Mumbles
Philosopher
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2008
- Messages
- 8,726
In broad strokes, I'm sure you're right. That said...
I haven't taken Mayor Pete seriously and I wouldn't vote for him because (1) I fear he would lose the general due to his sexuality and (2) he won't be nominated in any case. Maybe I'm in the dark and I'm missing something that justifies these labels you're attaching to him.
He's not on board with Medicare for all. That's smart and realistic. Medicare for all is a pipe dream on a good day. It's 200 proof, unadulterated fantasy. We may as well debate Lord of the Rings plot lines. Ditto free college for all.
It seems like "smart and thoughtful" have become dirty words.
It's not that they're dirty, it's that I genuinely don't see him as standing out from the rest of the field in those respects, and most certainly not above the rest. He's more well-spoken than Joe Biden, but that guy's been famous for foot-in-mouth disease. When it comes to policy, he's also "meh". He doesn't seem to get, for example, that restricting "free" public colleges to some arbitrary income level is just begging for it to be attacked - likely along racial lines, same as every other program for the poor.
All I've seen from Pete so far is "mayor of a college town" - and his two big programs were a failed housing restoration effort, and a million dollars spent in courts hiding tapes where racist cops apparently conspire with others to remake the PD Ferguson-style (possibly to hide the fact that some of his donors were among the "others", but we don't really know why). That puts him in the lower tier, frankly. He's not as completely odious as Tulsi Gabbard or Michael Bloomberg, but those two are the "How about you just join the GOP?" tier - and I think I've been clear on what I think about that party. He's also not "Um, I'm worried about your mental well-being these days" level with Biden. But compared to *any* of the rest? Nope. Not really seeing "likability" here either. This is the guy who all but told black activists that he didn't want their vote.
Um, what?
Now, I'll grant that there are a few candidates who I simply don't recognize when they show up, and can't even name. But I'd easily take Booker, Castro, Warren, Sanders, Harris, and likely Yang and Klobuchar before him, any day. I'd like a good doctor to spend some time with Biden, but as long as he's healthy, sure him too. Even if he's against legalizing weed at the federal level (state-level efforts are vastly more important here, in any case).