This Is No Time for a David and Goliath Matchup Between Buttigieg and Trump
Democrats need a proven fighter, not bad faith
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Recently, I had a dream Pete Buttigieg won. I don’t know what he won, but the polls suggest my dream may come true. That’s why I must issue “a warning” and I can’t be anonymous — This is no time for a David and Goliath matchup that puts bad faith in Buttigieg.
This is no time for — “Trust me, I’d be a better president than I am a mayor.” This is no time for — “I’ve only been a mayor of a small town for seven years, but, trust me, I can be president for eight.” This is no time for any trust-me words.
In a Trump-like way, Buttigieg is saying, “Believe me.” And he has believers in Iowa. Even in South Carolina, Buttigieg leads several Democratic candidates, including Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, in a recent poll.
Those polls measure bad faith. Bad faith looks like Iowa first and South Carolina later. Bad faith is glowing media coverage that doesn’t critique Buttigieg’s experience or interrogate his place in the race.
Even Buttigieg’s belief that he’s qualified is a bad one. At one point, he said he’s in a two-way race, which he later clarified. Then in the last debate, Buttigieg said he can win because he lives in a community where Trump has appeal; The Washington Post named Buttigieg a winner, but my ears heard, “I can win because I’m white like this.”
But Buttigieg’s experience as a small-town mayor hasn’t prepared him for the presidency. Sure, “Washington experience” isn’t the only experience, but how about Indiana experience? How about getting the experience of a state senator, a U.S. senator, or a governor first?
Let Buttigieg build good faith and a good credit score in Indiana. He made his “Douglass Plan” in bad faith; he never attempted it in South Bend. People love underdog stories, but Buttigieg is no underdog; he’s a political pup who should stay out of dogfights.
Buttigieg wants to be a ruler over much when he hasn’t been faithful over a little; he can’t handle the brutality of his own killer police force. That’s the Sunday School lesson Buttigieg won’t be able to overcome with Black voters, and that’s where this David and Goliath comparison breaks down — As a shepherd boy, before he killed Goliath on his first try, David had experience protecting his flock from killer animals. And there you have the main reason this is no time for a David and Goliath matchup: It isn’t one, it’s just foolish.
