Anybody that wants to know they have a representative that... represents them. Particularly for those that have never had someone of their class act as a representative.
There are several experiences/issues I wouldn't have the first clue about good intentioned or not. To say 'muh, just do the job well' fails to appreciate that one cannot 'do it well' without intimately understanding under-represented constituents issues through... experience.
Which is why the do-nothing Secretary of Transportation and McKinsey grad who got the job to repay a favor is the wrong choice.
If anything, it could be awful for LGBTQ+ people if the first representation in the White House is a corporatist small town mayor who keeps failing upwards.
I think this is a common misconception about how electability works in a first-past-the-post voting system. There is no benefit to going with a compromise position or reaching out to moderates. The number of people who can be persuaded to vote one way or another is miniscule. The number of people who can be persuaded to vote or not to vote is massive.
If people are excited or scared, they come out to vote. With disenfranchisement primarily focused on progressive and minority voters, there's not much left to gain in scaring regressive conservatives more, they already vote at high numbers.
He's pretty moderate though. I'm not sure he's really the best choice nationally - Harris won't need help bringing the middle over, she needs to convince progressives to vote.
No, actual progressives will vote against fascism, no question. Don't let the trolls fool you. It's the people in red areas with only modest critical thinking skills that need to be won over. Hammer home the fact that Kelly isn't an absolute nutter. Paint that as the big difference between him and the republican ticket. And have the fact that he was in the military proudly displayed, and the fact that he was an astronaut can bring up the rear of their message.
People who love astronauts are already into science. It's the classic conservatives/moderates that need to be won over.
Honestly, I’d settle for a good one. Gay or not. Because a person’s sexuality and preferences are entirely irrelevant to one’s ability to be a fair and hard working representative.
I’ve never in my life voted for someone because they were a heterosexual. I vote based on their track record. When we stop giving a shit about what people do with their genitals, we will be better off. We don’t need gender identity representation in our politics- we just need someone that will treat all people as equals- and enact policy that reflects this.
...that's kinda what he's saying. He's saying there's enough people who agree with this now that the political backlash to it will be a drop of hate in a huge bucket of sensible sentiments.
Is america ready for a competent president? Will voters accept an adequate candidate? Its hard to say, without knowing first which divisive and inflammatory categories they can be sorted into.
I love Buttigieg, would definitely vote for him, but this would make me anxious. We already have black woman running and there are a lot of people in swing states that have a problem with just that.
I just want to be sure that the fascist criminal will lose.
GOP/Conservatives hate veterans. All of them do. They like to wave the flag and pretend, but they elected a literal draft dodging bitch who openly mocked Gold Star families. A big part of P2025 is the destruction of the VA and VA Compensation.
Don’t let any Republican voter act like they are pro-veteran or military.
My take as well. We need to win this one. I love Pete, and would happily vote for him for president of he were the nominee, but a black woman and a gay man on the same ticket is just going to be too much for a lot of voters. Plus, I think they need to select someone from a purple state who can help bring in important votes.
Honestly, I thought the same thing about Obama. I didn't think there was any way a black guy who'd been living in Chicago would win. But he did! You never know!
Though I agree that the risk would be crazy high to run a black/Indian female president with a gay vice president. Maybe not this psycho election.
Obama is literally the most professional and well spoken president since Clinton or JFK, possibly FDR. Like people he knew when he was younger were impressed with his ability.
I'd be fine with a gay VP. We shouldn't be choosing our candidates based on what bigots want.
Though I'm not sure Pete is it. He has documented animosity from Black voters because of his time as mayor of South Bend during a period of disparate enforcement of cannabis prohibition. Since Harris is trying to distance herself from her time enforcing cannabis prohibition when she was DA, I think appointing Buttigieg runs the risk of reinforcing the "she's a cop" narrative and increasing the likelihood that it will become an effective attack against her.
I mean this sincerely. Who the fuck cares if he's gay...but.. he's doing an amazing job where he is. He's going after shitty airlines and shitty corporations that are screwing people over. Give him 4 more years dunking on delta please !
Btw, I've noticed nearly every positive dem post on Lemmy today has the top comment being a bot generated negative comment... it's so obvious it's standing out.
I've read this article twice and nowhere does he say the words "America is ready for a gay vice president." He says being gay has not been the detriment to his political career people assumed it would be. He's not going around telling reporters he thinks he should be VP. In the one quote that he is asked directly whether he would do it, he dodged the question.
I vote for policies not people. I don’t care if the candidate is a green-skinned genetically-enhanced three-year-old clone of a dead woman from Ohio, with a biotech computer in her brain. As long as she supports equal rights for all humans, I’m on board.
As someone who was unfortunate enough to have grown up in Indiana, I'd rather Buttigeg stay there and keep trying to drag that state into the 20th* century.
I'd caution against Pete specifically. Given the meme-state of modern politics and sheer stupidity of the average voter, it'd be a terrible idea to run a gay man whose name looks like 'buttplug'.
...and I'm not making a joke right now - collectively we're 100% dumb enough to throw an election over that.
I know posting ben garrison is cheating, but this was years ago. They'd definitely latch on to the name as a tool to degrade him.
Hell, they've been trying to make the word "kamala" derogatory. Sorry Pete, even though you'd be as good a candidate as any, you've got butt in your name
I actually think he would make a better POTUS candidate balanced by a Mark Kelly or something in the future. I think as a VP candidate, his value-add isn't substantive enough to outweigh the bigotry against a gay-brown-black-woman ticket. (Sadly.)
I do think Buttigieg is an excellent communicator and is very competent at going toe-to-toe against any mouth-froth republican, which is a real asset. Despite being a prosecuter, Kamala isn't as good at it. It's not a court room, no one is is under oath in political combat sports, and she too often thinks being right and factual will prevail. Pete is right and factual but also knows how to knife fight despite seeming milquetoast.
Pete doesn't actually get things done, and he's a PMC McKinsey dud... Nothing wrong with who he loves, he's just a real bummer as a politician.
Also there's a reason the VP shortlist are milquetoast white males... Grandma in Ohio might be able to vote for a woman of color, but these frightened bigots need a "safe" feeling backup plan in VP. Win the battle, take the win if Kamala can break that barrier. She wouldn't be my first choice generally, but she has the momentum and now seems like the time. I'm supporting her full speed
1000% agree. I'm not stoked about, most likely, not voting in a dem primary for 8 years. Harris wouldn't be my first choice but I don't wanna deflate the hype train at all. Hoping for a super majority in congress, that would be the big win. Really hope true progressives can accomplish as much as possible with that. Last time it happened for dems we got the ACA, that should be the minimum benchmark.
What I love about him though is how he talks to Republicans. He just has a way of making their hypocrisy obvious to them and you can literally see their brain short circuit and do a hard reboot before they respond. He's given some great interviews on fox news. But besides that I could take him or leave him.
He gets things done for his constituency, which is the network of business lobbyists that power his presidential ambitions. He's an excellent resource for BNSF and Union Pacific. He's a valuable asset for Boeing and FedEx. He's just no good if you're riding Amtrack or stuck in an airport at 2am waiting for JetBlue to get its shit together.
Such a disingenuous title. He never said voters were ready for a gay VP, his quotes were in response to a question if he thought voters were ready for a black woman. But I guess nobody reads the article and just throws in their 2 cents on what they think of Pete as a VP.
Different they. You two are talking about different groups of people. Kamalas path to victory isn't doing what Trump voters approve of, it's doing what people who don't like Trump approve of.
The question is how many of those voters would vote on a Democratic ticket led by a black woman in the first place.
One of the most common errors in politics is trying to go after the core voters of the other side - usually framed as going after the moderates - instead of mobilising their own base. One of things that makes Trump dangerous is that he makes no such mistake.
Pete is way too easy to hate. I don't personally hate him, but he's just not very likable.
Mark Kelly is still my top pick. He's a great fucking dude, he's a fucking astronaut, and I just can't see anything Republicans throw at him actually sticking.
Pete will make it a hard choice. Sorry Pete but unless Mark fucks up big time, I'm an astronaut for VP guy right now...so say nothing Mark! For the love of this nation say nothing. I've said nothing for months my self. It can be done.
Yep. Who the fuck cares about the right. They want the most morally represhisble person to be their king. Could give two shit what they think about it.
Edit: for all the nay sayer in this thread you are obviously oblivious to the type of pull Pete has. We need to double down on progress. Yes an aging astronaut might look good on paper but the most progressive ticket America has ever seen is also good.
I love Pete. He actually is amazing at his job. Fuckin avoiding a logistics disaster AND getting the union what they want? Putting the screws on Boeing? Fuck that guy can WORK IT. FUCK BEN GARRISON. I think we gotta say fuck the optics- that's what makes us vote for centrists. And before Tankie's get in and call him a fascist, y'all can go fuck a couch.
Just guessing from the replies, (I'm personally not that critical of Pete)
He used to be more left wing, had a deep appreciation for Bernie Sanders growing up, then he had a more right-ward turn. He worked as a consultant for a very unpopular and influential company (Mckinsey) for a few years, then he joined the Navy and was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Lastly the shenanigans around him very narrowly beating Bernie in the Iowa primary of 2020 probably all contribute to the negative sentiment.
None of these really make him worse than even more corporate Dems like Pritzker or Shapiro, so I'm guessing the antipathy is almost entirely because of 2020.