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I like Biden (in the sense that he opposes the fascist empire trying to conquer Ukraine while the other guy doesn’t and Biden supports Democracy; also he’s pretty funny) but man he really sucks sometimes, with the protectionism being the obvious example. This is probably just a general trend of how politics in America is heading, with populists in both parties becoming more powerful and influential (Biden is arguably a pseudo-populist at this point, just infinitely less so than anyone else with a chance at the Presidency). I’m still obviously gonna vote for Biden in November, but in the long run, I’d like to support more pro-liberalism candidates in primaries in future elections to at least try to get someone in the Presidency who isn’t a raving protectionist. Who, then, is the most “neoliberal” politician right now in the US with the best chance of becoming President in the near future? (Yes, Jared Polis is the obvious answer, but idk if he’s ever expressed interest in becoming President, and idk if he’d survive a Dem primary cause he’s probably to the right of most Dem voters).
Btw, this isn’t limited to Democrats, if there’s any reasonably neoliberal Republicans who might have a chance at the nomination if/when the Trump coalition implodes and (heavy if) the GOP returns to sanity, I’d consider supporting them in a primary.
Baby Gronk
Actual Gronk
He’s going to tweet the Obama 69 graphic every single day
He rizzed up Livvy Dunne! Surely he could rizz up the women electorate!
Make it stop, please make it stop.
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He just committed to the Ohio State University. I believe he’s also committed to Bama, Oregon, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, USC, and Texas. All that in between rizzing up Livvy Dunne… if he isn’t qualified to be president then seriously who the fuck is?
My boy Pete would probably be the most neoliberal with a chance based on what I’ve seen.
Newsome is a bit less neoliberal but far more likely to the DNCs candidate in 2028 or 2032. I have a very bad feeling he’ll lose if he runs though.
Yeah I just don’t see the logic in nominating Newsome. I wouldn’t mind him as President, but getting the guy who (a) looks like a used cars salesman and (b) runs California is not gonna be a good look. The vibes just aren’t very pro-California rn.
He looks like the Senior VP in Mr Robot lol. People are going to look at him and imagine him kicking a lovable henchman in the guts for failing to kill the good guy. Or paying homeless people so he can beat them up.
Not to mention in order to get the states reputation up he’d have to deport every homeless person to Xinjiang
You mean the CTO, or Philip Price?
Anyways great show, he does look like an E Corp exec regardless, and I still don't quite get the ending.
Tyrell Wellick
i laughed
paying people to beat them up. I'm still laughing 5 minutes later
Dude’s a sleaze but he’s OUR SLEAZE goddamn it!
🫡
Wheres the 2nd head?
"Today, you stand here with our brothers and sisters to hold that line. Today, you honor all Californians by carrying that weight. Today, you are the waves of the Pacific, pushing ever eastward. You are the Sequoias rising from the Sierra Nevadas, defiant and enduring. You are the great western light of California, torchbearers in the darkness, living reminders of all that is best in our republic."
To me it’s very obvious that Newsom is not electable. CA isn’t the place you want to be from to win the middle and he looks, as you say, half used car salesmen and half mafioso.
Just because he’s fucking thirsty for it doesn’t mean it’s likely.
He looks like he got his first yacht for his 16th birthday.
Ironically he came from a very difficult background and worked his ass off, it is just appearance and vibes.
Will he get votes from the right? No. Maybe not a single one even. Will the right absolutely despise him? You better believe it. And these days that goes a long way with a lot of Dem voters, with the right VP, I think the man could win in a landslide.
I mean, anyone could win, but why nominate someone with huge downsides?
The fact that everyone keeps calling him Newsome when his name is Newsom is probably not a great sign for him either.
Ok in my defense, I put Newsom at first but saw that the other commenter put Newsome so I thought I spelled it wrong 😭
Perhaps because it rhymes with gruesome?
New Trump name just dropped
I could’ve sworn it was the other way around
It's kind of awesome, but new.
Don't know anything about the guy tbh
drives me crazy
Even in California, most liberals/neoliberals are like "I guess" when it comes to Newsom. He's very much a compromise candidate between leftist and neoliberals, but at the same time, not exciting either side.
Edit: Spelling
Newsom, dammit
Lol
He needs to stop slicking his hair back and he would immediately be more approachable
He’s had that hair since he was on the SF board of supervisors 20 years ago. You don’t get Newsom without the hair
In sayin he can rebrand himself!
Eh, everyone thought Clinton was a sleaze in 1992 and he still won. He was still a scumbag in 1996 and he won handily.
Different time, where the things that made him sleazy weren’t considered in the same light (or as widely known) and also he’s a charming sleaze. He played sax after all.
Agreed, Bill Clinton's charisma and the "aw shucks" southern shtick went a long way in making him palatable.
The general public didn't know much in 1992: there was the Gennifer Flowers thing, but the Clinton's TV interview helped bat that away. It also probably helped that Bush's popularity had declined and Ross Perot chose to run a third party campaign. In 1996, he had the incumbency advantage, was riding on a wave of popularity, not to mention the good luck of running against Bob Dole of all people. Ross Perot also tried to make another shot and still received 8 million votes.
Clinton literally only won 43% of the vote in 1992 and 49.2% in 1996. He never cracked 50 percent yet did amazing in the electoral college: 370 votes in 1992 and 379 in 1996. Even Obama didn't get those kinds of numbers in 2008: he managed to get 365 votes then, and 332 in 2012. With the level of polarization today, it seems like winning presidential candidates are gonna be lucky to eek out a little over 300—Trump got 304, and Biden got 306.
Most of the issues with his personal character cropped up in 1998-99 with the Lewinsky Scandal. I know Paula Jones first filed her suit in 1994, but I don't think it was widely known at that time: it gained more traction after the Lewinsky stuff.
yeah I have to agree with all this. he was the guy who gave us NAFTA. And he had a deep underlying ideology in addition to wanting to be president. newsom seems to have no underlying ideology. he just wants to be elected
Newsom doesn't have Clinton charisma though (Bill, as much as I like Hillary's policy she did not got it)
I love Hillary and would've loved to have seen her as our first female president in 2016... but I agree. Hillary is a policy wonk—when it comes to charisma, she is a wet paper bag.
Newsome cheating with his friend's wife will be viewed worse than a random person he had an affair with
That was years ago and very different from Clinton having an affair in literally the White House. I doubt that would even be mentioned.
Sorry, but what are you talking about. Vibes aren’t pro-California? Couldn’t disagree more. California is the shining star in America. It’s the gold standard state and whatever state is second best isn’t even close.
The most gettable voter in most swing states probably still think California is a horrendous neo-soviet hellscape of needle, homeless camps, and blue-haired weirdos.
Dems don’t need Fox News viewers to win an election.
I agree that California is a great state (I think you’re underestimating Massachusetts a bit tho), the problem is that there’s plenty of voters who think otherwise. And it’s not just Fox News addled boomers who are gonna vote for Trump anyway, plenty of normie people who could reasonably vote Democrat buy into the “California sucks” koolaid (especially moderate anti-Trump Republicans, who were big factors in Biden winning Arizona and Georgia). If the Republicans nominate anyone other than Trump (or like MTG or Matt Gaetz, or just someone who the general voter doesn’t know as being a crazy nut job) in 2028 and Democrats nominate Newsom, then my guess would be the Republican winning. Sucks to, cause I think Newsom would be a good President and a good leading figure for the Democratic Party (with regards to getting neoliberal policies passed while still keeping progressives on board, which should be our ideal Democratic coalition).
I guess I just don’t believe this, at all. The only people who hate California are weird Fox New viewers.
Side note: Love the Mass shoutout. That’s where I’m from but didn’t wanna sound like a biased homer putting them near the top of the list.
Buttigieg 2028 ftw
Pete was the chosen one!
Then he went and defended the Jones Act 😔
You were supposed to destroy the populists, not join them!
Cabinet secretaries and veeps do not make policy. Biden is different from Obama in several ways.
I’m not holding that against Pete.
I think people overestimate how Pete being Gay would hurt his electability.
People on the center and center right are becoming more and more accepting of Gay people over time. I think by 2028 Pete wouod have a good chance of winning especially if his opponent is another Trump like fascist which I fully expect.
I think Pete’s biggest electoral liability is the fact he doesn’t look tough. He’s only 5’8”. He doesn’t come across as strong.
Name the last President shorter than 5’11” in the age of television. Jimmy Carter was 5’9.5”. Yet he won in a year the GOP was reeling from Nixon and failed to win reelection largely because he came across as weak.
If dude actually wants to seriously run for POTUS in 2028 he needs to get jacked and make it known he has a belt in Krav Maga or Judo.
I honestly think if Trump was only 5’8” and not 6’3” he wouldn’t have had nearly the success politically. His strongman act BS nonsense wouldn’t be as nearly convincing to some.
Buttigieg should challenge a rep to a boxing match for charity and then train like a demon so he can beat the shit out of them like that time Justin Trudeau TKO'd a Conservative senator.
Rubio
But he does come across as REAL and not calculated. Biden and Trump both have a “real” factor that outweighs whatever perception of strong there is. That’s the common factor with the last 5 presidents we’ve had.
Also Pete is literally an army vet.
Physical appearance matters in Presidential electoral politics. Pete simply doesn’t come across as strong or tough.
Pete served America with honor as a Naval intelligence officer.
Problem for Pete is that people are still extremely bigoted. Lots of homophobic people are dems to and some of the most religious people out there are minorities who vote democrat who would stay home with Mayor Pete.
I don’t think there’s a single thing about Pete that doesn’t seem calculated.
He looks like if Patrick Bateman was part rat.
Kendrick beat Drake though and KDot’s tiny
If strong is what is needed then maybe a John Swolaney/Mayor Pete ticket?
Georgia just got 1m2 bigger. 🥹
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I gotta agree with this. It's silly, but it is something people do consider. People want the president to project an air of strength and confidence. Pete Buttigieg, looking like a high school history teacher does not project that, at all.
I do also think him being gay would damage his electability—and I say this as a gay man myself.
People in this country still struggle to comprehend the possibility of a woman being president (look at the vitrol Hillary endured in 2016, what gets slung Kamala's way—especially in those editorials try and paint Biden as doddering, senile, and a minute away from dying). Hell, people can barely understand the idea of a man being single and running for president... there was a lot of talk in 2020 re: Cory Booker and the fact he was single and not married; it was around that time he first talked about his relationship with Rosario Dawson.
I have no doubt that his sexuality would present an uphill battle—even if being gay is becoming more acceptable / understood as time goes by. With the current political climate, I still think that it's a massive no go, though I hope that we do someday have a president who is an out and proud gay man.
MTG vs Pete 2028😳
Taylor Greene is more likely to end up in jail than in the White house.
Inshallah
Or in Moscow
Meet the Grahams was a Pete diss? Damn what did he do to piss K Dot off?
Every criticism I’ve heard of Pete is the exact same thing I heard about Obama
Too young
Inexperienced
Black (gay)
Etc.
Pete absolutely could win.
Pete is not the orator Obama is though.
Nobody is the fucking orator Obama is. The man is black Cicero for christs sake.
He is articulate and intelligent. He chooses his words carefully and uses balance to ultimately convey his point
He doesn't stand a chance
He's not that far off tbh.
Biden isn't a great orator either and made it to president
I'm not sure if we're quite there yet, but it's the same logic as the dems running black men: The people you lose would never have voted D in the first place.
This is not true. In fact many ethnic minorities in the usa are very bigoted against lgbt, while being fairly reliable dem voters. A gay party leader will def have a negative effect electorally
Yea anybody who wouldn’t vote for a gay person on principle is a person that isn’t voting for democrats anyway.
This is not true
This is just so incorrect. If anything this sub underestimates (or at least accurately estimates) how his being gay will affect him.
Dude also completely doesn’t resonate with minorities for some reason. His polling with black voters was abysmal.
The person who replied to you explained it better but I think any Dem running against Hillary in 2016 or Biden in 2020 was bound to poll really poorly with Black voters because of how successful those two have been in outreach to the Black community.
In 2028 with neither of those two in ballot he can make inroads with them by virtue of being in the Biden admin.
I think that was primarily because he was running against Obama’s Vice President and two Black people. Normie Black voters had mostly committed to voting for Biden, and those that hadn’t were supporting Harris or Booker. I don’t think he’ll have the same problem with black voters this time around.
Bernie's was really bad with minorities in 2016 but got a lot better in 2020. It can change.
Not saying it will for sure, but it's possible
Would you consider Polis to be less neoliberal than the mayor?
Hmm good question
Between East Palestine and the Baltimore bridge I'm not sure Petes tenure as transportation secretary would be good. He needs some other experience for people to go off of.