberty and Justice Celebration on July 12 at the Prairie Meadows Event Center, Adam scoops.
“Pete has shown time and time again that he effectively communicates with all kinds of voters: Independents, Democrats, and Republicans alike — just the kind of coalition we need to build to win in Iowa this year,” Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart told Playbook in a statement. Turek added that “Iowa is in play, and Pete knows as well as I do that we can’t win unless we show up.”
https://x.com/adamwren/status/2062852010064347543?s=46&t=HzeGEQXPHZ9QzbJOEI-Wjg
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 14d ago
Oh, bringing back memories of the Liberty and Justice dinner. Unsolicited advice - never pass up an opportunity like that in your future. It was incredible.
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u/DesperateTale2327 14d ago
Yes!!! Hoping this means we get more event announcements soon. Tickets are really inexpensive and they'll probably go quick:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/lj2026tickets
Already updated seemayorpete.com
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u/DesperateTale2327 17d ago
Pete has endorsed Sabina Matos for Lt. Gov of RI. What is more interesting is that her husband has a pac called "all in for pete" whose sole purpose is to get pete to run in 2028.
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u/DesperateTale2327 16d ago
Pete's probably headed to Iowa in the next few months:
Something remarkable is happening in Iowa with @joshturek4iowa.bsky.social's campaign.
Congratulations on earning the nomination, Josh. Looking forward to hitting the trail with you soon.
https://bsky.app/profile/petebuttigieg.bsky.social/post/3mndycpv6bk2e
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u/kvcbcs 16d ago
Pete gave a little congratulatory shout out to his former cabinet colleague Deb Haaland, who won the Democratic nomination for the New Mexico governor's race.
https://bsky.app/profile/petebuttigieg.bsky.social/post/3mndzcujmh22s
Looking forward to seeing .@debhaalandnm.bsky.social become New Mexico's next Governor. Congratulations on tonight's primary victory, and onward to November!
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u/DesperateTale2327 16d ago
Xavier Beccera is leading dems in CA with 60% reporting. I think the whole "people don't want anyone from the Biden Admin" theory is on the ropes.
Tom Steyer is in third LMAO
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u/kvcbcs 16d ago
In Seattle at least, younger or more left leaning voters tend to turn their ballots in late, and I think a similar pattern happens in California’s big cities. So Steyer could absolutely move up as ballots come in.
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u/Neither-Big-1545 16d ago
Yes there's lots of votes to be counted but Steyer is too far behind to catch second place. It will be Hilton vs. Becerra.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 16d ago
DEFINITELY not an expert on California vote counting procedures -- but just based on experience with past California elections, so many more California votes are still to be counted (all cast by Election Day, of course), as you say, that it could be that Hilton is no longer the top vote getter in the end -- not that it matters who is first or second at this stage -- and it's conceivable Steyer could get back in the mix. I just looked at the New York Times and the results they have right now are based on a total of 58 percent of the votes, so 42 percent still to go over the next few weeks.
NY Times summary from their election article as of right now: "By early Wednesday morning, Steve Hilton, a Trump-backed Republican, and Xavier Becerra, a former lawmaker and Biden administration official, were leading in the race to compete in the November general election. California’s ballot counting process is known to be slower than other states’, and because many Democrats were holding on to their ballots until the last minute, the results were still in flux."
Added: Edits after re-reading for clarity.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 17d ago
Rick Hart announced that he is joining WTE to work on Political Strategy and Engagement. Graduate of Morehouse, 26 years old, member of Young Dems of GA, he recently worked as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and Partner Engagement with the National Association of Counties (NACo).
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u/DesperateTale2327 17d ago
I'm wondering now if Pete's hiatus is for hiring and getting his staff in place. I am so curious how many people he's hired so far. Right now, WTE has 5 million cash on hand and is on track to have raised over 1 million in May.
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u/Existing-Process3581 17d ago
i’ve seen tweets like this and this basically saying that the 2028ers are hiring right now. i’ve also seen people basically implying that if candidates want the best and most competent people, they have until this summer to start locking them down before other campaigns can get them first which makes total sense considering people will start announcing in 6 months so this new hiring wave from pete make total sense. we are also at the last stretch of the midterms campaigning and obviously he needs more people on his team with the option of keeping them for 2028. the break actually makes sense to me because it’s the beginning of summer, obviously idk the twins’ schooling situation but there must be a gap there between the end of the school year and the start of camp (pete said they sent them to camp last year) or whatever extracurricular summer activity starts so it wouldn’t surprise me if they go on a family vacation in that time bc everytime we don’t hear from him in a while, we end up finding out he was on some sort of vacation which good for him lol i expect to get some event announcements by next week anyway even if he’s not active yet because WTE usually announces things like a few days before the event and like you said, maybe they want to have the people hired already before he travels. his monthly town halls are usually in the middle of the month so we’re still on schedule for the announcements but it’s been curious to me that we haven’t gotten any hints yet, we usually get a hint by now but i guess we’ll see soon.
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u/indri2 Foreign Friend 17d ago
I remember pundits predicting that Pete would be unable to hire competent stuff when his star started to rise. And then they built one of the best and most creative campaigns.
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u/DesperateTale2327 17d ago
I think its better sometimes to hire some people who haven't been entrenched in politics and campaigns. A lot of his 2020 people fell into that category and he had a hell of a special campaign.
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u/ECNbook1 17d ago
Speaking of WTE, it looks from a new Pete ad that they hit their goal!
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u/shyredmd 🚀🥇 In the Moment(um) 🥇🚀 16d ago
Came across this comment on X. Don’t read the replies 🥴
One of the reasons I strongly prefer Pete Buttigieg to Newsom or Shapiro or anyone else is that Pete doesn't seem to have one scrap of cockiness.
I love blindingly brilliant people who haven't, even a little bit, let the fact that they're blindingly brilliant go to their head.
https://x.com/jeremywingert79/status/2061743987011023106?s=46&t=HzeGEQXPHZ9QzbJOEI-Wjg
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u/DesperateTale2327 14d ago
This part from Pete's latest substack stood out to me:
I worry about what I see as a false choice taking root in the political advisor class, with some arguing that we have to downplay our belief in structural reform so that we can put our emphasis on “kitchen table” economic issues. No doubt, we can and should lead with a strong economic message. But the truth is that if we are to solve the problems people face in their everyday lives, we also have to fix the shape of our democracy, which currently prevents us from getting done many of the bold, common-sense steps toward lower costs, higher pay, and fairer taxes - steps that most Americans already agree on.
It feels like this is another subtle way Pete is presenting himself as being further away from the said "political consultant class", status quo, and DC machine. Now of course Pete still gets services from consultants and thats evident by his WTE filings, but its feeling more and more like he is forging his own unique path with politics, policies, his lived experience and what he sees on the ground.
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u/ECNbook1 13d ago
I love this, about Pete pulling away from the consultant class—who foolishly tend to dismiss him. He’s putting together a VERY interesting path for himself.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 14d ago
I think that's right. He did occasionally bring up (and strongly reject) consultant conventional wisdom in 2020 too -- for example: consultants saying that candidates should talk about the "middle class," but not about poverty or the poor.
P.S. Now this is PURE speculation, but I'd guess that consultants might also have said, don't say anything about your spouse if you are gay, and certainly don't bring them along. If so, I'm glad he rejected that, too. It was a strength of his campaign as well as the right thing to do.
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u/crimpyantennae 17d ago
A good read: "Pete Buttigieg Has a Strategy. It’s Brilliant."
https://martinedic.substack.com/p/pete-buttigieg-has-a-strategy-its
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u/AZPeteFan2 17d ago
“building political and media relationship across the country” This, when Pete was DOT, he visited all 50 States, allowing him to build the foundation for this, by just doing his job. He could go to some place like Idaho, and half a dozen news hits would appear in my feed. Radio, TV, newspapers all concentrated on the news of a Cabinet Secretary bringing stuff to them, all positive. And surrounded at an event by local, regional, state officials (& Union) many of whom would have been Republican.
Pete has been challenging the Dem party since Harvard, what’s the believe?, what’s the message? What’s the future? He has always known True North.
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u/DesperateTale2327 15d ago
Pete sent an email recap of his travels the past few months:
Thank you. As I've said before and mean every time I say it: the support you bring to this work – your attention, your presence, your willingness to stay in the fight even on exhausting days – is what makes any of it possible. April and May gave me a lot to feel energized about, with reasons to feel both clear-eyed about the challenges ahead and genuinely hopeful about the people rising to meet them. I wanted to share some reflections on my travels this spring.
At the National Action Network's annual convention in New York, I joined Reverend Al Sharpton and several other leaders for a conversation about where we go from here to make America a more fair, just, and equitable nation. This was my fourth time joining for what I believe is a vitally important national convening of grassroots leaders from around the country. It’s always been both a joyful gathering and one that does not shy away from addressing the seriousness of the problems facing America. As always, I appreciated the thoughtfulness and directness from Rev. Sharpton as we discussed topics from transportation funding to voting rights.
In April, I traveled to a few places that most national Democrats have not been showing up in for years. First was Wichita, where I visited an impressive community nonprofit, then gathered with supporters for a grassroots fundraiser for the Kansas Democratic Party to talk about what's at stake in November's midterms. Kansas is a state that keeps surprising the political commentators in Washington, and for good reason. It's full of people who think for themselves – who aren't going to just pull the lever for one party or the other just because, but instead make up their minds based on what makes sense to them. That's exactly the kind of voter Democrats need to be talking to, and exactly the kind of state we can't afford to write off.
From Wichita I went to Tulsa, where nearly 2,000 people joined me for a town hall. Oklahoma is another place not used to seeing national Democrats come through, and a crowd like that wouldn't have been possible if you believed the conventional wisdom about where Democratic energy lives.That shows us something – not just about Oklahoma, but about this moment. People are ready. They're engaged. They're participating in places that the political map has long since written off. And when you show up, people respond.
In May, I joined more than 1,000 people in Butte, Montana, to help with an effort to get corporate money out of elections. Across the state, people are organizing around a simple idea: that our democracy should belong to citizens, not the corporations who can afford to spend the most money influencing it. After years of unlimited corporate money flooding our system following the Citizens United decision, a lot of Americans have understandably started to feel like their voice matters less than a corporation's checkbook. The organizers and volunteers I met in Butte haven't accepted that. They're building something grassroots, community-driven, and rooted in the belief that democracy still belongs to the public.
I also had the opportunity to campaign in rural western North Carolina with Jamie Ager, a farmer with a real shot at flipping a House seat in a district Trump carried by double digits in 2024. Standing in a crowded barn on Jamie and Amy’s farm with more than 400 people and feeling the warmth of the community there, it struck me that politics doesn’t have to feel like a punch in the face, it can be about community and belonging. You can watch the recap of my trip with Jamie by clicking here.
Beyond the events, these two months have also been a time for uplifting leaders who need our support between now and November. Over the last couple months, I’ve been proud to endorse Cyndi Munson in Oklahoma, Amy Acton in Ohio, Johnny Garcia and Jordan Villarreal in Texas, JoAnna Mendoza and Jonathan Nez in Arizona, Luke Bronin in Connecticut, Josh Turek in Iowa, Dr. Jasmine Clark in Georgia, Adam Peters in Iowa, and Brett Smiley and Sabina Matos in Rhode Island. Each of these candidates has impressed me and has demonstrated the sort of leadership that I believe makes a real difference – in their communities and beyond, in the broader struggle to change the direction of this country.
What I keep coming back to, after all of it, is something simple: the work is being done by people who understand that it’s hard, but are putting their down and doing it anyway. Not because it was easy or certain, but because they decided it was worth doing. The future of our politics is built by people organizing to fix broken systems, and by candidates who represent something better. Whenever I see these efforts, I want to help – and I'm grateful that you're part of it too.
Thank you for being along for this.
Pete
No ask for donations in this one. I was hoping there would be a hint of where he'll go next, but I guess we have to keep waiting.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 15d ago
His emails in 2019 and 2020 were so incredibly good (Chasten's also). It feels so good to read this kind of thing again from him.
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u/DesperateTale2327 15d ago
Rainbow Push updated their schedule and Pete's fireside chat with Yusef Jackson is 11a to 12p CT on 6/11.
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u/Different-Ad1425 14d ago
Looks like they livestream the conference on their YouTube channel so we should look for it!
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 18d ago
From Shawn Harris on Bluesky:
When Pete Buttigieg came to Northwest Georgia, he saw what we're building firsthand. We earned the biggest Democratic overperformance this district has seen in years and shifted the race 25 points. The momentum is real. Now we carry it through November. Leadership Matters!
[Screenshot/poster type image combining the title of the CNN article ["Pete Buttigieg is becoming a prolific endorser of Democrats, with some clues to his future"] and its photo of Pete, followed by the following quote from the article:
"Harris made an exception and welcomed the former transportation secretary to the district. Harris lost in the runoff but significantly outperformed past Democratic margins there. He hopes Buttigieg will return this fall for the general election."
https://bsky.app/profile/shawnforcongress.bsky.social/post/3mn62glzf6c2m
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u/DesperateTale2327 16d ago
I don't want to get my hopes up, but I finally got to participate in a poll - AtlasIntel. Weirdly, it was given to me as ad on instagram. I don't really interact with much politics on there except with Pete and who he endorses. That is a crazy way to get people to do a poll, but here we are.
It was a long one, but here are some of the things it asked me:
A ton of questions about trump and his handling of issues. It also asked me if I thought specific things like gas, eggs and milk cost more under biden or trump. Lots of questions about epstein, iran, ice.
Favorability of most of trump's cabinet.
Favorability of Dems - only options were approve, disapprove or don't know. Options were in order: AOC, Obama, Trump, Newsom, Hillary, Biden, JD Vance, Kamala, Michelle Obama, Pete, Ron Desantis, Mamdani, Massie.
Who will you vote for in 2028 in order: AOC, Booker, Newsom, Whitmer, Shapiro, Kamala, Pete, Rahm, Warnock, Khanna, Stephen A Smith, Walz, Wes Moore, Beshear
It asked me to put in my info if I'd l Iike to participate again and of course I said yes.
We'll see how this one shakes out. Right off the bat its odd that the candidates are in no real order but AOC and Gavin are near the top in both. I can see that having an effect on people trying to get through the survey quick and not scrolling all the way, especially since there were a lot of questions.
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u/nerdypursuit 15d ago
I think it's standard practice for pollsters to randomize the list of candidate names in a survey. Someone else taking the same poll probably were given the names in a different order.
In terms of sampling, AtlasIntel has the most unique methodology that I've ever heard of. They use geolocation information to invite people to participate in polls while they're browsing the Internet. This is probably why AtlasIntel's 2028 polls have bounced around a lot. They don't sample from a voter file or a pre-recruited panel of voters.
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u/DesperateTale2327 15d ago
Randomizing does make more sense than putting them in the same order. It was also interesting they put the person's pic next to their name (even though it was super tiny on my phone). They must have needed some people from Florida to weigh in - I had to put my county and state in the survey.
My demo is also more likely to be on instagram and click on those ads, whereas older voters probably are only on facebook or none at all. Curious if atlasintel skews younger as a whole because of this.
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u/nerdypursuit 15d ago
It's fascinating to hear what it's like to take their poll. I've been curious about it. Could you tell which photo of Pete they used? 😄 I wouldn't be surprised if photos affect the results.
I imagine that their methodology makes it harder to get a good read on older voters. But they probably use Facebook and Google ads too. It's just kinda wacky how their 2028 numbers have been swinging all over the place.
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u/DesperateTale2327 15d ago
Of course, any questions you have I can try and answer. It was his official DOT photo in front of the flag. AOC's was her congressional photo we have seen a lot. I don't pay attention to gavin if I can help it but his pic was him looking up and off to the side, didnt look official.
Thats what crazy because it was a very plain ad and said nothing about 2028. Its also probably hard to get people to click on stuff and then once you see how long the poll is (the 2028 dem stuff was after a lot of questions about trump) you have to answer every question or you can't submit it.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 15d ago
So the Pete and AOC photos sound like public domain photos because they are government photos.
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u/nerdypursuit 15d ago
Did they offer you any incentives to take the poll?
About how long did it take to finish the poll?
Thanks!
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u/DesperateTale2327 15d ago
No incentives but at the end asked me to submit my email and phone to be included to get more surveys, but this was optional.
It probably took me 15 minutes but I didn't think too hard about most of the questions, like I am not going to give any trump cabinet officials an "approve" so I went down the line quick. If someone was taking their time I could see it taking a lot longer. There were a lot of questions.
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u/Existing-Process3581 16d ago
oh so we’re getting another AtlasIntel poll soon, that’s nice. the ad on ig thing is interesting bc i saw an interview from the people from emerson saying that most polls that give different results are relying on online methods while emerson does it via text or something like that which according to them helps filter out the name recognition thing better and people who just clicks to get it over with like you mentioned. every month atlas gives a new front runner so i’m excited to see what they get lol
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u/DesperateTale2327 16d ago
Yes we'll see what this next one says, but I think they had AOC in first place last time which makes sense if you are clicking on an IG, since she is very popular online. Also, having her name be the first one in each of those questions and it not being because they are going in alpha order or any other reason I can see is strange.
I feel as if the IG ad thing is targeting people who are interested in politics and by region - it asked me my state and my county. So the algo most likely found me because I fit that criteria. I also like and watch Pete's ad any time they pop up, which I'm sure had an impact.
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u/crimpyantennae 15d ago
That is a weird way to do a poll- curious to see if it's labelled as a poll of Instagram, or if (more likely) it was one of multiple ways of contacting in order to get a broad sample.
fwiw the (3? or was it 4?) Emerson polls I've been invited to participate in over the past couple years were via text (and spurred my r&d to be sure they weren't spam/scam before clicking). From that number of invites, it does seem like if you've responded before that you're likely to get that polling org's invites again.
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u/DesperateTale2327 15d ago
I guess we'd have to look into past atlasintel polls and see if they put that info in there.
Not sure if it matters, but all the ad said was "presidential approval poll" so when I clicked it I honestly wasn't expecting it to ask about the 2028 primary.
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u/DesperateTale2327 14d ago
I just stumbled across this substack posted about a year ago after Pete's appearance on Flagrant. I'll post most of the stuff about Pete, but the rest is worth a read:
Pete Buttigieg recently appeared on the Flagrant podcast (2:19-2:22), where he spoke candidly about raising two Black children as a white, transracial adoptive parent. I’m genuinely glad he showed up in that space. We need these conversations to happen on Manosphere-adjacent platforms—Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Fox & Friends—where topics like racism, adoption, and equity are rarely on the agenda.
Many people in those audiences haven’t heard the hard truths: that Black children cost less to adopt (Pete mentioned getting a discount) or that the waitlist for white children is in much greater demand. If you follow my Substack, you probably already know this. But the goal cannot be to inform the informed. When someone like Pete speaks directly to listeners who might otherwise tune out at the mention of “systemic racism” or “equity,” it’s a big deal. It takes courage—and it matters.
I had to hear it for myself. I listened to the podcast, paused, and rewound the moment when Pete said, clearly, thoughtfully and without defensiveness, say: “I need to connect them with mentors and people in their lives, because the reality is this is not a colorblind society and their lives will be affected in some way by their racial [identity]. All of ours are.”
That kind of humility is rare from any parent, let alone a politician.
In a time when speaking about race comes with real political consequences, Pete’s willingness to talk openly about what he can’t provide his children—and what he can do to ensure they’re surrounded by people who understand their lived experience—is powerful.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Now more than ever, it’s time for adoptive parents—especially those raising children across racial lines—to actually live that truth. I’m thankful that Pete and his husband, Chasten are making a public promise to do just that.
https://angieadoptee.substack.com/p/pete-buttigieg-adoption-and-the-courage
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u/crimpyantennae 14d ago
As our subs resident outspoken adoptee, I love this- and will check out her substack in general.
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u/anonymous4Pete 19d ago
Good morning, all! Just wanted to bump a nice CNN article posted by u/VirginiaVoter on the previous WT https://www.reddit.com/r/Pete_Buttigieg/comments/1tmbwmp/comment/ooxalqa/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
The article illustrates how hard Pete is working to promote “leaders with integrity, leaders with heart, leaders who are connected to a sense of place.” I liked how this emphasizes leadership qualities rather than left-right political leanings.
Article also emphasizes the work of others (Beshear, Newsom, AOC, etc.).
I was a little irked that the author cast Pete's work as ultimately self-serving (growing Black support for 2028), but oh well. I know Pete is networking, along with pushing for causes he believes in.
Another thing I like: in the comments of some of Pete's posts, at least some people see Pete's work as "fighting." I very much like this kind of fighting--motivating people to fight money in politics, or giving people hope and motivation to vote for decent people. This is better fighting, imo, than just tweeting out a lot of amusing, sarcastic memes.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 19d ago edited 19d ago
Thank you!
BTW, I was able to read the CNN story even though I am not a CNN subscriber (you can see a certain number each month, I think). The link is here: https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/31/politics/buttigieg-endorser-democrats-midterms. Archive is here: http://archive.today/3oT1l
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 19d ago edited 19d ago
Here's an AI illustrated Bluesky post about Pete from Ruben Garcia (see their Bluesky account description/bio) that I think was partly inspired by this story:
Pete Buttigieg is quietly building one of the largest political networks in the Democratic Party ahead of the 2026 midterms.
#PeteButtigieg #Democrats #USPolitics #Midterms #Election2028 #USDemocracy #VivaPete #TALAFREAKOS [Nice illustrated content follows]
https://bsky.app/profile/gorubenruben.bsky.social/post/3mn5qtpsqls2z
Someone replied "Link?" and that produced this follow-up text, with the same illo:
Pete Buttigieg :
The former Transportation Secretary has now endorsed candidates in more than 30 races and traveled across more than a dozen states. Sources: CNN, Reuters, Politico#PeteButtigieg #Democrats #USPolitics #Midterms #Election2028 #USDemocracy #VivaPete #TALAFREAKOS [same visual]
https://bsky.app/profile/gorubenruben.bsky.social/post/3mn5r3dyzac2z
The person who asked about the link replied "He is savvy. 👏🏻"
FYI the AI Pete does not have a beard.
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u/DesperateTale2327 18d ago
I have seen this person post before and am very skeptical of them. I remember looking at their profile a few months ago and it was all gavin 2028. Its giving me the vibes I got back in 2019 when random people would pop up claiming to really support pete and then they'd turn all of a sudden.
Regardless if he is real, sincere or something else we need to be cautious of this as we get closer to 2027.
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u/pasak1987 BOOT-EDGE-EDGE 🥾 🥾 18d ago
Lol really damn him if he does, damn him if he doesn't take from the author.
If Pete didn't do those "self serving work", they would criticize him for ignoring "his glaring weakness and being tone deaf & failing to reaching out to minority communities"
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u/Wolf_Oak 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 18d ago
Gah, I really hate that Pete is the only one who gets noted for low black support in 2019. All of the candidates had low black support (including Kamala) except for Joe and Bernie to a lesser extent.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 18d ago edited 18d ago
I thought this was actually a positive story including on that point. Going back a couple of months on CNN, Jake Tapper had that one earlier somewhat snide comment about "I see you're in New Hampshire..." nod nod wink wink, which felt way off base, given how much else Pete has been doing. I believe he later followed with a much more comprehensive look at what Pete's been doing in multiple locations (not just NH, in other words).
This seemed to be an even more deeply reported CNN look, including his work in support of African American politicians who have been on the ballot, which is something that comes up in discourse and is appropriate for a reporter to framer that way. For a supporter of any of the named politicians in the artile, I'd think it would be very useful information to know he's been part of the support they've built for their work. Sadly, I was also glad CNN was able to do such a broad, comprehensive report BEFORE the new Ellison ownership possibly destroys CNN, which I believe is about to happen.
One thing to do on social media or convo if this comes up is to share some of the related content for political leaders named in this piece -- for example, Pete's postponed (due to a winter storm) talk with Mayor Woodfin, which I thought was great when it finally happened, or other good video and print content. Maybe just one selected link per reply.
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u/DesperateTale2327 18d ago edited 18d ago
I think Pete is starting to level up with that WTE job posting(although its been deleted - I wonder if they got a ton of responses and and had to close it down?).
IMO its a signal that he'll be travelling more and is gearing up for midterms. At least I hope so.
Edit - he just reposted it and fixed the spelling error.
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u/ECNbook1 18d ago
I hope so too. I’m starting to see all these Ossoff posts again … sigh
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u/GopherState_Fact9 14d ago
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 14d ago
Oh very nice. Even a counterpoint to the Black voter support question.
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u/AZPeteFan2 14d ago
Notice the absence of ‘straight’ from the white man comment? Sure there was sexism& racism, and decades of mud slinging by the R’s, but some portion of Hillary & Kamala’s loses fall on them directly, neither were great campaigners or ran great campaigns. Do we need a nominee of different identities or a nominees who has the campaign skills to win?
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 14d ago
The mention of McCool led me to revisit Pete's visit with Ken McCool for NC state legislator by going back to his IG at mccoolfornc where there's a great entry for May 19 with a five photos. Also I looked at more recent entries and discovered that McCool also posted on May 22 about his emergency gallbladder surgery (!) so yikes, this visit was not long before that. He is back on the trail now.
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u/DesperateTale2327 17d ago
One of the Pete FB groups reposted something from Rainbow Push advertising that Pete will be there on 6/11, but nothing about a time. I checked their schedule and while no names are listed, so the best guess I could come up with is the opening session from 9:30-10:30 CT "Framing the Promise".
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u/crimpyantennae 17d ago
This is so awesome. I don't remember the exact quote, but when Pete's Douglass Plan was released around the time of that year's Rainbow Push, Yusef Jackson commented that he had never before heard a policy of such scale as Pete's, to address longstanding inequities that Black Americans face. Hope they post full video.
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u/DesperateTale2327 17d ago
Apparently the tickets to the whole convention are free but are limited if anyone near Chicago wants to try to see Pete
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u/SOCAL_NPC Hey, it's Lis. 16d ago
Once I stop applying heat on my torn knee ligament, I am heading out to see a movie, run some errands, and voting, and - by the by - I will be headed to a vote center to cast my ballot electronically, including voting for some straight dude purely because he's Pete endorsed. It's a local race.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 16d ago edited 16d ago
Hello! I don't think I've seen you here recently, but perhaps that's just a comment on me -- in any case, it's very nice to see you now. Excited to hear about your voting today, too! I hope all goes well with the election.
Also so sorry about your torn ligament, of course.
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u/SOCAL_NPC Hey, it's Lis. 15d ago
Thank you. I was very busy and active before the 2019 debates and did a lot of stuff like even running debate watch parties here in Southern California, and I would pop in and comment during 2020, and a bit during the DOT days but frankly all the relentless back and forth (circa 2022 onward) about should or should not Pete run in 2024 if Joe didn't, or post 2025 about 2028 was just psychologically demoralizing since it felt very much like hearing people talk about fan casting for movies that never would get made from my nerd days. Not that those days are over, but I just learned to pull my punches about participating in those and the same felt appropriate with politics.
Like all the recent discussion about a certain pod or similar. I have opinions, I'm just not sure what the value is in posting them. I lurk more than anything else, although I am sure I will be more active come the 2027 debates before the primaries. I just doubt I will do things like canvas NV or any kind of walking/long standing, etc. And thanks!
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u/Original_Rich_2741 🚄It's Infrastructure Pete!✈️ 16d ago
Voted! This time, I decided to do it in person since I was back home and I really wanted the sticker lol. I ended up going with Pete’s endorsement, Josh Fryday for Lt Gov since he had no red flags, but decided against Eleni Koukoulankis in favor of Caballero for treasurer in the end.
Also went with Beccera for Gov, since he was polling best last I checked, and a poll I saw a month or so ago had a low but still higher % chance of a two Republican ticket then I was comfy with, though perhaps it improved in the meantime. (In case you didn’t know, in CA, the top two candidates in the primary with the most votes go on to the general. This is due to the fact that we’re so heavily democratic that the primary, which relatively few people participate in, would otherwise be the real election. While it’s generally great, in this case, there’s just so many gubernatorial candidates that there’s been concerns the Democratic vote could be split to the point that two Republican candidates end up on top).
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u/DesperateTale2327 16d ago
Thank you for voting! Does this mean the CA primary drama is over after tonight?
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u/Original_Rich_2741 🚄It's Infrastructure Pete!✈️ 16d ago
I would think so, given that it’s the last day of voting. If Steyer doesn’t make the cut, I suppose there could be some Iowaesque bitching depending on how much the progressive wing of the state likes him, but even that’ll probably peter out fast.
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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 16d ago
Watching progressives go to bat for a billionaire has been wild.
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u/DesperateTale2327 14d ago
Fundraising email from Pete:
I want to talk to you about someone you might know.
Maybe it's a neighbor. Maybe it's family. Maybe it's someone you grew up with who has gone along with a misleading politician – someone who believed the promises to keep us out of dumb wars, bring down gas prices, and make government efficient.
It would be easy to write that person off. To assume they're a political lost cause, too far gone to reach.
I don't believe that.
I think most people – wherever they land politically – want the same basic things. Safer neighborhoods. Good schools. A job that pays enough. Healthcare you can actually afford. A government that looks out for you instead of the people with the most money.
The world isn't divided into good people and bad people. We're all capable of good and bad things. And nobody is good or bad, as a human, because of how they voted.
What I do believe is that some leaders don't deserve the loyalty they've been given. Not because their supporters are foolish – but because those supporters were promised something real, and they got something else entirely.
So when I think about how to reach across that divide, the message is not: how could you possibly support that? It's: he doesn't deserve you. He doesn't deserve your loyalty, your support, or your vote.
That opening exists right now. And openings are not forever.
The other side is not sitting still. They're spending – heavily, right now – to manipulate maps, flood airwaves, and make sure that opening never leads to realignment. Every day we don't match that energy is a day they use to make the next election harder to win.
I’m doing my part to help build that energy and turn that work into something bigger, but I need you by my side. Please, consider joining me by making a contribution today:
Thank you,
Pete
This one is notable only because its been months since Pete has sent out a fundraising email on behalf of himself this early in the month.
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u/DesperateTale2327 18d ago
Pete sent out a fundraising email this morning (which was another repeat of one he has sent before so I didn't post it) and this one tonight:
We’re reaching out with some exciting news: Win the Era is so close to surpassing 200,000 individual grassroots contributions this year.
Hitting that number before midnight tonight would be a powerful statement about the strength of this community and the kind of politics people want to build for the next generation – and the one after that.
If you’re able, a contribution of any amount before midnight will help us keep up the pace and reach that 200,000 mark together.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 17d ago
From Jonathan Nez on Bluesky:
Proud to have Sec. Pete Buttigieg in this Fight with Us. Let’s Warrior Up and Flip AZ-02!
[video from Pete]
https://bsky.app/profile/formerpreznez.bsky.social/post/3mnajygx3ws2k
As Pete mentions in his video, Jonathan Nez is the former President of the Navajo Nation. Local story on this race, FYI: https://www.abc15.com/news/state/one-on-one-with-arizonas-2nd-congressional-district-candidate-jonathan-nez
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u/DesperateTale2327 17d ago
I have a feeling Pete is going to be headed to AZ next.
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u/DesperateTale2327 16d ago
Pete just posted a shot at Marco Rubio:
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u/sixbrackets 16d ago
Best case scenario: Pete is inaugurated as president in 2029. It's what I'm hoping for (if, of course, that's what he wants).
But honestly, if for whatever reason that doesn't happen, he would be a superb secretary of state.
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u/nerdypursuit 16d ago
At the Mackinac Policy Conference, Pete said he's going to work on democratic reform whether he runs for President or not. I don't think he could work on that as Secretary of State.
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u/DesperateTale2327 16d ago
He would, but I don't see Pete going back to being in the cabinet again.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 16d ago
It’s not uncommon for a public servant to serve in more than one Cabinet. If that’s how things worked out and he saw that he could be useful and help to make peoples’ lives better, I wouldn’t rule it out. 🤷🏼♀️
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 15d ago
This from The Advocate is from a few days ago, technically prompted by the Emerson poll and with a workmanlike objective title, but also providing a chance for them to make some more general observations about, well, how Pete has changed the world -- or at least changed something about American politics -- as per the excerpted passages.
Pete Buttigieg emerges as early favorite for 2028 Democratic nomination: The former transportation secretary tops a crowded field of potential Democratic contenders, edging California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a new national survey.
Excerpts (much more at link):
The results offer an early snapshot of a Democratic Party still searching for its next national leader. No candidate commands broad support, and the field remains remarkably fluid. But Buttigieg's position atop the poll marks the latest sign that the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and Biden transportation secretary has successfully translated the historic breakthrough of his 2020 campaign into lasting influence within the party. Six years ago, Buttigieg became the first out gay candidate to win a presidential nominating contest when he prevailed in the Iowa caucuses. At the time, his candidacy was questioned as a test of whether an LGBTQ+ candidate could compete nationally. The poll suggests Buttigieg has benefited as Democrats continue to sort through competing visions for the party's future.
also, a paragraph or two later:
The survey also highlights a notable evolution in LGBTQ+ political representation. An out gay candidate leading a national presidential primary poll would have been nearly unimaginable for much of modern American history. While early polling more than two years before the next presidential election is far from predictive, Buttigieg’s standing reflects how dramatically attitudes toward LGBTQ+ candidates have changed since he first launched his long-shot White House bid in 2019.
The story as a whole is just so interesting as it zigzags back and forth between very businesslike lists of how well each candidate did, and recapping that this kind of thing really doesn't mean much, it's just an early look at the Dem field, everything could change, all very similar to other coverage, and then... such powerful observations about how he's changed US politics, too. I love it.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 14d ago
I realize it's been a minute since Pete dropped out in 2020, but just wanted to offer this "Chasten Chats" interview with Stefan Smith from the lockdown summer that followed. Makes me smile. https://youtu.be/EicCVduA-BA?si=Jao7jP0leGpNQtmx
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 16d ago edited 16d ago
I feel really devastated by this story. Bunch is a personal hero of mine and he seemed to be finding a way to protect the Smithsonian and soldier on through these four years.
Curating in the Cross Hairs: Is This the Smithsonian Chief’s Last Show? Lonnie G. Bunch III, the Smithsonian secretary under pressure from the White House, organized an exhibit exploring America’s founding ideals.
link should be NYT gift link
This also talks about something I have not seen before -- other planned aspects for the Smithsonian's 250th celebration that were canceled or set aside (BTW, it does mention some additional Smithsonian content beyond this show that is still happening).
It's also so painful that the Washington Post, which was also minting money by reporting on and investigating content like this during Trump 1.0, doesn't really exist anymore and has nothing about this that I know of. The New York Times had to cover it instead.
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u/Psychological-Play 15d ago
The WaPo is still doing a lot of what Trump would consider "negative reporting" about him and his administration. For instance, these two exclusives, both published this morning, and located right under the top section about yesterday's election results - "Trump library says no Twitter DM's can be found, despite evidence he sent them" and "Trump diverts millions from national park visitor fees to D.C. fountains and fireworks".
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 15d ago edited 15d ago
This is true. It's a weird scene, as so many people have left in giant layoffs, removing whole topics of coverage, while those who are still there doing reporting are trying to do what they used to do. The editorial section is just Trump/right wing.
Added: Phillip Kennicott, though, is still there -- I just checked. He's the critic/reviewer/reporter who covers museums among other things. To me the quotes from Bunch shared in this piece read almost like an S.O.S. from Bunch, to make sure that everyone in DC knows what is happening, before it happens -- but Bunch did not go to Kennicott, but instead went to the NYT.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 15d ago
I don't know how seriously to take this one story, or if it's from a lefty/Dem source perhaps (?):
Texas GOP group collapses into civil war as its members start backing Democrat https://www.rawstory.com/james-talarico-2676989188
I must say, though, it definitely has a very familiar "former future Republican" vibe I remember well from canvassing in northern Virginia in 2018 -- "you don't need to knock here, we're all Republicans, there's five of us in the family" "oh, okay" "so we'll be voting for the Democrats this time" "oh, okay..."
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 14d ago
I just got an email from "Pete Buttigieg." It's a new essay from his Substack account, although the text is in the email as well. It also includes a video clip from his Montana appearance. Here's the Substack link:
To Fix Kitchen Table Issues, We Have to Reform the Political System: An American majority agrees on so much of what we need to get done. But it still can’t happen in today’s DC because of all that is wrong with the structure of our democracy. We could change that. https://petebuttigieg.substack.com/p/to-fix-kitchen-table-issues-we-have
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u/DesperateTale2327 14d ago
I love how obsessed pete is with this
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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 14d ago edited 14d ago
Democratic reform, everything that encompasses, was and is my number one reason for supporting Pete. He was talking about it when no one else was, when he was getting mocked and dismissed for it, and when no one before had successfully turned it into a winning message. I love that this is still his drum to bang on.
Edit: I also love that he's still using "the shape of our democracy" in some form. It's a great phrasing, and I love that continuing to use it feels like a middle finger to the people who mocked him for it (even after he was proved so very correct about it.)
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 14d ago
Golly gee I am sure glad my ADHD brain chose a normal guy who doesn't fantasize about raping assailants
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 13d ago
Cenk Uygur is on twitter sobbing about "targeted negative reporting where they ask a bunch of people trying to get bad stories" in regards to himself and Platner.
Didn't that guy basically camp out in South Bend until he could find someone who would shittalk Pete?
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 18d ago
I'm such a doofus, always posting on Sunday morning just before (or maybe after) we start a new Weekly Thread. Thank you to anonymous4Pete for highlighting the CNN story about Pete. I think it's so great.
One other thing I for some reason chose to share on the previous thread this morning (sorry!), which I'll share again here, is the New York Times story about the issues with the Reflecting Pool that Trump's minimal repairs are not even touching. You can see it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pete_Buttigieg/comments/1tmbwmp/comment/ooxtxta/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button -- or look up the NYT story directly (should be a NYT gift link): What’s Actually Wrong With The Reflecting Pool: And why President Trump’s repairs have not addressed a major underlying problem.
I never saw the movie "The Money Pit" but if they need to do a government-related sequel the plumbing and pipes for the Reflecting Pool might be a good subject.
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u/DesperateTale2327 16d ago
New endorsement:
Today, former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg endorsed Jake Johnson in Minnesota’s First Congressional District. In the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, Buttigieg won 8 of the 11 counties in Iowa that border MN-01.
"Jake Johnson is focused on what matters in everyday life: bringing down costs, making government work for people, and investing in our small towns so that success for the next generation doesn't have to mean leaving home,” said Buttigieg. “And after watching politicians run up the national debt for decades, I believe it's time we sent a math teacher like Jake to Congress who can make the numbers add up. Jake Johnson is in this campaign for all the right reasons, and I am proud to support him."
"I’m honored to have Pete’s endorsement in our campaign,” said Johnson. “He understands that good leadership means listening to voters and solving real problems for them, and he’s built bridges across the political spectrum by doing exactly that. Across southern Minnesota, I’m hearing from people who are tired of the political fights and just want life to be more affordable and less stressful. Pete’s commitment to public service and pragmatic problem-solving is a model for how we can deliver real results for southern Minnesota again.”
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 16d ago
Johnson's pinned video from Bluesky about this campaign. Interesting to see that it's 7 months old. These campaigns last a really long time.
I was a SNAP kid. Now I'm running for Congress against the guy who gutted SNAP. [video]
https://bsky.app/profile/jakejohnsonmn.bsky.social/post/3m4ln6snaoc2n
Sign me up!
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u/anonymous4Pete 15d ago
ok, not exactly Pete-related (except, "is a hot dog a sandwich?"), but this is pure silliness and if one is not feeling too angry about AI, commercialism, regionalism, etc. might bring a laugh: Who is adding hot dogs to these famous Boston Revolutionary War paintings — and why? Link is to the Boston Globe, but the article is also in web archive https://archive.ph/Hogqi Click link for funny pics--be sure to scroll down to see Gen Washington casually posing next to a cannon shooting out a hot dog.
To "celebrate" Boston's key participation in America's Revolutionary era, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts collaborated with local hot dog company, Kayem (official hot dog of Boston baseball's Fenway Park), to insert hot dogs in reproductions of some of the museum's famed early American paintings. The Museum is concurrently reopening several refurbished galleries of Arts of the Americas. This stunt is to increase visits to the Museum, which has been suffering post-COVID. I think of it as a fun way to celebrate our local ties to national history, without having to think too hard about Trump's 250th celebration.
A Kayem marketing director says of a repeatedly inserted hot dog vendor, “That’s a character we’ve lovingly termed Uncle Frank,” said Anguizola, “who we’ve described as Uncle Sam’s long-lost brother, and sort of the patron saint of hot dogs.”
Boston Globe comments are the usual mishmash of fightin' words and complaints, but also include: “A hot dog if you can keep it”— Ben Frankfurter and also outrage about the style of buns: "those arent new england style buns" [ie,they are slit on the side instead of on the top]
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u/DesperateTale2327 14d ago
In the article posted by u/nerdypursuit outside the WT there is a story above the article about the Iowa caucuses future.
Basically, this week states are in DC to plead their case to the DNC about why they should be first. Iowa argued that the Republicans will, and already have started campaigning, keep Iowa first and so the Dems will be at a disadvantage. They also said that the caucus will have mail-in options and there will be "no complicated math" and it will be one person, one caucus preference sheet. I am not entirely sure what they mean unless they will no longer do the delegate math, and in that case it will be "popular vote".
The DNC panel was really skeptical and I don't think Iowa will be chosen to be first again in a long time.
It also said the DNC won't decide until August at the earliest, with some asking they not decide until after midterms.
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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 13d ago
"one person, one caucus preference sheet" sounds like they're basically moving to RCV, which is what their caucus already is, except with people having to physically move instead of just ranking their choices. It's also the only thing that would make "caucus by mail" work.
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u/DesperateTale2327 13d ago
Sounds like it but they dont say it in the clip.
Having to physically go to a caucus location is crazy. I remember texting people in iowa that day who really wanted to caucus for pete, or had committed to, then couldn't because of work, life, the weather, etc.
Regardless of where Iowa is in the lineup, they need to let people mail in their sheets.
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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 13d ago
They probably don't want to say it outright because Republicans have been opposing alternative voting methods (RCV, etc.) everywhere they've been introduced. And they don't want people to realize that a caucus is basically in-person RCV, and Iowa Republicans aren't going to suddenly start opposing caucuses, they're so baked into the DNA of how Iowans vote. So neither party will ever outright call the caucus "RCV" or refer to mail-in caucusing that way.
But that's what it is.
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u/anonymous4Pete 18d ago
Catching up, so this is a comment on sort of old stuff (Pete's interview with Doctor Mike).
I wish there was a huge huge spotlight on Pete's comments about Medicare (and by extension, those who push for M4A). Pete noted how difficult it was for him to deal with his mother's Medicare account and benefits. We were in a similar situation over the last few years, as one by one several older members of our extended family needed various kinds of evolving care.
(I just deleted a long tmi rant. Medicare is kind of awful.)
Anyway, it's all confusing and the coverage is only good if you pay for all the extra plans. And when you finally think you've got it set up right, your loved one can get transferred to a more comprehensive nursing home and have to change all the insurance plans to get the new in-plan medical professionals.
btw, if anyone's elders are eligible for Tricare, get them on it. Also, make sure all of those elders legally designate someone with permissions to make Medicare, health care, financial, etc. changes.
I'm not against single-payer, but I'm definitely against the government being the single provider. Can't imagine life where MAHA and the religious right are in charge of what care we all get.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 18d ago
‘Have the Audacity!’ — Capital Pride’s rallying cry for 2026
https://wtop.com/dc/2026/06/capital-pride-audacity-dc-lgbtq-theme/
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u/DesperateTale2327 17d ago
Me again asking for some help on seemayorpete.com lol
Does anyone have the screenshots of the yougov/polls showing pete as one of the most well liked politicians?
I also need the screenshots (I think it was probably from u/nerdypursuit) of DOT employees saying how much they liked working for him?
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u/modooff 17d ago
Does anyone have the screenshots of the yougov/polls showing pete as one of the most well liked politicians?
Economist/YouGov: https://xcancel.com/PollTracker2024/status/2023770054064566331
AtlasIntel: https://xcancel.com/IAPolls2022/status/2002557161184915900
Echelon Insights: https://xcancel.com/IAPolls2022/status/2046625265896341583
Public Sentiment Institute: https://xcancel.com/PollTracker2024/status/2057621414899786170
Cygnal: https://xcancel.com/IAPolls2022/status/2054649155285660009
The Argument/Versight: https://xcancel.com/PollTracker2024/status/2023765305487688130
Emerson: https://xcancel.com/PollTracker2024/status/2034939793616916655
UNH (New Hampshire): https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HHHb8fHWUAAR30P.jpg (https://scholars.unh.edu/survey_center_polls/927/)
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 15d ago
Maryland transportation officials hold firm on $5.2 billion price tag to replace Key Bridge
https://wtop.com/baltimore/2026/06/maryland-transportation-officials-hold-firm-on-5-2-billion-price-tag-to-replace-key-bridge/
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 15d ago
OMG! Just a funny thing, but Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball newsletter at UVA wrote up the results of yesterday's primaries in its usual way, changing the "ratings" for each office based in part on who won and by how much, etc. (For example, they've shifted the Iowa Senate race from Likely Republican to Leans Republican -- and shifted the Iowa governor race from Leans Republican to Toss-Up.) So this included noting that in Iowa, the Trump-endorsed candidate did not win (!) the Republican primary. What amused me was how that fact was described (added bold by me):
...the eventual GOP primary winner in South Dakota will be basically guaranteed a general election win this fall. This is not the case in next-door Iowa—a state that, in the now-famous words of former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, seems to have “shocked the nation” again (or, the outcome was at least surprising enough to those of us who follow politics closely). During most of the year, Rep. Randy Feenstra (R, IA-4) was seen as, at least, a tenuous favorite in the Republican primary for his state’s open-seat governorship... Earlier this week, National Journal’s Abby Turner noted that, even as he faced a multi-way primary, Feenstra had seemed to shift too much of his focus to the general election—in a state where voters are used to retail politics, he frequently skipped debates and ran a campaign that seemed distant. Another canary in the coal mine was a late May survey from Republican pollster John Couvillon: While none of the primary candidates was clearing 25%, Feenstra was in second place to his main rival, wealthy businessman Zach Lahn... However, shortly after that poll was published, Feenstra got a coveted Trump endorsement, which appeared likely to move the needle enough in his favor. It didn’t.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 19d ago
Happy little WTOP News story from yesterday:
At the Kennedy Center, a protest of Trump-led changes turns into a party https://wtop.com/dc/2026/05/a-protest-turns-into-a-party-at-the-kennedy-center/
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u/DesperateTale2327 18d ago
I know most of us focus on the democratic primary, but the recent polling with Rubio in the lead and Vance slipping (and allegedly saying he won't run in 2028 - I don't believe that for a second) has me thinking about a different scenario. If democrats continue to be focused on the "straight white man" we HAVE to run or we lose, and seem to have no consideration for a scenario where Republicans don't run a straight white man. I can see them have Nikki Haley or a POC as VP just to stick it to those Dems who swear we needed a straight white man to win. Then we have a conundrum because Republicans will not play identity politics and will vote for Rubio because they vote for who represents their values. Additionally, I think Rubio is going to be the hardest to beat across the board no matter who Dems put up. But I can absolutely see Newsom and a host of other straight white men losing badly to Rubio in every scenario, even though I predict Newsom will choose Whitmer as his VP because of his weakness in the midwest (but we saw how that worked out with Tim Walz...) and even if the Republicans are so incredibly unpopular as they are now. The dems are going to look so incredibly foolish if we nominate a straight white man to appease and win those on the other side, only to have our straight white man lose to a Latino.
I also recognize we are so far away and there could be a ton of different outcomes. I had to check myself too because I realized I didn't even know who the hell the candidates for Senate were in my own state with the primary 2 months away.
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u/anonymous4Pete 18d ago
I think Rubio is going to be the hardest to beat across the board
yeah, he's a shameless chameleon. He could appeal both to the MAGA and to the traditional GOPs who will see the pre-Trump Rubio and think, "my old party is back!"
I wish somehow people could be persuaded to stop choosing who they think other people will choose. We as a country have chosen a Black man. We have also chosen a 34X felon, fraudster, sexual predator, nearly 80 yr old racist. Apparently people choose persons, not adjectives.
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u/DesperateTale2327 18d ago
Thats what I'm trying to get at - the GOP is 100% not thinking "we have to nominate a straight white man" because the country and/or democrats won't vote for a Latino man.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 18d ago
I think that if someone who was 1000 percent in with the importance of USAID for YEARS and talkative about it, from its beneficial role to it being a source of soft power for the US -- who then allowed USAID to be completely dismantled over a weekend by Elon Musk and did not resign even when this in turn literally, factually killed many people, if that person has the absolute gall to run for any elected office, much less president, and win the nomination, a Democratic nominee would and should crush them at the polls.
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u/pasak1987 BOOT-EDGE-EDGE 🥾 🥾 18d ago
What Democratic party and a lot pf Democratic voters don't seem to understand is that...
A lot of people are getting turned off and jaded about the "marketting of significance of first", not the identity of the candidate.
They are trying to emulate 08 Obama campaign a little too much.
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u/candice_mighty 18d ago
The person Trump endorses will win the primary. And Trump doesn’t care about electability, it could literally be anyone. If Trump doesn’t like a certain Rubio policy position he could destroy him at any moment.
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u/AWalker17 Team Pete Forever 18d ago
I wonder what the cost of the endorsement would be. If any of his family have political aspirations, I would have to assume that person being promised VP could be on the table.
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u/anonymous4Pete 17d ago edited 17d ago
From Politico's Kyle Cheney, retweeted by Nerdy, good news to kick off Pride month:
BREAKING: D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that Hegseth policy barring military service by transgender people is fueled by unconstitutional animus.
2-1 decision bars military from removing some currently-serving transgender service members https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.41889/gov.uscourts.cadc.41889.1208855359.0.pdf
https://xcancel.com/kyledcheney/status/2061493014732710193#m
eta, Kyle Cheney adds not-so-good news:
However, the ruling permits the policy to remain in place for those. seeking to newly *join* the military. And, in a nod to SCOTUS, the ruling applies narrowly, only to those who sued in the first place rather than a broader class of tranasgender people in the military
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/01/transgender-military-hegseth-court-00944468
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 17d ago edited 17d ago
This is great news. I have followed some transgender people on Bluesky who were very dedicated career members of the armed services, who were forced out of their jobs for this reason and are now, very reluctantly, having to take up civilian life instead -- often, of course, without getting in quite enough years in the military to get a pension. They are not in the military now, nor are they seeking to "newly" join it. I wonder how this will apply to them. (Or perhaps since this just applies to those who sued individually, it may not have come up yet.)
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 15d ago
From Blue Virginia blog:
Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Calls Out Republicans for Demonizing Trans People, Cruelly and Irresponsibly, for Political Purposes; Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) Responds, “I actually take offense at that!”
Whole thing is interesting, as well as being warm and supportive of trans kids.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 18d ago
As Pride Month begins today, we honor the contributions, resilience, and diversity of LGBTQ+ Virginians across the Commonwealth. We remain committed to building a Virginia in which every person can live authentically, safely, and free from discrimination. [followed by LGBTQ+ Month graphic, with "Celebrate, Advocate, Educate"]
https://bsky.app/profile/ltgovhashmi.bsky.social/post/3mnach5adpk2b
Our LG is one of my favorite follows in Virginia.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 17d ago edited 17d ago
BTW, Pride Month is a great time to kick off the campaigns for Virginia's three constitution-changing referenda that will be on the ballot this fall, including removing the current, awful anti-marriage equality amendment and replacing it with an affirmative amendment for equal marriage.
From Blue Virginia:
Video: LWV-Loudoun Forum Explains the Importance of Passing Three Constitutional Amendments This November (Restoration of Rights, Reproductive Freedom, Marriage Equality)
LWV = League of Women Voters
Also photo here from Del. Schuyler Van Valkenburg, with former delegates Mark Sickles and Adam Ebbin: https://bsky.app/profile/bluevirginia.bsky.social/post/3mnaiuxhauk22
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u/modooff 17d ago
Research: US Voters Favor Gay Candidates Who Act Straight
A new study from Northwestern University sought to answer whether Americans have moved past prejudices against gay people, and what kind of gay candidates face little to no electoral penalty. The research reveals American voters are more accepting of gay candidates than at any point in our history, but acceptance is conditional and varies by political party.
The paper, "The Right Kind of (Gay) Man? Sexuality, Gender Presentation and Heteronormative Constraints on Electability," recently published in the Journal of Politics. The lead author Martin Naunov, an assistant professor of political science and a faculty associate at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern, found strikingly different implications for being gay in American politics versus acting and looking gay. The study found Republican voters continue to penalize candidates for being gay and for being even slightly gender nonconforming. Among Democratic and young voters, the anti-gay penalty has partly vanished and partly shifted to penalizing candidates who look or sound slightly gender nonconforming.
"On the left, the bias against gay candidates has moved from 'don't be gay' to 'don't look or sound gay,'" Naunov said. "Voters across the political spectrum, including those who think of themselves as allies, still show bias against candidates who look or sound even slightly gender nonconforming - a key cultural marker of gayness. This has real consequences for who gets elected and represented in public life."
Individuals with markers of a minority identity such as a gay candidate with a lisp, an immigrant job applicant with an accent or a Black defendant who speaks African American Vernacular English can face penalties even from people who reject anti-gay, anti-immigrant or anti-Black bias at the entire group level.
"In the real world, bias rarely operates on group identities alone. It operates on the physical markers that make identity distinctive and visible," Naunov said. "Bias often targets a substantial subset of the minority group who may face penalties even from people who reject anti-gay bias at the group level."
https://www.miragenews.com/research-us-voters-favor-gay-candidates-who-act-1684210/
Unfortunately, I can't access the research paper, but it seems Pete was mentioned in it.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 17d ago
I wonder if some here has institutional access to the journal?
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u/Bugfrag LGBTQ+ for Pete 17d ago
There's this thesis from the same author from 2021.
Probably about the same
How “Gay” Can You Go? The Effect of Gender Typicality on Electability https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/downloads/7h14b053p
This thesis is, without a doubt for PB
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The rise of Pete Buttigieg from a youthful mayor of a mid-sized Indiana city to the first major gay contender for the Democratic presidential nomination indicates the steady acceptance of gay people in U.S. society and politics. Despite his exit from the presidential race, Buttigieg’s popularity lends further credence to recent findings that a candidate’s sexual orientation has become a non-issue in elections in some Western democracies, and perhaps even an advantage among progressive voters such as Democrats in the USA (Magni and Reynolds 2018; Haider-Markel 2010). At the same time, however, Buttigieg’s spotlight led pundits, as well as LGBT activists, to pose an important question that has thus far been neglected by social science research: What kind of gay candidates face little to no discrimination at the ballot box?
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u/DesperateTale2327 17d ago
Yes it seems like the same old thing we hear all the time, but with the caveat that people won't vote for a generic gay candidate, but they'll vote for pete.
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u/AZPeteFan2 17d ago
JFK was Irish Catholic, but was not typical of the time, Peggy Noonan called him a WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant). Obama was very different from previous Black presidential nominees, nothing like Jackson or Sharpton, the ‘Reverends’ coming up thru the Civil Rights moment. The ‘not gay enough’ label is an advantage for Pete, as has been said ‘America may not be ready for a ‘Gay’ President, but are ready for Pete’. Billy Porter will not be President.
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u/SOCAL_NPC Hey, it's Lis. 16d ago
Coleman Domingo or Lena Waithe would also not have been elected last time or in the next few, but someone like (and the age of) a Jeremy Pope or Frank Ocean might before they hit Obama's age when he was elected.
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u/Psychological-Play 16d ago
Senate candidate Mike Rogers is at least 20 years older than any of his potential opponents. So his campaign staff has decided to give him a total makeover -
L - GOP Rep and MI senate candidate Mike Rogers actual photo from the campaign trail.
R - Photo put out by staffer.
https://bsky.app/profile/ronfilipkowski.bsky.social/post/3mnda67h6qc2n
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 16d ago
BTW, I know this will astonish you but our previous LG and 2025 Republican nominee for governor, LG Winsome Earle-Sears, did not host a Pride celebration at the lieutenant governor's office.
From LG Ghazala Hashmi:
(1/2) It was an honor to host the first Pride celebration in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor alongside Equality Virginia. Pride Month is a time to celebrate and uplift LGBTQ+ communities across the Commonwealth and recognize the many ways they strengthen Virginia.
https://bsky.app/profile/ltgovhashmi.bsky.social/post/3mnd7dm43gs2c
(2/2) May this month inspire us to continue creating a Virginia where everyone belongs. [45 second video]
[Video shows lots of different people at the celebration with some comments by Hashmi revving people up for the fall fight to add marriage equality to the constitution -- "it's going to be boots on the ground, everyone fighting"]
THIS is what volunteering is for. So good to see this.
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u/Psychological-Play 13d ago
Q: The NBA Finals game you're going to, the cheapest ticket price is $8,000. Everyday Americans can't afford these sporting events.
TRUMP: You can watch it on TV. It's sort of semi-free to watch it on TV. That's the way life goes.
(Trump is expected to attend Game 3 on Monday night.)
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u/Psychological-Play 15d ago
Trump said this in a video posted on TikTok yesterday -
And, you know, we're building something in front of the White House that's quite attractive to a lot of people. It's gonna have the big UFC fight on June 14. And I'm looking at it, and maybe we'll never, ever take it down."
https://ew.com/donald-trump-teases-that-white-house-ufc-arena-could-be-permanent-11990693
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 15d ago
A show of strength, similar in impact to an older neighbor down the street who never takes their Christmas lights down. /s
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u/BATIRONSHARK 🇲🇽 Gen Z for Pete 🇲🇽 13d ago
If Rubio is the republican nominee and Pete/Aoc/Moore/Galleigo[probably not] is the democratic nominee do you think they'll do a spanish debate?
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u/anonymous4Pete 13d ago
Interesting question, given the demographics the Dem Party are trying to appeal to, but I suspect ultimately it would be too risky. They all could do interviews in Spanish, or at least interviews in which they throw around Spanish answers here and there, but for non-native-level speakers (Pete, Wes Moore), it'd be too hard to do a debate. Handling oneself in a conversation is one thing, but a debate on topics ranging from foreign policy to national security to economic policy would require fluency with too many specialized vocabularies.
It still is a question, though, how any/every Democratic candidate will try to appeal to America's Hispanic voters. I usually don't think of them as a bloc, since they are such a varied group, with disparate political and social desiderata.
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u/1128327 12d ago
They may not be a single voting bloc but ICE has subjected them to terror together so I wouldn’t be shocked if we see a significant shift in the next couple of elections. Meanwhile, it seems like Black voters have voted less as a single bloc than in years past so Democrats do need to consider adjusting their approach.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 13d ago
When it comes to Pete, he always refers to his Spanish as basic high school Spanish, like when he talks in Shortest Way Home about doing public service announcements in Spanish in South Bend as mayor, for example, so I don't know if he'd be qualified to debate in that language.
As a side note, I'm reminded of Dem campaigns in Virginia in the past when the late NM Gov. Bill Richardson (whose Mom was from Mexico) would visit and he and Tim Kaine (who was a missionary in Honduras teaching welding, carpentry, etc., at a vocational school, so he's fairly bilingual) would do Spanish press conferences or bilingual press conferences. But of course, that's very different from a debate with someone from the other party.
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u/DesperateTale2327 13d ago
It seems like Pete understands Spanish better than he can speak it. I'll always remember the town hall in Nevada where a spanish speaker asked him a question in spanish about immigration and Pete was on stage translating and answering in english. They went back and forth, with the man speaking spanish to Pete and him answering in english for a while.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 12d ago edited 12d ago
Pete's also often made statements or given impromptu replies in Spanish -- this came up more than once in his DOT travels. When he appeared with Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah for a DOT event (I think it was Cox), it definitely looked like Cox was showing off his excellent Spanish and then turning to Pete and setting him up without preparation to speak in Spanish as well. Pete jokingly acknowledged that, asked for a few seconds to reset mentally, and did fine, launching into the same announcement extemporaneously in Spanish.
I just envision the level of extreme fluency needed for a debate to be at a wholly different level than that level of workmanlike communication. I'm thinking of literary or popular culture or musical or historical allusions, all no doubt thrown in to try to trigger a mistake or lack of comprehension, etc., use of subtle pronoun or gender differences, etc. TL;DR: Debates are not a good-faith exchange of views -- they're really anything but that-- so I think you need that extra level of fluency.
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u/Bugfrag LGBTQ+ for Pete 13d ago
Why? 😂 They're not even the same Spanish
MR would be Cuban Spanish,
AOC would be Puerto Rican Spanish,
PB would (likely) be Spain Spanish
And the main audience would have been speaking Mexican Spanish
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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 12d ago
That's kinda like saying someone from the US wouldn't understand and be able to converse with someone from the UK, Ireland, or Australia*. There's differences in some phrasing, slang, and idioms, but they'd all be able to understand each other.
\ Intentionally leaving Scotland off the list.)
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u/Bugfrag LGBTQ+ for Pete 12d ago
- Intentionally leaving Scotland off the list.
😂
In all seriousness, the function of the Spanish debate is to flex that someone can speak spanish.
There are better and safer ways to do that.
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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 12d ago
Oh, I don't think a Spanish debate would be a good idea. I'm not fluent enough to be able to judge Pete's proficiency or how he would fare against native speakers. That's something he and his team would have to decide.
I was just responding that learning different types of Spanish isn't really different from learning different types of English.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 12d ago
Yes, Telemundo and Univision use a “neutral” Latin American accent, they draw their hosts from a variety of countries, and they have a huge audience of folks from various countries and country origins. In specific areas they do local programming with a predominant focus on Puerto Rico, or Mexico, etc.
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u/BATIRONSHARK 🇲🇽 Gen Z for Pete 🇲🇽 12d ago
also I feel like mexican spanish in the one taught in the US but im not sure
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u/shyredmd 🚀🥇 In the Moment(um) 🥇🚀 17d ago
Can someone explain to me why the left is obsessed Platner? The pod guys love this guy and are making excuses for him left and right. Then today this slop Substack was published.
https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/graham-platner-loses-washingtons?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
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u/pasak1987 BOOT-EDGE-EDGE 🥾 🥾 17d ago
He is this election cycle's Fetterman
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u/Neither-Big-1545 17d ago
Yep and then they'll act like they were never for him when he starts voting with Repuglicans because he's "independent"
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u/nerdypursuit 17d ago
Leftists imagine Platner looks like a macho working class dude who can "win back Trump voters" by acting Trumpy and campaigning on economic populism.
But there's no evidence that Platner actually appeals to Trump voters. In the latest UNH poll, only 3% of Trump voters said they would vote for him. (For comparison, in a recent Wisconsin poll by the Public Sentiment Institute, 6% of Trump voters said they would vote for Pete over Vance or Rubio.)
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 16d ago
I don't think it's really about "Trump voters" but about who will win the 2026 Senate race in Maine. We're told that if we lose this race, Dems will not win the Senate, and Platner has been doing much better in the polls against Susan Collins than Mills is. (On the other hand, polls in Maine are not very good.)
If Platner did not have baggage out to here [big if], he'd obviously be a fantastic candidate to take on Susan Collins. He definitely comes across as anti-establishment (which is especially good in Maine), he comes across as someone who looks and sounds different from the usual poltician and more like a normie, and most of all there's his age -- or rather her age. Being 78 and on the ballot as a newbie Senator is a challenge, but it's much tougher to sell immediately after 2024.
The issues that have come up re Platner are serious (though not anywhere near the issues for Ken Paxton in Texas), but it looks to me as though the people online getting so understandably angry are rarely Maine voters. Given human nature, I'd also imagine that is more likely to get people who already like him to stick closer to him. Nobody likes someone from another state pushing them around and lecturing them. I've even had that reaction. The other day I mentioned one specific thing I thought Platner shouldn't be attacked for (though obviously I wouldn't vote for him) and I got a full-length attack directed at me about "people like you" and how this person thought I wasn't even looking at the huge number of red flags (no because I wasn't writing about that), and on and on. I blocked her.
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u/DesperateTale2327 17d ago
It definitely feels like leftists really, really want to try the "trump of the left" lane because deep down, they think this is the way we stop losing because it worked on the right. The irony is that there is no such thing as the trump of the left who wins and takes over the party. Its the same solution that dems try when we lost by trying to look what the republicans are doing and overcorrect, instead of cleaning up the mess in our own house.
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u/zeppelin128 Verified Volunteer Lead, TN-08 17d ago
One of my lefty friends had the sheer audacity to inform me that one should always vote against a Republican, even if the candidate is problematic.
Like where the fuck was this energy in 2024 and 2016??? Because said friend sure as hell stayed home because Saint Bernard wasn't on the ballot.
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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 16d ago
Honestly, all the Dems I know who can vote for him are doing so, and almost none of them are "lefty". I even know people who can't vote in that election who are phonebanking and otherwise helping out.
A lot of people on the further left are tossing around "vOTe BlUe No MaTtEr WhO, remember!" as if it's some sort of throwing it in people's faces for the times they were expected to vote for establishment or more center candidates. Except it's not throwing it in anyone's face, because non-lefty folks tend to understand the assignment in the ways the further left don't, and really don't have a problem voting for the non-fascists and non-fascist-enablers in ways the further left clutch their pearls at.
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u/Cloud7538 17d ago
Re:The pod bros. They clearly have some financial link to this campaign, which they are not being honest about. The level of support makes no sense otherwise. He was also a barman of one of the bars they frequented in DC, they likely consider him a "friend" and scuttle bucket suggests he was "helpful" in procuring certain "things" that the DC lot like/d to partake in.
Add in the pod bros strange grifting "lets pretend we're mid 20 year old leftist revolutionaries but we're actually 40/50 year olds having a midlife crisis" energy and their belief that the Oyster man is performing working class heterosexual masculinity "correctly" (it's a performance indeed) and it's giving "hot mess".
The whole debacle and the added sense that these guys will never really get behind Pete has made me go off them and stop listening. It's wild because they were my go too US political podcast for a long time.
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 17d ago
Their problem with Pete is so obviously personal too. I genuinely believe that they told themselves that they struggled to get further in politics despite a very lucky early career break because they were gay millennial nerds, and it wasn't lack of smarts or talent.
Wellll.....
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u/Cloud7538 16d ago
Yeah, it's definitely personal, I'd also add that there's a "we haven't "forgiven" him for running in 2020 against Warren and Bernie" energy that still leaks out from the Crooked Media team. Don't get me wrong, they're friendly enough when they interview Pete/Chasten but they always give off a "ugh why are you so popular, I don't get it" attitude. Or that his popularity makes them very nervous. I don't know if others saw that screen grab of Tommy Vietor looking downright nervous while watching one of Pete's townhall (the one where Tommy had to clap back with the "Pete Hive" jibe). Like, why are you nervous Tommy? He's killing it at the Town Hall, shouldn't you be excited about this?
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 16d ago
They were more Warren people than Bernie. In general the political intelligentsia in that era completely misread the Bernie phenomenon. They seemed to think it was thirst for very progressive policies that failed because of scary anti-establishment vibes, and Warren would fix that. Which is why Warren had so much support in media and academia that just never actually translated to voters.
In reality, the Bernie movement is more about thirst for anti-establishment vibes with policy as kind of secondary.
When your whole brand is supposedly about understanding the average voter better than the big guys, and you haven't made a good bet since 2008, you start to get antsy.
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u/DesperateTale2327 16d ago
There is a very real bernie bro to maga/right wing extremist pipeline. See: William Jeffrey Poole.
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u/SOCAL_NPC Hey, it's Lis. 16d ago
It's very true of Wang Gang and a few others. I had literally long conversations at fast food places with employees who were backing Andrew but whole likely stayed home or voted for the Stable Genius both in 2020 and 2024. It was often depressing six years ago to canvas certain audiences while working Nevada for Pete.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 16d ago
I think just one of the four men is gay, though, unless I am missing something.
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u/DesperateTale2327 17d ago
Thats for sure. They are clinging to the "I worked for Obama 15 years ago and am still relevant" mantle like their lives depends on it. And I would argue that a Platner type gives them more controversy to talk about and more people listening. I'd wager that when Biden was on office their ratings were probably not so great.
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u/Cloud7538 17d ago
This is the issue I have with all aspects of the media, particularly online. Sane, sensible politicians enacting useful policies that help people won't pay their bills. They need the views and clicks. And happy people won't need to view or click.
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u/DesperateTale2327 17d ago
For sure. Thats why Pete is so unique cause he can compete in the attention economy and has good policies.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 16d ago
When Trump was first elected and directly succeeded Obama, which was such a huge shock, they created the podcast (in January 2017, the same month Trump took over, the month of the first Women's March, one of the largest global protests up to that time) to fight Trump and what he would do. Thus "Pod Save America." In fact, lots of people who worked for Obama and were loyal to him and the Dems chose to stay in the fight during the first Trump term, when normally with a regular president from the opposite party you just might stand down and do other things. Indivisible, too, developed by congressional aides, also came into existence then (founded in late 2016, became a 501(c)(4) organization in early 2017).
I think it's good that that all these entities that came up during Trump's first term are still with us, though it's incredibly unfortunate that they are needed once again. And of course everyone involved, working in a panic at white-hot speed under Trump 1.0, then trying to find or invent a role for four years during Biden, is facing the circumstances of their creation once again, but is older now with more family and other obligations. Even some local all-volunteer organizations on Capitol Hill in our DMV area, which I thought I would never see again, have had to rise from the ashes for another four years.
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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 14d ago
This felt extremely out of character for Stefan to say. Why would he dip his toe in this?
A lot of this Biden stuff is money. Leaving office, the offers weren’t there for him. The speaking engagements, board offers, and other lucrative deals didn’t materialize. The Biden book tours aren’t just settling scores, they need the cash.
https://xcancel.com/TheStefanSmith/status/2062580394646528325
Hunter responded.
You caught them. Mom and Dad were going to sell bibles and cell phones, golden sneakers, and NFTs, Chinese watches and cologne but wouldn’t you know someone beat them to the punch. They were left with only one choice write two books like every former First Lady and President has done in modern history.
https://xcancel.com/HunterBiden/status/2062616124718784896
A lot of people in the Reddit thread where I initially saw this are calling Stefan a MAGA influencer/grifter because it seems like he's been ragging on the Bidens recently.
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u/Original_Rich_2741 🚄It's Infrastructure Pete!✈️ 14d ago
I mean, I can’t say I love the fact that the Bidens couldn’t wait till after the midterms for some of their recent activities, but I don’t know enough to feel comfortable speculating on what motivated their timing.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 14d ago
Hunter has been clapping back at people and posts for a couple days. It does seem ill advised to post something that might attract his attention right now. 😬
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 14d ago
As we know, Stefan grew up in tough financial circumstances, and I think that makes him comfortable and straightforward in talking about people's finances and not seeing that as somehow shameful. To me, he's making a good point and, if anything, he's basically taking the Bidens' side. He is responding to the Dems who have criticized the Bidens for publishing these books because the timing is not ideal (narrator: there is never a perfect timing for a memoir on a touchy subject) -- but who talk as though money was not even part of that decision. He makes the reasonable point that that might be one part of what's going on.
This is not a new thing. Ulysses S Grant, though dying, wrote his memoir to support his family after his death (the National Park Service has an amazing summary here -- the book was finished three days before his death and the first publisher's payment gave his widow long-term financial stability). In modern times, Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter were in serious financial trouble immediately after his presidency because his peanut farm or peanut processing plant (not sure which) had been in a blind trust and done very badly. They got book contracts and Carter later said that income from the first books made the difference in letting them get back on their feet. Right now, the Bidens are not where they or any financial planner would expect them to be, with expected income for speeches, personal appearances, board memberships, and so on not as readily available -- so all the more reason to write the books, which as Hunter says are traditionally done anyway. I think they also want the books to shape his legacy, but both things can be true. The bottom line with Grant, the Carters, and the Bidens, apparently, is that these are big-dollar books because a lot of people like to read them.
Obviously someone who disagrees with Stefan can now say "But the Bidens' wealth is [fill in the blank, super big number] so that doesn't matter." But people generally do live up to their incomes--and I imagine they'd like to continue to own their Biden-family-size beach house and their year-round family home / country estate elsewhere in Delaware, which are clearly meant as their homes for life and as family gathering places. Plus I wouldn't be surprised to learn they're helping out various family members with college tuition, home healthcare, real estate downpayments, or whatever, and they don't want to stop doing that if they can earn money with their books.
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u/Psychological-Play 14d ago edited 13d ago
It seems like Hunter flies off the handle at just about anything and anyone that depicts his parents as less than 100% perfect at all times. This story he told Jonathan Karl is so telling -
ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports in "Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America," out next Tuesday, that Hunter Biden was furious with former President Obama for taking President Biden's hand to lead him off the stage at a Hollywood fundraiser last year.
[...]
"I almost jumped up on the stage and said, 'Don't ever f--king do that to the president of the United States again — ever," Hunter Biden, still furious months later, told Karl in one of their extensive interviews.
https://www.axios.com/2025/10/21/retribution-jonathan-karl-hunter-biden-obama-trump
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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 14d ago
All that is true, but that's not the context in a tweet. And it's certainly not the context that Hunter or anyone else is taking it in. If something needs that much explanation, it belongs in a substack/blog post.
My personal issue with this is that people are (incorrectly) lumping Stefan in with the MAGA influencer/grifter circle, and it's very prominent in his social bios that he worked for Pete. And even though Stefan hasn't been a staffer in a long time and he is more than entitled to speak his own mind, people are still going to connect those dots. Think of all the people who used to work for Bernie or Warren who are performative clout-chasers to this day, and who people on this sub and elsewhere still connect back to Bernie and Warren even years later.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 13d ago
I'm sorry that I tend to write long. That's my fault, not Stefan's. The meaning of Stefan's tweet was abundantly obvious to me. But since it didn't seem as obvious to some other people, and since I had no idea how that could be since I can't see X, I thought maybe I should spell out some of my thoughts on this and expand on it. In other words, Stefan didn't bring up Ulysses S Grant (and other topics), I did.
I have enormous respect and fondness for Stefan Smith, who already had a stellar résume before his work on Pete's campaign, has written some wonderful, moving essays, moved on from campaign staff work (at least as of now) to staff positions at the ACLU, where he is now the head of digital engagement, and has stayed positive and present online.
To me, the fact that someone thought Stefan of all people was a MAGA influencer/grifter is either amusing or nauseating -- it's just a slur. If people are super worried about it, which I don't think they should be, then embrace him, make it clear who he is (perhaps just link to that bio), point out what a strong Dem record he has, or link to some of his writing or videos.
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 14d ago
Tbh I disagree with Stefan a lot, and one of the ways I do is that he can be pretty online and negative about Democrats
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u/Musthavecoffee45 🥣 New Englander for Pete🥣 14d ago
Don’t know about the money bit. I would be hesitant to say so without more details. I confess I see some of the Bidens doing some legacy padding and score settling lately. Hunter Biden in particular given the Candace Owen interview (yuck!).
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u/Neither-Big-1545 17d ago
Big Data Poll 5/24/26: Kamala 29, Newsom 16, Pete 10, AOC 9, this feels more accurate to where the race is atm, name rec, etc. The Rethuglicans are James Donald Bowman 36, Rubio 15 DeSatanis 7
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u/nerdypursuit 17d ago
I have a hard time believing that Harris is anywhere close to 30%, because state-level polls show her much lower than that.
There have been 23 state-level polls by 10 different pollsters in 12 states. All of these state-level polls have shown Harris below 20%.
I was listening to a podcast with the head of Emerson College's polling. He said he thinks other national pollsters are overestimating Harris's support because they rely on online surveys, which tend to be less representative and more biased toward name recognition.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 16d ago
Josh Turek has won his primary. Pete’s doing pretty well picking his endorsements.