Going through a lot of old articles, but also mixing with some new, there’s a few random thoughts I’d like to bring up about Mayor Pete.
One thing that I think got lost as his candidacy went on, was his faith. He brought up the very good point that the left seems to shy away from ideas of faith, and CNN noted that, as an openly gay man, he was the most susceptible to attacks from the religious right, but was happy to spar in that arena.
At a CNN debate in July, Buttigieg blasted “so-called conservative Christian senators” for blocking a bill to raise the minimum wage “when Scripture says that whoever oppresses the poor taunts their maker.”
I appreciate that he sees Christianity as the liberal bastion is it, something that I hope can be better reclaimed.
Much, too much, has been written about Pete’s own sexuality. Writers and columnists have been upset that he’s not gay enough, or too gay. It all showed that there is not one way to be gay, but still, for the first major gay candidate, I suppose that was to be expected.
However, much like Obama had to tread a very, very fine line surrounding race, Pete had to do the same. And part of that spilled over into his entire being, and he often showed so much intellectualism that he seemed devoid of emotion. But policing his own words, especially to such an extreme, is something that gay men have extensive experience with.
We are used to carefully calibrating how much of a “flourish” we give off when we express ourselves. We’ve spent our lives learning, by necessity, to “master” our passions and channel them into action that feels safer than acting on them directly.
I think he easily fell into another gay trope, ‘the best little boy in the world,’ but again, that’s just one ‘way’ of being gay (or responding to the world forcing itself upon you, as a gay man).
One last thing I will mention, is that while I am so grateful that Bloomberg has pledged his money to support the nominee (as have all the dropped out front runners, I believe), Pete has just announced his new PAC, Win the Era, to specifically focus on down-ballot races.
Flipping the Senate and holding the House, as well as finding and supporting Millennial candidates, is vitally important work, and I’m glad to see it being a focus.
All my best,
Mike
