I’m going to be as fair about this as I can be.
At least some of the initial reports about the focus groups that Democratic presidential candidate and Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg commissioned from the Benenson Strategy Group that explained part of the reason that Pete Buttigieg is struggling with black voters is because he is a gay married man were, on the whole, balanced.
The State (Columbia, SC):
Internal focus groups conducted by Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign this summer reveal a possible reason why he is struggling with African-American voters: some see his sexuality as a problem.
The 21-page report, conducted by the Benenson Strategy Group with black Democratic South Carolina voters in mid-July and obtained exclusively by McClatchy, found that “being gay was a barrier for these voters, particularly for the men who seemed deeply uncomfortable even discussing it. … [T]heir preference is for his sexuality to not be front and center.”
While the report stated that Buttigieg’s sexuality was not a “disqualifier” for these voters, some of the focus group participants questioned why Buttigieg even brought it up.
The State’s reporting did go on to list other factors:
The focus groups revealed some other potential pitfalls for Buttigieg with these voters, including his relative youth, political inexperience and low name recognition.
“They find it hard to believe that if Barack Obama struggled with Congress, that a young, new face would be able to make progress, especially on issues as tough as racism and inequality,” the report reads.
The New York Times:
A Monmouth University poll of Democratic likely primary voters in South Carolina released last week found Mr. Buttigieg at 3 percent overall, with just 1 percent support from African Americans.
There are many reasons for Mr. Buttigieg’s low standing among black voters, the foremost being that he is little-known to many of them. He is the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind., who still has a relatively low national profile — including on civil rights and issues of race — and focused much of this year building support among liberals, Democratic donors and voters in the predominantly white states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
That initial reporting is...fair, IMO.
So now...people want to traffic in “the black people are soooooooooo homophobic meme”
G. Elliott Morris is a highly regarded data specialist for The Economist (and someone that I follow on Twitter).
Gimmie a sec to breeeeeathe…
How is it that a so-called “data specialist” relies on one...and apparentlly only one data point.
The current choice for black South Carolinians is a guy that expicitly endorsed marriage equality in a highly public fashion.
and...there are more than enough data points to be culled from races like...oh, Tammy Baldwin’s 2018 U.S. Senate Race
(FTR, I looked for exit polls on the 2018 governor’s race in Colorado and, apparently, there were no exit polls conducted)
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is, last time I checked, very gay and very married.
You mean, I know more data points off the top of my head than a fucking “data specialist” for the Economist?
And now comments are coming in from across the pond…
Breathe, Kevin….Breeeeeeeathe…
Here we go with this fucking bullshit yet again!
Only in this case, not a vote has been cast even if there is a clear trend.
Look…
Yes, I have a favored candidate at the moment, that would be Senator Kamala Harris.
Yes, I do think it courageous that a gay man of any race/ethnicity would launch a presidential campaign, especially in this political environment.
However, I, a black gay man, stated from the moment that Pete Buttigieg entered the Democratic presidential primary that I would not even consider voting for him solely based on the fact that he highest elective office he has held is the mayor of a city with a population of a little over 100,000 (Article II Section 1 Clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution notwithstanding).
We already have a candidate who is a Stanford/Harvard graduate and another candidate who is a Rhodes Scholar (both of whom have already served as mayors of cities a bit larger than South Bend, Indiana). We already had a candidate who was the mayor of the largest city in the country.
We already have LGBT candidates that, IMO, meet the qualification to become POTUS. And Pete Buttigieg is not one of those candidates.
(Say what you will about Rudy Giuliani, Michael Bloomberg, or Bill DeBlasio, I would never doubt that they are qualified to be President of the United States...Lightfoot is still early in her term, so the jury is out there but...Richard Daley would be qualified, yes.)
And...I’m don’t even have to get into Pete Buttigieg’s problems with the black community in his own city’ problems which pre-date his coming out…
And so this viral message is supposed to do...what?
Shame black voters into voting for him?
Is this a variation on a “Sister Souljah” move?
I don’t know. I could speculate on why so many people (including a lot of white gay people) seem so willing to traffic in the myth of “black homophobia) on behalf of a gay man that is unqualified to be POTUS but…
As far as Pete Buttigieg and/or his campaign asking me for my vote…
Queen, please. Have several seats.
Monday, Nov 4, 2019 · 3:13:21 AM +00:00 · Chitown Kev
OK, the title of this is what it is...it captured a moment of thought...but then I read much further near the end of The State story and
Buttigieg’s faith is one of the topics the campaign tested in the focus groups. For older women, it was “a real winner and pushed them past their doubts,” the campaign found. But some African-American men were more skeptical.
“How can you refer to God when a lot of people think you’re living ungodly? You know what I’m saying,” asked one male participant.
The campaign concluded that a focus on “older women will be our most effective way to make inroads with black South Carolinians.”
There’s an old comment of mine in a Black Kos thread where this was my exact suggestion...focus on the church ladies...I ain’t got to work tomorrow, I’m going to look for it and link to it.
As far as presumably) straight black men in South Carolina...chile, I can’t even write what I might say about that hot mess here at Daily Kos.
Still can’t vote for him, personally, but yeah...I almost have to agree with DAP: showing the video to the public may do a lot to help...
Monday, Nov 4, 2019 · 4:01:29 AM +00:00 · Chitown Kev
If you scroll down to the bottom of that link at The State...there’s the focus group report...and, I mean, “black homophobia” is some people’s only takeaway from this limited amount of data?!