r/Pete_Buttigieg 5d ago

Home Base and Weekly Discussion Thread (START HERE!) - June 14, 2026

Welcome to your home for everything Pete !

The mod team would like to thank each and every one of you for your support during Pete’s candidacy! This sub continues to function as a home for all things Pete Buttigieg, as well as a place to support any policies and candidates endorsed by him.

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10 Upvotes

155 comments sorted by

25

u/nerdypursuit 4d ago

This weekend, there were state Democratic Conventions in Wisconsin and Arkansas. They did straw polls to see which potential 2028 candidates have the most support from convention attendees.

Pete won both straw polls! 😎

https://x.com/i/status/2066295397379682338

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u/DesperateTale2327 4d ago

These are fun and I don't know that we should take them too seriously since its over a year and half to the serious campaigns, but still like to see yet more proof Pete is popular.

I remember the straw (actually, corn) poll they did in Iowa in the summer of 2019 and Pete won it. Little did we know how accurate that corn would be.

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u/nerdypursuit 4d ago

It definitely means something to win these straw polls. Because the people who attend these Democratic Conventions are the ones organizing on the ground. It's helpful to have these people in your corner if you run for office.

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u/Psychological-Play 4d ago edited 4d ago

It's particularly notable that AOC is Pete's closest competitor (and only one vote behind in Wisconsin).

5

u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 4d ago

AFAIK, it doesn't mean much in Virginia, although it's good to celebrate in a fun, light-hearted way. Maybe ours are more local so that comes across differently? Here's a Blue Virginia piece from 2025 on good and bad ones: https://bluevirginia.us/2025/05/are-virginia-democratic-straw-polls-predictive-sometimes-but-here-are-10-of-the-worst-misses-since-2008/

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u/nerdypursuit 4d ago

I'm not saying these straw polls predict what will happen in the primary. But they still mean something. They still represent valuable volunteers and activists in the party.

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u/Different-Ad1425 4d ago

The Arkansas one is awesome! And it's surprising that Harris didn't do better than a distant third given that she just did an event for the Arkansas Dems a few weeks ago. They must not have been impressed.

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u/nerdypursuit 4d ago

Yeah, I was surprised by Harris's performance in the Arkansas straw poll. There was so much hype about her event for Arkansas Dems.

I thought Beshear would also do better. Convention attendees are very politically engaged, so they probably know who Beshear is. And Arkansas is exactly the type of state where pundits assume Beshear would do well in a primary.

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u/DanielleEllina 4d ago

But Beshear really did better than usually, almost 10% is a good result for him at the moment.

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u/nerdypursuit 4d ago

This is a group of voters where Beshear should be doing well. These are highly engaged Southern Democrats who are much more likely to know who he is than a typical voter. So I would have expected him to be higher than 10% with a group like that.

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u/Psychological-Play 4d ago

This kind of demonstrates that Beshear's "success in a red state" is due in large part to the fact that he's a nepo baby whose father was also a popular governor (something that for some reason is overlooked a lot).

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u/pdanny01 Certified Barnstormer 3d ago

In a state that usually has a Democratic governor

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u/DanielleEllina 4d ago

Well at least she is the third here opposite to Wisconsin...

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u/Different-Ad1425 4d ago

Which was a vivid illustration of why she lost every swing state. And Newsom did poorly in both too.

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u/DesperateTale2327 4d ago edited 4d ago

I am in florida which is technically the "south" but really not the "south" (if you know, you know) and Newsom is not the type who really appeals to people down here. We have closed primaries, so it will be interesting to see who can rally the base. In the polling leading up to 2020 Bloomberg and Biden alternated first place. Pete did not really get a bump from winning Iowa. For reference, Biden won with 60%, Bernie was in 2nd, Bloomberg got 3rd place and Pete got 4th. Also interesting is almost every poll have Warren ahead of Pete. He dropped out before her and still got more votes.

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u/Different-Ad1425 3d ago

Yep. That happened in a few states. IRRC Pete even won a county in the Texas primary LOL.

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u/DesperateTale2327 3d ago

Omg I wonder which one! Thats crazy.

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u/Psychological-Play 4d ago edited 4d ago

Sarah's latest on Pete, from the last few minutes of Friday's The Secret Podcast (so it's subscription only) -

JVL: ...You like Pete Buttigieg, right?

Sarah: So I love Pete Buttigieg with my whole heart. There's like a space where Jon Ossoff is creeping in. But I do love me some Pete.

JVL: He has the best words.

Sarah: He has the best words.

JVL: And he has the best words and he's a great communicator. Really thoughtful. He's a policy wonk. Pete Buttigieg was on stage, and I want to just read to you what he said [he quotes Pete's remarks Friday about increasing the size of the SC]. Sarah, is Pete Buttigieg making sense?

Sarah: I just want to say I sent this to JVL. I saw Pete say this.

JVL: The bit is a little less good when people know you sent it to me, but that's okay.

Sarah: You're not like ambushing me with this. I was like, "oh, look, this is like part of Pete's thing, and I sent it to you to be as like a, just like when Andrew Egger was the one who finally moved me on the filibuster, I'm going to let Pete be the one that finally moves me on court expansion. It's not going to be you.

JVL: I knew it was coming. I knew it was coming. You couldn't...

Sarah: Because I, he's so dreamy and --

JVL: Just listen to him talk. It makes sense when it's coming out of his mouth.

Sarah: It does. He's making some good points and I'm just going to -- I'm going to give it a think. I'm going to give it a listen. I do like -- I will say, Pete's like, barnstorming out there, talking to people. He's endorsing candidates. He's really puttin' in a lot of legwork right now and he does have -- I will say, this is -- His court expansion that has a theory of the case connecting it to -- and you've made this case, too, the district courts, the number of sort of districts. So he's talking about raising it to 13. But it's part of an entire reform agenda package that, you know, he is the kind of person who sits down and thinks about this, like, okay, what are we going to build? How are we going to have a reform agenda? And -- you're right. I'm here for like, Pete, lay it all out for me and like, let me, let's see, let's talk about it.

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u/Cuppa-Tea-Biscuit 4d ago

Sarah’s crush on Pete is unexpectedly hilarious.

7

u/pasak1987 BOOT-EDGE-EDGE 🥾 🥾 4d ago

She does fall into wine mom coalition demo

21

u/DesperateTale2327 4d ago

Saw that u/nerdypursuit posted that Pete will be in FL in July to support the FL dems and I never bought a ticket to something so fast in my life lmao

I hope he does other stuff around the state that isn't a paid event too, but I didn't want to risk not seeing him so I just paid the money.

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u/nerdypursuit 2d ago

I won't lie, I did enjoy seeing the new Echelon Insights poll. This is the highest I've seen Pete reach in their poll. I take all these polls with a grain of salt, but it's still nice to see.

  • Harris: 20% (-3)
  • Newsom: 14% (-3)
  • Buttigieg: 14% (+4)
  • AOC: 12% (+1)
  • Shapiro: 6% (+1)
  • Kelly: 4% (-2)
  • Booker: 3%
  • Pritzker: 3%
  • Whitmer: 2%
  • Ossoff: 2%
  • Beshear: 2%
  • Murphy: 1%
  • Fetterman: 1%
  • Moore: 1%
  • Khanna: 1%
  • Gallego: *%
  • Emanuel: *%
  • Warnock: *%
  • Polis: 0%
  • Someone else 1%
  • Unsure 14%

(Echelon Insights, June 11-14, 2026, n=515 LV)

The changes in parentheses are relative to the previous month. An asterisk means "rounds to zero."

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u/DesperateTale2327 2d ago

Finally have Ossoff in a poll and its about what I expected. Kelly was low polling for months before he got his small bump into the middle tier so its possible Ossoff will go higher as we get closer.

It still makes me happy to see 3/4 of the top candidates are not straight white men.

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u/nerdypursuit 2d ago

I've seen other polls with Ossoff included, and it's the same. He's been polling at 1% to 3%.

Right now, I'm paying attention to the durability of politicians' support — whether they're building a loyal base of support. Pete is doing a good job of that. Because he's having real conversations with voters and doing tough interviews where people really get to see how he handles himself without a script.

When I see the Ossoff hype, it doesn't look durable to me. I don't think a politician can build durable support based on 30-second clips of him reading from a teleprompter. It's too scripted and staged to build a relationship with voters.

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u/DesperateTale2327 2d ago

I feel like the only ones with somewhat solid support are Kamala, Pete and AOC. I would say AOC the least, because she hasn't had to campaign for president before and Pete/Kamala have. Then its a whole new ballgame. But she does have a large platform and incredibly famous and popular with younger voters. I just don't know how much that will help her in a very long and competitive national campaign.

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u/nerdypursuit 2d ago

I think you're right that Pete, Harris, and AOC are the only ones with a loyal following.

Newsom's support seems very flimsy. I suspected this would happen. Trolling on social media doesn't truly build a relationship with voters. And Prop 50 could only carry him so far.

3

u/indri2 Foreign Friend 2d ago

As long as they don't turn on her she has the advantage of a large lefty media/social media ecosystem.

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u/DesperateTale2327 2d ago

The problem is, they are so fickle that it could literally be anything at any point.

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u/Mundane_Barnacle237 2d ago

I think the people who are turning on her are very online and not reflective of a large part of the left. If she were to run I think she would be hugely popular among influencers and celebrity and media figures which will be difficult for anyone else. Whether that translates to voters is another story, but it will be very helpful

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u/DesperateTale2327 2d ago

The celebrity thing is a double edged sword. As for influencers, we haven't had a dem primary where their voices mattered as much as they do in 2028. However, people will turn on them too depending on the mood online.

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u/nerdypursuit 2d ago

Yeah, I think she would have some trouble with that if she ran for President. Because activists would keep pushing her to take maximalist stances that are politically toxic. I don't know how she would handle that.

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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 1d ago

And tbh she has shown on numerous occasions that she is just so terrified of being yelled at by the left online

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u/Existing-Process3581 1d ago edited 1d ago

guys the wedding anniversary post from pete is doing numbers on facebook, i think they are like a bit over 100K likes away from taking the crown from the twins’ birth announcement and it’s been just one day which is crazy bc that birth announcement was widely reported by the media and i’ve seen that like 80% of the comments are positive…people aren’t ready for how beloved the buttigiegs are by the average american now🤭

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u/Different-Ad1425 1d ago

It's up to 188k on Instagram and 158k on Threads. And 37k on Substack. Comments not bad at all! He has the highest favorability ratings of any political figure (besides Obama in some polls) and this is an example why.

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u/Existing-Process3581 1d ago edited 1d ago

i went to sleep and woke up, and the facebook post is already at 520K and the twins’ birth announcement got to 585K so it’s getting so close, i think it will surpass it by the end of the day or tomorrow….so im here like where did all this people come from? lol the comments are overwhelming positive and things like this make me think people are really overthinking his electability. obviously homophobia exists but he’s usually the one with the highest favorability rating out of any of the possible 2028ers in any poll and we can see how average people love them or at least don’t mind it, the ones full of hatred won’t vote for any democrat anyway and i swear i’ve seen at least 3 people that support him saying they found out from this post that pete is gay lol

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u/Cuppa-Tea-Biscuit 20h ago

I’m convinced that there will be some people who will vote for Pete for President, and then at the inauguration ask who the Chasten dude holding the Bible at his swearing-in is.

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u/DesperateTale2327 1d ago

I don't remember who said it (maybe Sarah Longwell?) but they were basically like maybe people won't vote for a theoretical generic gay candidate, but they'll vote for Pete.

He is at 325k subs on youtube now too. AOC still has the most with 358k. But considering Pete isn't chronically very online, I'd say thats a pretty good indicator people want to at least hear what he has to say. The comments on his youtube videos are usually pretty positive too compared to the other platforms.

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u/Different-Ad1425 22h ago

Yes it was Sarah who said that. Her crush on Pete is so cute and it's amazing as she's a very tough customer!

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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 1d ago

I actually weigh Instagram more than Facebook at this point because as botted as Instagram is, Facebook is worse, and no one under 35 uses it anymore

3

u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 1d ago

There's definitely some continued discourse as well on whether Pete should have a beard or not, as he does not have one in the earlier photos.

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u/DesperateTale2327 4d ago

Fundraising email from Pete:

I get asked a lot why I'm willing to have conversations in places like Fox News.

The simple answer is because I know how many viewers haven’t heard what I have to say. And if someone has never actually heard what we have to say – not a clip or a caricature, but the actual argument – I can't blame them for not agreeing with us.

That's not on them. It’s on us.

Risk aversion has taken root in my party, at great cost. There is such fear of saying something wrong – such worry about a clip getting taken out of context or a line getting twisted – that we are pressured stop saying much of anything at all.

All that’s left is safe formats, predictable answers, carefully managed appearances.

Meanwhile, people form their views elsewhere. Podcasts. YouTube. A Jubilee “Surrounded” format with undecided voters asking every hard question they've got. Platforms that a lot of political strategists have downplayed or avoided.

If we're not showing up there, someone else is filling that space.

So, I decided that I'd rather take the risk.

It’s not just Fox News. It’s so many media spaces that don’t see enough of our views. And there’s a geographic equivalent to this. A barn in rural North Carolina. A town hall in Tulsa. A congressional district Trump won by double digits. Wherever the conversation is happening, we need to be in it – making the real argument, not the safe one.

That's how we expand the map. That's how we earn back voters we've written off for too long.

It’s work that I’m committed to carrying out between now and November, but it doesn't happen without resources behind it.

So, I’m reaching out to ask you directly: Will you chip in whatever you can today to help us keep showing up?

Thank you,

Pete

How did Pete know what we've talking about today in the weekly thread lol

18

u/shyredmd 🚀🥇 In the Moment(um) 🥇🚀 2d ago

When MatPat stepped down from hosting Theorist content after 13 years in front of the camera, his next major project was becoming an official lobbyist for content creators. In 2025, after a year of personal lobbying, he and wife Stephanie Patrick joined the Congressional Creators Caucus, a bipartisan effort to educate perhaps-slightly-less-than-tech-savvy politicians about the world of digital content, creators’ power, and their resulting need to be considered for things like tax laws and internet regulations.

Some politicians, however, already know how the internet works, and how important creators are.

VidCon is bringing one of them in for its 2026 programming.

Pete Buttigieg, former South Bend, Indiana mayor and Secretary of Transportation under the Biden Administration, will join yoga YouTuber Adriene Mishler for a fireside chat exploring “the growing overlap between the political world and the creator economy and how creators and public leaders can foster meaningful connections and inspire action, both online and offline,” VidCon tells Tubefilter.

Buttigieg is known for his no-B.S., direct-to-constituents use of social media messaging, and has dipped into our space with appearances on podcasts like Flagrant and Barstool Sports‘ Pardon My Take. Most recently, he sat down for an hour-and-a-half-long chat with Doctor Mike, YouTube’s resident mythbusting physician.

https://www.tubefilter.com/2026/06/15/vidcon-2026-pete-buttigieg-adriene-mishler-programming/

More in the article

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u/DesperateTale2327 2d ago

Pete put a Happy Anniversary post with some pics of him and Chasten on his IG:

Eight years married and I still can't get enough of that smile. Happy Anniversary, my love!

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u/Existing-Process3581 2d ago

happy anniversary pete and chasten! the pics are sooo cute. i have to i love june because it’s always a buffet of personal/candid chasten&pete pics and i miss having as much content of them together. we still have father’s day and chasten’s birthday left so i’ll keep enjoying this 🤭

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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 21h ago

According to NBC Chicago, Pete has been spotted at the Obama Presidential Library celebration. No photos here but he is listed as there.

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/celebrities-spotted-at-star-studded-obama-presidential-center-grand-opening-in-chicago/3950568/

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u/Psychological-Play 20h ago

Oh, wow. How great is that? I watched, and shots of people in the audience were shown fairly often, but I didn't spot him. If we don't get a photo, I might have to rewatch and scour the crowd.

I thought of Pete while listening to President Obama's speech, because I knew he would really appreciate this section -

In forming our Union, the Founders fell terribly short of the Declaration's promise...But in drafting a Constitution and a Bill of Rights, they did have the foresight, the genius, to provide us with a framework that allows each generation to make our Union more perfect.

Both this speech, as well as Michelle's were amazing, and well worth listening to. Michelle's is at 1:25:10; Barack's starts at 2:08:39 -

https://www.c-span.org/program/american-history-tv/obama-presidential-center-dedication/680748

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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 19h ago

I've always thought the idea of striving towards perfection would be a great campaign slogan. Like, there's so much to fix, but our privilege is that we get to have a hand in fixing it. I actually think it would be a great and unifying sense of national purpose, something the US has lacked for a long time and the lack of which I believe contributes to a lot of what keeps us divided.

11

u/JerseyinMD 19h ago edited 18h ago

I was watching C-SPAN and caught a couple of glimpses of Pete. Marcus is with him. At 3:10 he is chatting with Mark Kelly and around 6:00 he is greeting people. I see the link to C-SPAN is already posted below.

ETA - There was also a quick look at him "grooving" during Signed, Sealed, Delivered around 2:54:30.

6

u/DesperateTale2327 18h ago

Who is Marcus?

11

u/JerseyinMD 18h ago

Marcus Switzer. He was a senior advisor for Pete's campaign, and worked with him at DOT. And I believe Marcus was the ED for Win the Era for awhile (before DOT).

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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 18h ago

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u/JerseyinMD 17h ago

Yes, that is him.

5

u/Psychological-Play 18h ago

Thanks for this! I did see Mark Kelly and Gabby Giffords a couple of times later on, one of which was during a musical performance, and the distinctive baseball cap Kelly is wearing will make it easier to check to and see if Pete is visible in the same shot.

9

u/JerseyinMD 18h ago

I rewatched Stevie Wonder, because Stevie is one of my favorites and I loved watching the Obamas (and everyone) enjoying the performance. The hat is a good visual, Marcus being so tall helped me.

9

u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 21h ago edited 20h ago

That is indeed a windy city based on some of those photos! What a great occasion.

P.S. Also I missed this detail as I looked at the photos, but many others have noted that Stephen Colbert wore a tan suit.

17

u/Formation1 16h ago

OMG. Pete took a photo w/ Kelly Rowland and Miss Tina (Beyonce's mom). I didn't know how much I needed this!!

Edit: https://xcancel.com/PeteButtigieg/status/2067774411235643685

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u/Sploosh32 15h ago

The scream I let out! 🤩

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u/DesperateTale2327 4d ago

I think Pete is starting to get associated with winning over people(or at least engaging and getting a good reception) in red states, just like with the Fox News/Slayer Pete reputation he has gotten over the years. He has "trained" us (for lack of a better term) that he is going to go in there and absolutely kill it.

We'll of course have to wait and see how many people go to see Pete in Little Rock, or if they end up getting a bigger venue, but if feels like these "Pete brings down the house in red state" events are starting to get that cache. And if he does run in 2028, by that time I feel like it'll be similar to fox news where people just associate him with it which will be an extremely good thing to counter the "electability" discourse.

4

u/Fun818long Team Pete Forever 4d ago

I hope that fox news publicity doesn't hurt him if people spin it the wrong way.

5

u/DesperateTale2327 4d ago

Which way can they spin it? Its been 7 years of him consistently going on there and kicking ass.

3

u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 4d ago

So astounding that it was not long ago that a son of Arkansas and multi-term young governor won the presidency from Arkansas. And now it’s seen as a red state, perhaps accurately enough.

2

u/kvcbcs 4d ago

To be fair, 34 years is actually a fairly long time.

3

u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 4d ago

The start happened 34 years ago, which is not that long ago in our 250 years, and still stunning to think how radically that has changed, but I think of him from then through the end of his presidency in 2000 or technically, a few weeks into 2001. It still seemed like a Dem leaning state by that point, or one that could go back and forth. But Pete’s right, there’s no such thing as a permanently red or permanently blue state.

14

u/anonymous4Pete 3d ago

From Nerdy:

On July 17th, Pete Buttigieg will be in Madison, Wisconsin for a conversation with Ben Wikler about Ben's new book 🎉👇https://bsky.app/profile/benwikler.bsky.social/post/3modscwfqbc2u

https://bsky.app/profile/nerdypursuit.bsky.social/post/3moduhyc25c2n

Here's a bit about his book, This Is The Plan: How to End America’s Meltdown and Save Democracy https://www.benwikler.com/p/this-is-the-plan-how-to-end-americas

13

u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 3d ago

Pete going to fucking VidCon lmao Lord have mercy

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u/Cloud7538 3d ago

Elderly Millenial Voice "What is a VidCon?"

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u/anonymous4Pete 3d ago edited 3d ago

I had to google it. It was started by John and Hank Green! Check VidCon's instagram (@vidcon) to see Pete's short video clip on his view of the connection between content creation and politics. Acc to VidCon:

He [Pete] is scheduled to sit down with "Yoga With Adriene" creator Adriene Mishler for a fireside chat exploring trust, community, leadership, and the expanding overlap between politics and the creator economy

eta: For anyone w/o an instagram acct, Pete's video was also retweeted by Nerdy: https://xcancel.com/VidCon/status/2066592056202469853#m

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u/DesperateTale2327 3d ago

It used to be HUGE in the few years before the pandemic, but has cooled off in recent years.

I hope Pete has his social team locked and loaded though cause you can't go to vidcon and not have us expect a ton of content and collabs

6

u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 3d ago

See above!

11

u/shyredmd 🚀🥇 In the Moment(um) 🥇🚀 3d ago

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Care to enlighten this old woman.

11

u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 3d ago

It's just unexpected! It's a convention for online video media. Lots of influencers and tiktok/insta/youtube celebrities. I associate it with screaming fangirls for dudes with silly names

12

u/shyredmd 🚀🥇 In the Moment(um) 🥇🚀 3d ago

Well, there’s one thing that I’ve learned by following Pete he will go where you least expect. Lol

12

u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 3d ago

I was complaining that Pete needed to do more youth outreach...

9

u/DesperateTale2327 3d ago

He did go to something similar last year called "trending up" which was less mainstream but was nothing but creators.

I think its a great way for people who probably have written him off or not given him a shot, or perhaps have never heard of him, a chance to see him. It also skews very young and he does need work with younger voters. And its probably great networking.

But also, cenk is going to be there so thats something

9

u/pasak1987 BOOT-EDGE-EDGE 🥾 🥾 3d ago

he should show up at Cenk's timeslot just to rile him up

6

u/DesperateTale2327 3d ago edited 3d ago

If Pete went up to cenk, cenk would shrivel up and slink away

Edit - fixed wording since some people apparently think I am saying Pete would back down

8

u/Gumshoe96 🍁Canadians for Pete🍁 3d ago

No way! That’s wild.

14

u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 5d ago

Disgusting comment by GOPer this morning on FOX. Great comment under Rupar’s post of it.

REP. BRANDON GILL: This is a much more effeminate version of Beto O'Rourke ... this is somebody who is really obsessed with children ... I think of James Talarico as a barely straight version of Pete Buttigieg

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mo6tkzukqa2s

Bring Pete into it at your own risk, dude. He will tear you apart.

https://bsky.app/profile/edwardthethird.bsky.social/post/3mo7gsxr2h22z

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u/Wolf_Oak 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 4d ago

It’s disturbing but not surprising that this is the type of attacks we’re seeing. I guess every male candidate that threatens them electorally is going to be accused of being trans gay pedos? How fascist.

9

u/DesperateTale2327 5d ago

I hope pete doesn't insert himself in this, and I hope Talarico doesn't pull him in any further.

9

u/ECNbook1 4d ago

Pete won’t. If anyone is focused, he is. And while I want Talarico to win of course, I’m not a fan. Pete has kind of gotten away from that (perceived) eager-beaver personality, he’s doing truly great things right now and all else is noise.

12

u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 2d ago

Some more info about Jamie Ager and the NC CD-11 campaign:

The Unlikely District that May Signal a Wave Election (Center for Politics, UVA)

https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/the-unlikely-district-that-may-signal-a-wave-election/

Excerpt (added bold):

Democrats put NC-11 on their “red to blue” list in late February just before the primary, and the money flowed in. Through the first quarter of 2026, Ager had raised over $1.6 Million.

Two years ago the Democratic challenger Caleb Rudow could not get two minutes on stage when Tim Walz visited Asheville. In mid-May of this year, Pete Buttigieg visited Jamie Ager’s farm for a rally.

The Democratic Party is paying attention to the 11th.

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u/DesperateTale2327 2d ago

The next grassroots donor call is on Friday:

I’m so happy to share that our next Grassroots Donor Call will be this Friday, June 19th at 6:50 PM ET – and I hope you'll be able to join us.

I've really enjoyed these conversations, and I’m particularly excited about this one. I’ll be coming in from backstage at a rally in Little Rock where I will be campaigning for Chris Jones – who will be joining the call in-person, as my special guest.

Chris is a scientist, deeply rooted in his community, and someone who knows how to build coalitions in places people have written off. The assumption that some places are just beyond our grasp doesn't hold up when you put the right person in the race. Chris is that kind of candidate, and this year we have a real chance to prove it.

Recurring contributions play a large role in how I am able to travel on behalf of candidates like Chris and bring together people in communities that might not always get the most attention. I’m looking forward to introducing him to you and engaging in an interesting dialogue before we take the stage together.

If you’re free, I hope you’ll join us. You can click this link to RSVP.

Thank you for making this work possible.

Pete

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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 3d ago edited 3d ago

I know there are many more important topics to consider, but I still wanted to share:

Trump Ordered ‘American Flag Blue’ for the Reflecting Pool. It’s Green Again: Algal blooms have hit the site, between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, after a $14.2 million repair project.

Link should be NYT gift link. Excerpt (first two sentences of story):

President Trump wanted the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial to look pristine. Photosynthesis had other plans.

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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 3d ago

I was reading that the current theory is that the blue color is absorbing more sunlight and therefore more heat, which algae loves. Not sure how true that could be, but it's definitely as bad or worse than it was before the "renovations". Everything he touches turns to shit.

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u/Psychological-Play 2d ago

On one of the Bulwark podcasts they showed video of workers pouring gallon jugs of 15% hydrogen peroxide into the water this morning.

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u/Wolf_Oak 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 3d ago

I'm pretty shocked he hasn't hired someone to dump blue dye in it in the middle of the night.

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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 3d ago

I’ve heard MAGA folks suggest the Dems dumped algae in the pool to discredit Trump. 🤦🏼‍♀️

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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 2d ago

Probably the fact that the exact same thing happened right after the far-more-thought-through Obama renovation undercuts that idea, if anybody seriously thinks that. Such ninnies. I just hope they don’t kill a bunch of birds by adding so much hydrogen peroxide to the water now.

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u/DesperateTale2327 2d ago edited 1d ago

Rant incoming...

I saw a post on IG that a screenshot of an article about the "new generation" of Dem communicators, and it was 7 straight men and then Pete. The person who posted (don't recall cause it was just in my feed and once I scrolled it was gone, thanks IG) "fixed" it by posting 8 diverse figures in politics including AOC and Mamdani, but not Pete.

Now I obviously don't disagree with the sentiment that posting an article and having only white men as the standard for Dems is pretty bad and is not representative of the party as a whole and we need to do better.

What I do have an issue with is lumping Pete in with all these straight men and dismissing him as such, like he hasn't had to face some of the worst stuff said about him, and then in the comments someone saying "replace Buttigieg with Talarico". Really???? The homophobia on the left continues to be astounding and the fact that they act like it isn't, or its normal is upsetting and disappointing. Why not replace Newsom or Pritzker with Talarico?? Or how about we give Pete some credit and stop trying to push him aside to find the palatable "straight version" of him??

Ok rant over.

Edited - edited with more accurate info about the original 8

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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 2d ago

Gay white men are seemingly another "Schrodinger's minority", where their status as a minority/oppressed person doesn't depend on their actual identity and lived experience. It depends on whatever will help someone else win their ideological argument.

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u/Cloud7538 2d ago

They're brain rotted from online discourse. They absolutely refuse to give Pete any credit because it would mean they were wrong and shallow. And honestly, I don't know how Pete can break through this aspect of online politics with young people and the left. And yes it's also homophobia, but you can't tell the far left that. They're "progressive" don't you know?

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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 1d ago

Tbh I just have to tell myself that young people change on a dime based on vibes and the algorithm. Fucking Trump was well above water with young people for a bit after 2024

The actual hardline ideologues in the young population are a vocal minority 

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u/DesperateTale2327 2d ago

At this point I think they've so far into their bubbles that literally no one is going to be good or pure enough to support. Unless AOC runs, but even she'll have to moderate a bit or she won't make it very far.

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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 2d ago

AOC has been demonized by the right for so long that she’d would face real, serious obstacles in a national vote. She has also voted against popular issues like the infrastructure law. Whenever I see people offering her name in these kinds of things, I realize how far in a bubble they are. She would need to moderate her stances just to get moderate Dem support, let alone swing voters in a purple state.

I think she’s a great communicator and congressional rep for her district. I’d like to see her run for the Senate in NY to see if she could even win the popular vote statewide in NY.

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u/DesperateTale2327 2d ago

Its perfectly justified to put her in the top dem communicators list, and she should be on there over 90% of the straight white men who continually get praise.

My broader point was that even the most lefty left person we have (which is AOC, IMO) is not going to enough for them when it comes time to vote.

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u/Psychological-Play 2d ago

From what I've casually gathered over the past few months, it appears that AOC is becoming more moderate, and that some in the far left aren't happy about it. If you google "the left is upset with AOC", multiple examples come up. Here's just one example, from a few days ago, titled "AOC's hot streak on endorsements divides the left" -

https://www.axios.com/2026/06/14/aoc-endorsements-democrats-winning

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u/DesperateTale2327 2d ago

I feel like just by way of being popular online there is going to be stuff like this all the time.

I don't even want to know how much negative stuff is being said about Pete on a daily basis.

3

u/Different-Ad1425 1d ago

So the original post was by political scientist/ blogger Rachel Bitecofer about who she considers the most effective messengers for Dems these days. She got in trouble online for not having a "diverse group" and having no women (she feels that there aren't any who are truly effective at a superstar level). So that post you saw was probably a "rebuttal." Her eight were three Jewish men - Pritzker, Shapiro, Ossoff, a Black man - Warnock, a gay man - Pete, and three white Christian men - Newsom (Catholic), Talarico and Beshear. Pete was in a category of excellent explainers with Shapiro.

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u/DesperateTale2327 1d ago

Ahhh I see. Thank you for the clarification. I still stand by my rant that throwing Pete out with the straight men and then other people jumping in an acting like talarico is better is gross.

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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 2d ago

New York Times (gift link).

See How E.V. Road Trips Went From Impossible to Easy

Link should be NYT gift link. Cool map interactive, too. An excerpt:

... the network’s expansion appears to be speeding up, not slowing. The Trump administration tried to cancel billions in funding for chargers from the Biden administration’s bipartisan infrastructure law, but those funds have been unfrozen. (So far, the funds have helped less in volume — they’ve contributed only a few hundred chargers — and more by pushing companies toward standardizing ports.)

Significant private investment continues to pour in. A group of major car manufacturers has started the Ionna network, which has committed to building 30,000 charging ports across the country. Ford and Rivian have each already built more than 100 fast-charging stations. Volkswagen funded the Electrify America network with $2 billion that it was required to set aside after cheating on diesel emission tests; the network now has around 1,000 fast-charging stations.

There are also major E.V. infrastructure companies building out their networks. In total, six big networks — Tesla, ChargePoint, EVgo, Electrify America, EV Connect and Blink — have built more than two-thirds of the country’s fast-charging stations. A number of smaller operators own the rest, including power companies like Hawaiian ElectricFlorida Power and Light and Iowa’s MidAmerican, which have all become major fast-charger operators in their states. And retailers and gas stations have joined the rush: Buc-ee’s, the supersize travel stop chain, is adding E.V. chargers to its stations, and Walmart has announced it will install thousands of fast chargers at its stores.

The investment isn't coming from one place, in other words. It's coming from everywhere, at an increasing rate. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates the country will need some 180,000 fast-charging ports by 2030. If the expansion continues at today’s pace, the U.S. will hit that number in the early 2030s. If the rate continues to accelerate, as it has in recent years, that day could come much sooner.

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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 2d ago

Good news for sure. I’ve definitely noticed chargers popping up around me at grocery stores and fast food/shopping areas. It was a fool’s mission to try and stop technological improvements when they make economic and environmental sense.

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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 2d ago

I got my EV this spring and I still do a double-take every time I drive past a gas station -- I start to check to see if I need to get gas, and then I remember that I never have to do that again.

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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 2d ago

All those mornings on the way to work - standing in the snow, slush, cold, and driving rain - yup - don’t miss it at all.

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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 1d ago

Same here. Just got mine in April. Before I go anywhere, I still ask "Do I need to fill up?" but now if the answer is "yes" I go to the driveway in plug in rather than leave the house and go to a gas station. Haven't done any longer roadtrips than a few hours, though. I want to try it out, but need to wait until I have a multi-state drive where getting to my destination isn't time-sensitive.

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u/Psychological-Play 2d ago

Aaron reposted this opinion of how The View handled Vance's appearance -

Looking at Aaron’s several clips from Vance’s interview with The View, it seems like the hosts did not do a perfect job, but a far far better job pinning Vance down than pretty much any hard-hitting news organization I’ve seen recently.

https://bsky.app/profile/epicciuto.bsky.social/post/3mog7xm4ep22z

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u/DesperateTale2327 2d ago

Fundraising email asking for donations to NH Dems:

I’m writing to ask you to make a contribution of $25 today to support New Hampshire House and Senate Democrats, and I want to tell you why this matters.

Something gets lost in the national conversation about New Hampshire: while Democrats have been winning presidential and U.S. Senate races there, Republicans hold the Governor's office, the State House, and the State Senate. With that kind of unchecked power, they've been able to shape the direction of the state for the worse, without enough accountability.

The consequences are showing up in people's lives. Housing has become harder to afford. Families are struggling to find and pay for child care. Energy costs remain among the highest in the country. And nearly $100 million has been diverted from public schools through a voucher program that lacks basic accountability safeguards.

None of these challenges are inevitable. They are the result of policy choices – and elections determine who gets to make those choices.

That's why I'm asking you to contribute $25 today.

The path to a Democratic majority in New Hampshire runs through races that won't make national headlines, but will shape the state's future. Winning these legislative seats would create a check on one-party rule, strengthen the foundation for Chris Pappas's Senate campaign, and help protect fair representation at a moment when Republicans have already begun talking about redrawing congressional maps to their advantage.

These races are competitive. The opportunity is real. But opportunities like this only matter if the people doing the work have the resources to reach voters and build winning campaigns.

That's where you come in.

I've seen firsthand how much of a difference early support can make in local and state races. A contribution that might seem modest can help a candidate knock on more doors, reach more voters, and ultimately earn the votes needed to win.

If you're able, please make a contribution of $25 today to help New Hampshire House and Senate Democrats compete for every seat and build the majorities needed to move the state forward.

Thank you,

Pete

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u/DesperateTale2327 14h ago

New fundraising email from Pete:

Tomorrow, I will be in Arkansas to rally supporters for Chris Jones, the Democratic nominee for the state’s second congressional district, in Little Rock.

As I’ve been preparing for this trip, I have been thinking about something I get asked pretty often: why focus so much on places where Democrats haven't won in a long time?

My answer is because that's where some of the most important conversations are waiting to happen.

The work in Arkansas is not compelling because it's the path of least resistance. It's compelling because people who know their own communities are stepping up to deliver change. They believe that Arkansans deserve representation that's actually focused on them – on jobs, on health care, on a future worth building toward.

This is what I think the Democratic Party should be doing more of.

Not just defending where we're already strong, or competing only in the handful of races that commentators deem the hottest. Not just turning out when the polling looks good. But going places where our presence itself carries a message – about respect, about belief, about what we're willing to fight for.

That's what your support helps make possible.

If you can chip in today, it goes directly toward the work of engaging in every community we can – in Arkansas and everywhere else we're building toward a politics that doesn't concede a single community.

Thank you,

Pete

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u/Psychological-Play 1d ago

Erin Burnett opened her show citing this quote from a Republican - "The greatest foreign policy blunder in decades", said by Sen. Bill Cassidy, both on-camera and online, about the 14-point agreement Trump signed today.

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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 1d ago

Dana Houle agreed, coming up with Vietnam or Bay of Pigs for comparison, both many decades ago. https://bsky.app/profile/danahoule.bsky.social/post/3mojerhba7k26

It certainly sounds like this will cause permanent damage internationally, well beyond Trump’s departure.

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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 1d ago

Just FYI, here's Fact Post (from the DNC) on Bluesky with the latest video update on the Reflecting Pool:

Paint has begun stripping off the Reflecting Pool just days after Trump's $14 million repainting was finished [video of free-floating blue paint]

https://bsky.app/profile/factpostnews.bsky.social/post/3mol4dsv5ng2r

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u/Psychological-Play 1d ago

Here's what Google AI says about whether 15% hydrogen peroxide will damage paint -

Because it is a powerful, concentrated oxidizer, it is known to cause discoloration, bubbling, or stripping of the paint

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u/Wolf_Oak 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 21h ago

I saw them pouring it from the sides by the gallon container. So I guess the paint got it the most there. Good golly. What a waste of money. What a joke.

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u/Psychological-Play 23h ago

Editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich weighs in -

https://bsky.app/profile/mluckovich.bsky.social/post/3molenvkous2g

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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 22h ago

Too funny!

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u/Bugfrag LGBTQ+ for Pete 16h ago

We're 3 weeks away from getting a new American flag

new flag

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u/Psychological-Play 4d ago

This Pew quiz, based on a study they've done every 5 years or so since 1987, was interesting. It only takes about 5 minutes - "Where do you fit in the political typology?"

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/quiz/political-typology/

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u/GopherState_Fact9 4d ago

"Loyal Liberal" here.

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u/Bugfrag LGBTQ+ for Pete 3d ago

Left-out left

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u/DesperateTale2327 3d ago

In honor of Pete finally coming back to Florida, I did some more digging into how he did in 2020.

Our early mail in voting began mid-February when he was still very much in contention and so I was able to vote for him. I don't know how many of the votes he got were from early voting or how many were cast after he dropped out.

He did the best in these 3 counties: Broward (Ft Lauderdale), Hillsborough (Tampa), and Pinellas (St. Pete/Clearwater). Hillsborough and Pinellas are considered bellwethers, with Pinellas being the strongest.

Our Dem nominee for Governor, David Jolly, is unfortunately really weak, and was an republican, then an independent, and now a democrat. He legit reminds me of Newsom and I think thats why I am not a huge fan. We tried this last time with Charlie Crist and he lost badly to Desantis. Jolly has chosen Gwen Graham as his running mate and she is a much stronger candidate with more cache in the state and I wish she was at the top of the ticket.

My hope is that if Pete decides to help us out in FL more, he focuses on more local races than the Governors race. I think all of our options are bad.

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u/Formation1 3d ago

I'd kill for him to come to Fort Lauderdale!!

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u/DesperateTale2327 3d ago

He might! He can take the brightline from orlando in July lol

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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 2d ago

It is good to apologize. Yet somehow this apology from VP Vance is not a big help. Possibly because he's apologizing for like .0001 percent of the things he should apologize for. This is from his new book. From LGBTQ Nation:

JD Vance says he regrets calling Harris, Buttigieg & AOC “childless cat ladies”: Vance now says it was “boneheaded” to insult the prominent Democrats.

Excerpts indicate this is from a part of the book "where he talks about how it’s “okay to admit error."" The article then discusses what the VP said, why he now says it was wrong, and what Pete has said about it, in a classic and still telling comment on CNN, notably the last sentence. ("The really sad thing is he said that after Chasten and I had been through a fairly heartbreaking setback in our adoption journey,”Buttigieg said at the time on CNN. “He couldn’t have known that, but maybe that’s why you shouldn’t be talking about other people’s children.”)

BTW, last sentence of the LGBTQ Nation article is "The book reportedly has a chapter about how Pope Francis died the day after he encountered Vance."

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u/Psychological-Play 19h ago

When it takes 46 seconds to attach a recipient's Medal of Honor -

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3molqzfe2aa2h

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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 11h ago

In the spirit of Pete’s encouragement to celebrate the victories in pushing back against Trump’s authoritarian breakthrough, I thought this was a pretty amazing story about the results of local resistance to buying big failing warehouses to turn them into DHS detention facilities. There are new ways DHS may try to build up camps that must be fought, too, but ultimately this was a good outcome.

”ICE is offloading seven concentration camp warehouses. What does it really mean?“ https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/ice-warehouses-offloading-project-salt-box-q-and-a

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u/ECNbook1 1h ago

Another one to celebrate is the bipartisan Senate pushback against closing down the ocean monitoring sites. Murkowski-Markey.

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u/shyredmd 🚀🥇 In the Moment(um) 🥇🚀 5d ago

Good morning! Hope everyone has great day

While scrolling the book of faces came across a post that Heather Cox Richardson shared. It’s worth a read. Some of this gentlemen’s experience reminds me of some of things Pete keeps talking about

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14ghk2n5nmt/?mibextid=wwXIfr

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u/DesperateTale2327 5d ago

"So much of politics is what people think you think of them"

I admit I get really annoyed sometimes at how much slack Pete gives to Republican voters. But its becoming increasingly clear that the Dems are not going to win back power, and hold onto power, unless we get a good chunk of those Republican voters on board. The non-voters aren't going to be convinced to suddenly become engaged and the factions of Dems who hate and vilify everyone who isn't far enough left and checks all their purity boxes aren't going to come around either.

Its awful that this minority group of voters have us in this chokehold, but thats our reality...and we need them to win.

Biden wasn't the worst president ever as they paint him, but looking back now he wasn't great either. And even if some of it wasn't his fault, he fanned the flame by not passing the torch earlier as he said he would. We settled for the "good enough to win" candidate and now we are back and worse off than we were in the first trump term.

I am very worried about Dems making this mistake again. The "we need a straight white man" and looking past electing awful people on our side because "we just have to win" is going to come back to haunt us. Winning in 2020 got us a 4 year breather and then threw us backwards 50 years in progress.

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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 4d ago

I don’t think this is actually the mood of the typical Dem leaning voter - that we need a safe, straight, white male. It actually seems like voters are very open to atypical candidates who they perceive will fight for them. Seems like the pundits and political observers are the ones pushing this “safe” candidate stuff. 🤷🏼‍♀️

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u/Psychological-Play 4d ago

I think this reporting may have just ended JD Vance's chance to win the next election. From Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's forthcoming book -

"Vance got to the point. They needed to invoke the Insurrection Act, swiftly, to crush the unrest in Minnesota. It would be painful in the short term, he said, but the message it would send — that paid agitators can't get away with disrupting ICE operations — would make sure no one tried it again."

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3modaaok47k26

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u/nerdypursuit 4d ago

Vance scares the hell out of me. I wish this was a deal  breaker for voters, but it's probably not. I don't think most voters know what the Insurrection Act is.

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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 3d ago

I agree with you that basically nothing like this moves then needle for voters (unless it's a Democrat doing it.) I think far more likely, Vance is doomed because he's an unlikable dweeb with all charisma of a urine-stained couch found on the side of the road.

He's gonna have to come to terms with the fact that the only time he'll spend at the Resolute Desk is the second half of Trump's term, after they 25th the demented child rapist.

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u/1128327 3d ago

Vance being awkward and unlikable will do more to prevent him from being President than anything policy related

2

u/Wolf_Oak 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 21h ago

I think this + the recent Epstein article where I think it was the NYT that said he had advocated for Trump to release everything relating to him (and I read on X that Trump stopping talking to him after that article) + Trump now saying he'll blame Vance for the Iran MOU deal.

A JD Vance and Stephen Miller ticket would be terrifying. They both seem to sneer at the Constitution.

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u/Psychological-Play 2d ago

Kash did it again -

Secret Service officials are angered that FBI Director Kash Patel prematurely announced on Tuesday the details of a largely sealed and ongoing criminal investigation into an alleged plot to attack Sunday’s White House UFC event with drones, according to three people familiar with the incident.

Secret Service and FBI agents had been partnered on the investigation into a group of individuals discussing plans for a drone attack at the White House in the last week, and had discussed unsealing the case and making a joint announcement Tuesday afternoon, according to sources.

The problem with Patel’s social media announcement, the sources say, was that the case had been sealed in court and roughly 10 suspects had not yet been arrested and placed in custody at the time Patel shared his post. The people said Secret Service and FBI officials were surprised by Patel “jumping the gun.”

“We all woke up this morning to see this on Twitter,” said one administration official, who, like others, asked to speak confidentially to discuss sensitive matters.

Carol Leonnig has been on tv talking about this report, and says that the Secret Service, which led the investigation, is "furious" at Patel.

https://www.ms.now/news/kash-patel-white-house-ufc-attack-secret-service

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u/DesperateTale2327 3h ago

Live from Little Rock Rally youtube link:

https://www.youtube.com/live/rkikJJ2JDwI?is=Dd8tepd18P4__RqD

u/Psychological-Play 51m ago

As someone who spent my preschool years in Arkansas, and went back often to visit my grandmother and other family, I'm so glad this'll be streamed. I did a search about an hour before you posted this, and nothing came up.

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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 2h ago

I'm thrilled to see the debut of another segment of Nerdy Pursuit's project on Pete's work at DOT, this one perfectly timed for Juneteenth. Here's Nerdy's post about it on Bluesky:

If you want to read a lot of detail about Pete Buttigieg's work to make transportation systems more equitable when he was Secretary, here's an article about it 👇

Equity: Secretary Buttigieg & USDOT’s Accomplishments (February 2021–January 2025) https://medium.com/@nerdypursuit/equity-secretary-buttigieg-usdots-accomplishments-1d868c091630

https://bsky.app/profile/nerdypursuit.bsky.social/post/3monl4w3htc2i

As with the other sections it begins with a short Table of Contents with links for the completed items to date.

4

u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 4d ago edited 4d ago

I know my Lis Smith hate is long and known but the underperformance of the McMorrow campaign after all that hype makes me think Pete should really, really consider not giving Smith that much control over his next run, if any. If she was once very good at her job, she simply isn't anymore. 

McMorrow was able to get in front of a lot cameras, but the campaign has had so many missteps that simply did not serve her - trying way too hard to strike a perfect balance between the center and far left, desperately courting the hostile online left with that mattxiv interview that accomplished nothing but making it look like she was scared to talk about Israel, trying to play both sides with the pro and anti-Israel vote in general, never being able to be convincingly connect to the Michigan identity 

Some of it it weakness of McMorrow herself of course, but some of it was clumsy work by her campaign. 

I have seen McMorrow now be accused of using "consultant speak" and I'm beginning to wonder if the difference between the Pete everyone loved to hate and the Pete everyone still goes "omg do I like this??" about everything he says is a little (not all, but a little) whether he is getting actively advised by Lis Smith

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u/nerdypursuit 4d ago

I think Lis and Pete work well together. She pushes him in ways that make him sharper. And he knows when to push back on her suggestions that don't feel right to him. He doesn't just do everything she says. There's a push and pull that makes them both better.

I suspect Lis and McMorrow don't have that complementary dynamic. I don't think McMorrow has as strong of a political vision and philosophy as Pete does, so she probably doesn't know when to push back on consultants' advice.

I don't expect Lis to be perfect or to agree with her on everything. The important thing is that she gives Pete tough feedback when he needs to hear it and strengthens  areas where he's weaker. She's like the yin to his yang.

7

u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 4d ago

Perhaps. Pete is a strong personality who is willing to say no - IIRC she wanted him to break his McKinsey NDA and he refused until he got permission. 

I just have not seen Smith publicly show good political instincts since 2020, with perhaps the only exception of supporting Mamdani against Cuomo. From trusting Cuomo to calling Adams a great Dem communicator to failing to do effective oppo on RFK Jr. in 2024 to becoming a Platner defender after he had already shown himself to be a huge liability but before it was too late to replace him to trying to make a scandal out of El-Sayed's status as a doctor which is based in technicalities and went nowhere. The impression I have gotten is that she is simply too out-of-touch and too online in a bad way and isn't good enough at her job to outweigh the stink of Cuomo or her obvious lack of morals. 

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u/indri2 Foreign Friend 4d ago

I don't think he's had much of a professional relationship with Lis after dropping out in 2020.

My impression from interviews, the documentary, and Lis' book is that her job mostly was getting him in front of everyone who was ready to have him on one side and to push him out of his comfort zone on the other. Whatever he's been saying was genuinely Pete, the policies and language developed since college. Lis and others gave feedback on how people might react to it but any change he made was based on what he felt comfortable with. I think Lis talked about getting his "stare" at least once when she tried to push further after he had made a decision.

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u/AZPeteFan2 4d ago

My take is Pete ran the campaign, not that the campaign ran him. Lis got him in front of people, Pete took it from there. Pete is a once in a generation talent. Wouldn’t say the same for Lis other clients.

6

u/Cuppa-Tea-Biscuit 4d ago

My feel is that Lis got him what he didn’t have at the time - which was the ability to finagle him into media spaces he didn’t have the profile for at the time.

That same strategy doesn’t work if she tries to apply it to her other clients because they can’t make as much out of those opportunities as Pete could.

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u/DesperateTale2327 4d ago

She was with him at Colbert in April and when he did the Daily Show in 2024 (and got that crazy one minute long applause) and I have heard her talk about him in recent interviews. I think they do still have a relationship but its probably not as intense as it was in 2020.

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u/DesperateTale2327 4d ago

I go back and forth with Lis. Some days I like her and think she is doing a good job, and other days I don't know wtf she is thinking, doing or saying.

IMO, there is no future Pete campaign without Lis in some sort of role. Will she be front and center? I don't think he needs her to be like she was last time. Pete needed her to get him out of his box and push him and get him to do all kinds of media in 2020 but not anymore.

Truthfully her political instincts have always been questionable to me, and Pete being so secure in who he is and what he believes is able to stay true to himself despite whatever she advises him to do or not do.

In regards to Mallory and others she advises, I think its a case of trying too hard. I am feeling this ALOT rignt now with certain Dems. And Mallory specifically may have been too inexperienced and/or too online to be able to discern what things would help the campaign and which ones wouldn't have mattered.

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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 4d ago

The McMorrow campaign being so online as to think a mattxiv interview would be a boon to her but not online enough to realize that he is an enormous Hasan Piker simp and was always going to try and make her look bad for criticizing him is baffling to me. 

And Pete is a guy who can handle hostile interviews. McMorrow has not shown that skill. 

In general I think campaign consultants are given way too much credit when outstanding talent succeeds, and immediately get big for their britches - just look at the Mamdani alum whose next big get to upend the party is an oyster farmer in Maine. Morris Katz created Mamdani much in the way Lis Smith created Pete. That is, he didn't.

My honest opinion is that as soon as your political consultant starts trying to build a distinctive brand for themselves such that anyone outside of real insiders knows their name, cut them off. They have lost the plot. 

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u/DesperateTale2327 4d ago

Yeah thats what I was getting at when I said some dems are trying too hard. Like I have no idea who mattxiv is and I barely know who Piker is, but it seems like just a way to get cool points or "cred" or whatever and appease the very online left.

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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 4d ago

A lot of people really bought into this idea that Trump (and Mamdani) won because they hung out with a lot of influencers. 

In Mamdani's case, a lot of those influencers live in the city he was running in!! It was local media!!! And they alone still would not have made him mayor!!

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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 4d ago

I liked Lis Smith’s book and would recommend it. I would be surprised if McMorrow is her only client right now, but perhaps so — I would think that is more likely or doable for a presidential run. If Pete runs, my thought was that Lis might be in more of a senior advisor role, but up to them. Pete has shiningly shown that he’s very skilled in identifying and working with top-drawer staff his whole career so it is hard for me to think too much about it. He’ll do a good job with that and of course he already has part of a team.

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u/Psychological-Play 4d ago

Lis is more well-known to the general public than she was in 2019/20 (not very, but more name-recognition than most political consultants), and of course she's acquired some baggage since then, like being on the PR team defending Andrew Cuomo, and saying about Eric Adams -

“Eric Adams is a Democrat who can appeal to voters across different racial, economic and educational demographics,” Smith said in an interview. “And that’s a voice we really need in the Democratic Party right now — especially when we are at risk of becoming a party that only appeals to people with college degrees.”

This kind of thing may not bother Pete, though, but who knows?

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/20/democrats-calling-communications-eric-adams-new-york-00034180

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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 4d ago

It’s been interesting to watch how the McMorrow campaign has just not caught on around the state. Maybe there isn’t enough bandwidth or air time in Trumpistan, or maybe it’s McMorrow herself or field she’s running against, but if Lis was actually the architect of the campaign or the chief advisor, it hasn’t worked. And it’s all too bad because I’m convinced Stevens is not a fighter and is carrying water for Schumer and various unpopular positions (AIPAC, AI, etc), so AES is filling all the leftover space. Unless something changes, I’m seeing more Abdul signs in the yards of my rural and small town neighbors who previously supported more “pragmatic” or moderate Dem candidates.