Exactly right. |
I totally agree, Klobuchar does not come across as elitist, in neither message, nor delivery. However, she does lack charisma, and more so on stage than in personal contact. I watched her at her last debate, and she had strong moments, but also came across as nervous, wooden, and voice slightly faltering. I then watched her 1-on-1 with a (MSNBC?) moderator, and she was a hundred times more relaxed, relatable, and I really liked her. My husband who doesn’t follow the debates at any depth, was walking in and out of the room during the whole debate. He would occasionally stop and ask why her hair was shaking, or make some other “witty comments” (he doesn’t even know the names of anyone other than Biden/Warren/Sanders). The one time he stopped in his tracks was when he heard Pete speaking. He asked who that was, and said he reminded him of Kennedy. Then he termed him the “gay Kennedy” and walked out.... Why am I saying all this? I am sure some communication scholars some day will do analysis of voice timber, timing, volume, word choice, etc. to understand what is behind charisma. Seems Pete has it, for a portion of the electorate, which would explain his elevated polling relative to his experience and his initial name recognition. And why we aren’t falling over Amy, etc. |
Yeah but Posh Pete should shut his yap with his projection. He really is a log cabin Republican. |
You are literally demonstrating the point. Perception is reality. Most voters aren't going to go read about his family genealogy (Zzzzzzzz) when Rove can pummel them with the elite liberal perception he wanted to create? |
+2 Posh Pete is talking down to voters and curiously he never gets labeled as elitist. Weird, right? |
He’s not being consistent, though, or Lis isn’t. They say kids of millionaires and billionaires shouldn’t go to college free. But the cutoff is set at a HHI of $100,000. Then they say there will be “subsidies” for families earning more than $100K but less than $150K. Then they say that 80% of families will get free college. It’s wildly complicated, and differentiators should be clear and simple. Pete’s competition is not Warren and Sanders. It’s Biden, Klobuchar, and now Bloomberg. He’s picked the wrong tack, I think. |
Does the distinction really matter? Also, Warren had very favorable press coverage before the M4A rollout. |
I think the shaking in the last debate was air conditioning. That seems to be the consensus. I’m not sure if Pete has real charisma so much as he fits our presidential archetype (white, male, elite background, veteran). The twist is that he’s gay, in the straight-appearing, top sense that doesn’t threaten straight people, so they like that. The only other way in which he doesn’t fit the leadership archetype is that he’s short. In a matchup with Trump, he’d have a hard time physically, I think. |
Be careful or you might get called sexist. |
She didn’t, though. She had some favorable press, but a lot of articles about how she’s not “likable” or “electable.” We don’t see pieces on how male candidates are not likable or electable. We see pieces on how they’re “authentic” or “straightforward” or “passionate” or “charismatic.” If the political press and executive editorships and network leaderships were not still overwhelmingly white and male, it would be a whole different ballgame. Perceptions, polling - all of it. |
| Why nobody talks about the elephant in the room - not the GOP elephant. How electable is Buttigieg? How many socially conservatives and socially moderates will vote for him, whether in the Democratic primaries or in the general election? |
PP here. All I will say to this is that Pete probably sees himself in the top tier, along with Sanders, Warren and Biden. He has attacked all of them on different grounds. It's not like he is only attacking the progressives. I'm not entirely sure about his political calculus on this one, though. You may have a point that he picked wrong tack. You could similarly say that Warren and Sanders are the real competition to each other for the progressive wing of the base, yet they have a non-aggression pact and are attacking Bloomberg who, really, is not their competition right now in the Dem primary. |
I think you are going to see what you want to see. To paint Warren as a victim of the media is this race seems like a real stretch to me. |
The politician who did more for working people than anyone in history was also one of the most elite: Franklin Roosevelt. The Kennedys are also up there. |
There are a bunch of threads about this on this website. Have a look at them! |