The national media so desperately wanted former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg to be a thing, and, like Beto O’Rourke, he naively bought into it.
But just like gravity, some things cannot change, and no Democrat could ever be taken seriously as a presidential contender when they’re having to literally fabricate support from black voters.
Buttigieg announced Sunday, after hitting reality in the South Carolina primary contest, that he had finally accepted his fate and would be dropping out of the race for the party’s nomination.
He had performed well in white-heavy Iowa and New Hampshire. But anyone who can read a poll would have known that that’s where his train stopped.
No one could have expected him to do well in any other contest where black and Latino voters were a factor, and that includes the general election, during which Democrats (the ones who actually believe in God) are praying for high turnout from precisely those people.
The media created Buttigieg by writing things such as, “The remarkable rise of Pete Buttigieg is a tribute to the role of raw talent in presidential politics,” and, “There is little that distinguishes the former mayor of South Bend from 10,000 similar local officials — except for being a prodigy at politicking.”
Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson wrote both of those things, but there is little that distinguishes his work from 10,000 similar journalists.
Gerson’s own publication arguably started the buzz over Buttigieg, profiling him as far back as January 2019, questioning whether Buttigieg would be “the first Millennial president” while inexplicably referring to him as “the wunderkind.”
He didn’t give an exciting speech, his policy proposals were virtually the same as every other Democrat running for president, and, most devastating of all, his support among black voters sat firmly at close to 0%.
The 7-point drop in black voter turnout between 2012 and 2016 was probably catastrophic to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Imagine what another 10-point drop would have done to the nominee if it were Buttigieg.
But we always knew that it wasn’t going to be him. Buttigieg’s “remarkable rise” was never real. It was created by the media.
