This is probably the biggest mystery of all the candidates. While Warren and Bernie have been crystal clear about most of their progressive plans, and center-leftist Biden has given every indication of what he’ll do (hint: not much), Buttigieg is taking a slightly more mysterious, Clinton-esque route. He has detailed, pragmatic plans on most things that matter, but others are worried he’s only saying one thing, while he’ll really do another.
So keep in mind these are only my best guesses, and I’m not nearly as certain as I am with the others I’ve done so far…
–Perhaps the strongest candidate on China. Buttigieg has delivered killer lines on China like “the President views our relationship with them only in terms of who sells the most dishwashers,” calling Trump out for staying disgracefully silent on Hong Kong’s freedom seekers and the treatment of Uighur Muslims. China is the single biggest threat America faces, and yet both parties have seemed almost afraid of them. There’s no doubt in my mind they would rather have a bozo like Trump in the Oval Office than a competent military officer like Buttigieg, who has admitted that the rest of the Democratic field isn’t as concerned about China as he is…to their detriment, I would say.
–Social conservatives get even crazier. I know Buttigieg wants to be the great Bi-Partisan Uniter, but so did Obama and look how that turned out. No matter what he does, evangelicals are going to go even more bananas batshit bonkers because they openly hate gays, whereas they can’t be quite so out and proud against black people. Worse, the weakest social issue for black churches is gay marriage–and that’s probably why Buttigieg is at 0% support in the black community. Guys like Obama and Buttigieg want to be the 2nd coming of Lincoln, and in a way they are, because half the country went nuts when Lincoln was elected too…regardless of what he did to fix it.
–Ideas from this century. Pete is famously millennial, and would be the youngest President ever elected. And therefore stands the best chance at understanding what people in this country are actually going through. [His student loan forgiveness program is more practical and more progressive than Warren’s–whose plan looks almost random in comparison.] Sometimes, it feels like Sanders lives in Franklin Roosevelt’s America (or wants to), and Trump lives in Teddy Roosevelt’s America (minus the trust-busting). The leadership of both parties is so old that you wonder if they even understand something like the contractor economy when they’re making all these progressive proposals (if workers aren’t listed as full-time employees–and they’re increasingly not in the “gig” economy–then most of these proposals won’t apply to them).
Overall: Buttigieg will either be a young Joe Biden (somebody who gets in office and doesn’t do a lot) or a tireless, Hillary-esque workhorse on the pragmatic progressive (or technocratic) side. You can expect either practical solutions that will actually help a lot of people…or 4 years of chillaxing. I’d prefer the former but even the latter sounds better than Trump. And Buttigieg’s foreign policy should be strong. Excitement level for a Buttigieg Presidency: B+