Pete Buttigieg isn’t woke enough for the Democratic Party in 2019, and he knows it.
The 2020 presidential contender and South Bend, Indiana, mayor realizes that just being gay doesn’t check off enough boxes on the census for identity-politics-obsessed Democratic primary voters anymore. So, Buttigieg has had to get creative in his efforts to stand out from a field of candidates all tripping over each other to appear the most pro-diversity.
In comments over the weekend, Buttigieg explained that if nominated, he’ll almost certainly pick a minority woman for vice president, heavily weighing diversity factors in his selection. Here’s what Buttigieg had to say, as reported by The Hill:
Mayor Pete Buttigieg: “Gender and racial diversity is extremely important to me. It will be a central consideration and selecting a running mate. And I have committed to ensuring that our Cabinet will be the first Cabinet that is at least 50% women.” pic.twitter.com/EaHRhwrw82
— The Hill (@thehill) October 26, 2019
So while no, Buttigieg doesn’t explicitly say a white male can’t be his pick for VP, he pretty much makes that clear, by citing race and gender as “central considerations” — not merit. This is, frankly, pathetic and insulting.
Think about the message this sends to whatever minority woman would inevitably end up getting picked by the mayor, whether it’s Stacey Abrams, Kamala Harris, or anyone else. His comments now will suggest later that they were not selected based on their merit or qualifications, but rather to use their skin color and sex to cover up a perceived diversity shortcoming that plagues Mayor Pete’s presidential ambitions. So, too, Buttigieg’s arbitrary statement that 50% (or more) of his cabinet appointees would be women shows how easily identity politics becomes reductive.
The right approach is to promise to select candidates fairly and based on merit alone.
Undoubtedly, this would leave many women and minorities in strong contention for the vice presidential nod and cabinet spots alike. Any approach that weighs race and gender as “central considerations” — i.e. affirmative action for elected office — basically tells women and minorities that Mayor Pete doesn’t think they’re good enough to make it on their own merits.
How is that progressive?
This is all part of a broader trend we’ve seen with Buttigieg: Whether it’s pandering and acquiescing to fake narratives about “trans women of color” at the CNN LGBTQ Democratic town hall, making the radical call to decriminalize HIV transmission to appease crazed gay activists, and even supporting slavery reparations, it seems there’s no social policy too extreme for the sort-of neoliberal mayor when there’s progressive adoration to be earned.
But Buttigieg shouldn’t extend this madness to his pick for vice president. In fact, at his current poll numbers, he’d be lucky to be tapped for VP himself.
Then again, by Buttigieg’s own standards, he’s probably not “diverse” enough for the job.
