As a member of the National Association of Black and White Men Together, I am always checking in with Democratic Presidential Candidate Pete Buttigieg, an out gay man. So how is he doing?
Let’s look at the latest poll. According to a Quinnipiac national poll former Vice President Joe Biden has retaken the lead while Senator Elizabeth Warren’s numbers have plummeted, . Biden receives 24 percent of the vote among Democratic voters and independent voters who lean Democratic, while Buttigieg gets 16 percent, Warren receives 14 percent, and Sen. Bernie Sanders gets 13 percent.
As another point, In an October 24 poll, Warren received 28 percent, Biden had 21 percent, Sanders was at 15 percent, and Buttigieg got 10 percent.
The Quinnipiac poll said “Biden is back on top of the pack but Buttigieg has broken into the top tier, apparently at the expense of Warren”.
Meanwhile ,An October focus group of black voters in South Carolina commissioned by Pete Buttigieg’s campaign found that the candidate’s sexual orientation may be one of the reasons he has struggled to gain support among African Americans there. Of course, as a gay man this raised my hackles, I had hoped his candidacy would be judged by his policies and values. His polling is doing well and fundraising is good, so let him seek to be the country’s first gay presidential nominee.
As of 2019 according to Wikipedia, all 50 states have been served by openly LGBT elected politicians in some capacity.
There has been one openly bisexual state governor (Kate Brown);
One openly gay person (Jared Polis) was elected governor after coming out as gay.
No openly gay person ever served on the Supreme Court of the United States or served as a Cabinet Secretary.
incidentally, there is speculation that President James Buchanan may have been gay or bisexual, President Abraham Lincoln may have been gay or bisexual.
Buttigieg has struggled to make inroads with black voters. Among black voters in South Carolina, he received less than 1 percent support in a Fox News poll released this month.
According to NPR: “Fairly or not, African-Americans have become the public face of resistance to same-sex marriage, owing to their religious beliefs and the outspoken opposition of many black pastors.
Yet the presence of gays and lesbians in black churches is common. And the fact that they often hold leadership positions in their congregations is the worst kept secret in black America”.
Buttigieg’s focus group shows the challenges he faces. Beyond that, participants also told researchers they were concerned about Buttigieg’s political inexperience, low name recognition and relative youth. Nearly all of the voters said they were considering voting for former vice president Joe Biden.
The report said other participants suggested that while “they personally didn’t have a problem” with Buttigieg being gay, they feared Republicans would use it against him in the general election. Others worried it would make it harder for him to interact with foreign leaders.
Buttigieg knows this, and his campaign maintains its low poll numbers with black voters is largely a problem of name recognition and pointed to ramped-up efforts the mayor has made in South Carolina in recent months.
He has released his Douglass Plan Plan to “Empower Black America.” And perhaps this may help, but may be not enough to overcome these perceptions of some Black folks.
Buttigieg has also faced criticism from black voters during his tenure as mayor which led to complaints on Black events and missteps. And before he became mayor of South Bend, Ind. in 2012, a recently resurfaced video showed he reaches out to a tea party racist group, saying he believes “we might find that we have a lot in common.”
Black voters are not a monolith or vote strictly according to skin color. They are shaped by geographical location, gender and generation. They DO want to beat Trump, they do care about healthcare, income and wealth inequality, for example.
But let’s look at his other plans:
Retirement
“In this new era, we will uphold that unshakable promise that every American should be able to maintain a decent standard of living when they retire. We will honor and support our nation’s caregivers—who are primarily women and disproportionately Black, Latino, and immigrant—and treat them with the respect they deserve”.
However, he goes o to say: “My plan also ensures that older Americans have freedom in retirement through greater choice”. This includes preserving Medicare Advantage, and a Public Option 401(k) so that all workers have the opportunity to save for and achieve financial security in retirement.
The Economy
“As president, I will measure success not just by the size of the stock market or gross domestic product, but by whether working and middle class families are succeeding. I will use public enforcement, public investments, and public options to make the economy deliver for all Americans, not just those at the top”.
Workers
He wants to “Reset the balance of power between workers and corporations”.
And he goes on to say “Government and business policies have relentlessly tilted the balance of power away from workers and toward corporations. The minimum wage has fallen by 30%.17 Union membership has fallen by 70%.18 For some workers, bargaining does not even exist.19 Basic benefits like paid sick leave are left completely up to employers. Pete’s bold Empowering Workers plan will shift the balance of power back to workers and deliver fair, higher incomes”.
Health Care
He has on his website the statements: “One out of every five dollars spent in America is spent on health care.10 These costs devastate American families. That’s why Pete’s Medicare For All Who Want It plan gives Americans a low-cost, high-quality choice when it comes to their health care. The public option will force private insurers to step up: If they want to compete, they’re going to have to find a way to cut costs and provide better services”.
Also, “Drugs are more expensive in America than in any other country in the world.11 Pete’s Affordable Medicine For All plan dramatically reduces drug costs and forces pharmaceutical companies to price responsibly and pay their fair share”.
Well, thats our update on Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Stay tuned for more candidate reviews.
Sources:
Rich Benjamin, is a contributing writer to Opinion. @IAmRichBenjamin
Amy Wang: The Washington Post in 2016 as a general assignment reporter after seven years with the Arizona Republic.Follow
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