How do you think Mayor Pete's sexual orientation will affect him if he wins the Dem nomination?

[Poiuyt]

In today's society, is all of America ready for a gay president? I'm guessing that most people who are so homophobic that it would disqualify him would not be voting for a Democrat anyway. I love the guy and would vote for him in a heartbeat, but the most important thing right now is to defeat Trump.

This is a difficult question to ask because we all know that sexual orientation shouldn't be a disqualifier, but I'm also not so naive that I know what it's like in the real world.

[bearsfootball516]

1. I don't think it would be a big deal.

As you said, people who aren't willing to vote for him because he's gay probably aren't going to be voting Democratic anyway.

The same concerns were voiced about Obama in 2008...would America be willing to vote for a black man? Turns out, Democrats and Independents cared much more about his policies and the hope he inspired than the color of his skin.

I imagine the same would hold true for Mayor Pete in regards to his sexuality.

[flyingfysh]

2. I'm sure the right wing will make an issue of it

They made a huge stink about Democrats running a black candidate, and they hated the idea of a woman running. Why would they be any better about gays?

They would do their best to dig up something somehow about whoever we nominate.

[rampartc]

9. it will be such a hail of fire and brimstine

as has not been seen in 62 million years. i'm tempted to say "bring it on!"

no one who cares about his sexuality is voting for any democrat anyway.

pete is an impressive candidate. he will be a great secretary of anything he wants, or ambassador to anywhere.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Look at his elections as Mayor of South Bend.

He won with (I think) around 60% of the vote the first time, and with 80% the second time.

The second time, the townspeople knew of his orientation........and they were either with him, or they didn't care.

They saw the accomplishments that he'd helped the city attain, and that was all they needed.

I think these results can be extrapolated for the whole country.

Of course, there will be people who would NEVER vote for a gay man, but I believe they are in the minority. Most people don't care, and the more they hear what he has to say, the less his orientation will matter.

This is what I think.

[JaneQPublic]

4. Turn back to 2008 and replace "Mayor Pete" with "Obama" & "sexual orientation" with "race."

I have to admit, in 2008 I didn't think our country would elect a black presidential candidate. Thankfully, I was wrong.

Despite all the haters, the clueless, and the close-minded among us today, perhaps we should give the majority of Americans more credit.

[Jarqui]

5. I'm not sure.

I worried about Obama's race keeping him back.

I worry that Pete's sexual orientation might keep him back.

I hope it doesn't but I acknowledge the country might not be ready.

I just don't know.

[Croney]

6. How will his orientation affect him?

I imagine he will stay the same.

[33taw]

10. I agree. He seems pretty secure, so he should be fine.

[Skinner]

7. I believe that being gay would not be a liability the states a Dem needs to win.

Here's the 2012 electoral college map when Obama beat Romney 332-206. I just have a hard time believing that it would hurt him in any of the blue states here. Maybe it would move the needle in Florida, Ohio, Iowa, but those are not must-win states. If he lost those three he'd still win 279-259.

[elias7]

8. He will ruin the presidency, after all, the presidency is between one man and one woman.

Or something...

Maybe America would be ready for a great piano player or another white guy or whatever label we want to put on him.

[genxlib]

11. I am afraid it will hurt him

Especially in the swing states like Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc.. We need a fair share of those swing votes in those states.

We have gotten better as a Country but I still think there is plenty of hesitancy out there to vote for someone who does not fit the historical mold.

I am not concerned about the openly homophobic mouth breathers. We will never get (nor do we want) their votes. I am more concerned about the soft prejudice of people who will find something else to not like about him. For instance, I can envision an internal dialog where someone convinces themselves they won't support him because he is young.

Of course, Obama faced similar headwinds. He brought with him the advantage of mobilizing a coalition of voters that had not previously participated. It remains to be seen if there is a hidden well of support for a gay candidate in the same way.

Just to be clear. I have absolutely no problem supporting him myself. I just don't have a lot of faith that my fellow Americans are as ready.

[treestar]

17. He would be the youngest

Ever elected. So that might not totally be an excuse for not voting for him. Hard to tell. Hillary and not being likable comes to mind. I do think a gay man has a better chance than a woman.

[Laf.La.Dem.]

28. Agree - 100%

[UniteFightBack]

43. He's a likeable guy and that trumps everything. nt

[abqtommy]

12. "Mayor Pete's"

sexual orientation is going to be the least of his problems if he keeps mouthing off about not liking the idea of free college and supporting a place in the education system for charter schools!

[UniteFightBack]

44. Does he think that folks should pay a portion? nt

[33taw]

13. I think the 30% who may have an issue with it would not vote for any Democratic candidate.

[treestar]

14. The only people having a problem

With it are Trumpists anyway.

[Kaleva]

15. I think he'll be an early drop out so the question will be moot.

[Doodley]

16. Trump will dog whistle and say things like, "he represents things

that are unnatural" or "our nation will be ruined by people like him." Trump would also become an evangelical like Rick Santorum and say things like "a lot of people say it is a sin, that's not what I'm saying, but I know a lot of people feel that way." Overall, he will go too far and it will backfire,and our man will do well.

[helpisontheway]

18. I like him but I don't think many people are ready for same sex couple in the White House

Asshole in the White House yes...Young, intelligent, charismatic leader that happens to be gay..nope. Took the country to be literally falling apart on every level before they allowed an African American to be president.

[redstateblues]

19. Unfortunate but true.

[marylandblue]

20. I don't think it will matter at all. You can be racist, misogynist and homophobic as hell

And still vote for a candidate you like from a group you hate. People are strange that way.

There are Republican women in Congress. Tim Scott is the Senator from South Carolina.

Pakistan had a female Prime Minister.

Phyllis Shlafly made a career out of saying women should not have a career.

Jared Polis, the first openly gay governor in America, got a higher percentage of the vote than John Hickenlooper did.

If they like him, they will vote for him. If they don't like him, they won't.

Pundits will always find this baffling.

[dsc]

23. He got that percent in a much better Democratic year

than the year Hickenlooper ran in. 2018 was a great Democratic year while 2010 was pretty much a disaster. I have no idea if the percents work or don't work out that Hickenlooper actually out performed Polis or vice versa.

[marylandblue]

26. Every year is going to have it's own variables, and so will every candidate.

My point is just that it doesn't seem to have hurt him.

[dsc]

32. actually we have no idea

but Polis did 7 points better than Hickenlooper. In Congress, we gained an average of about 6.5 in Congressional vote between those years. So he might have held his own.

[marylandblue]

35. Well that's my point really.

Win or lose, we'll never know exactly what each voter was thinking. But if he equaled what you'd expect any other Democrat would do in a good year, he probably did not lose many votes because of it.

[Freelancer]

21. Ignorance always adapts. Count on that.

I have an uncle that claims he's not racist because he doesn't hate blacks -- he just can't stand the "N" words.

What the hell, you say? I know.

He claims there are good African Americans (blacks) and bad African Americans ("N" words) and that he can tell the difference at first glance. He sees this as himself being discerning and intelligent.

His ignorance and xenophobia hasn't diminished over the decades. It's just adapted into a new form that makes the poison between his ears even harder to reach.

We haven't spoken since I sent him the proof he's Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's 8th cousin.

Sorry MLK. It's true.

Anyway...

That's what's happening to homophobia. Everybody that isn't homosexual has relatives that are. So the "other-ing" practiced up until recently won't hold up like it did a half century ago. Ignorance is adapting, though, and now there's "acceptable gayness" and "unacceptable gayness" in Middle America.

I imagine that Middle America wouldn't have any problem with Mayor Pete because of the above. What the Right will probably do is monger fears that he is the narrow part of a big wedge, and that if elected, he would force "unacceptable gayness" onto America in all sorts of unfathomable ways.

The Hard Right will probably even claim that a President Pete would somehow turn the children gay. Many people still believe that's possible.

[cannabis_flower]

31. FWIW

Chris Rock says the same thing.

[AirmensMom]

22. Well, of course, the evangelicals won't vote for him.

But, as we've seen, they'll vote for a turd as long as it has an R beside its name and promises to make abortion illegal. We never had them and won't lose or miss them. I don't see anyone else really having a problem with it... well, except for the people who would also have a problem electing a woman or POC.

[dsc]

24. I have no idea

and likely no one else does either. I think the idea that people who are bigoted against gays won't vote for a Democrat anyway is a white centric point of view. White bigots have a party, non white bigots don't. I have no idea what Latinix or African Americans who are homophobic will do. Even a small percentage would be problematic.

[AdamGG]

34. Good point - black churches were influential in getting Proposition 8 passed in California

Though things have shifted a lot on that issue since.

[get the red out]

25. The R's would lose their minds

About like with any Democratic nominee, they have hopped down the hate trail so far that even if a person falls into a category that they hate even worse than other liberals, it is impossible to actually achieve more hatred.

[handmade34]

27. I honestly think

that a gay man will have an easier time winning than a vegan

[Poiuyt]

38. I think the most hated demographic in America is atheist

[Thomas Hurt]

29. The GOP will attack as soon as they perceive him as a real threat to Generalissimo Creamsicle

[Pachamama]

30. At the end of the day, no matter how progressive the US has become, I do not believe this country is

...ready for a gay President and a gay man as first husband...

Sorry to say this - but I don’t see it happening and the GOP and evangelicals losing their minds...more than they did about a black President.

I like Mayor Pete and think he is smart.

But I don’t see it happening in next decade. Sometimes it feels like smart and female is a challenge enough - smart and gay is far more difficult in my opinion

[Celerity]

45. In 2015, Gallup found that 74 percent of Americans would vote for a well-qualified gay or lesbian

for president.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/03/26/pete-buttigieg-could-become-first-gay-president-americans-are-ready-one/





I am sure it is higher now, probably close to or over 80%.

Obergefell v. Hodges (legalising same sex marriage) was decided after that poll.

[Pachamama]

46. Perhaps this polling sample found that - but I don't believe it and even each of my Gay friends and

my Gay parents don't believe that to be the case that the United States voting population would vote this way. Homophobia and the hatred by the right wing conservatives and evangelicals (many other religions too) would go crazy if there was a gay man and his husband on the ticket. It would kick into overdrive their opposition to same-sex marriage and to what they see as an affront to "God's law" about a man laying down with a man. Even moderates in the US who don't like Trump, might be persuaded then by the hateful rhetoric to just stay home and not vote.

PS: I like Mayor Pete and am impressed whenever I see him speak. But I believe that choosing him on the democratic ticket would basically be a death kiss against the Democrats winning against Trump. I seriously believe that and I have not one iota of doubt that he is smart and capable and I could care less what the sexual orientation is of anyone and what they do in the privacy of their bedroom with the one they love. Unfortunately I don't believe America is there too. Regardless of any polling sample you show me.

[AdamGG]

33. The religious right would go berserk & that would backfire some, but I think a bigger issue might be

his lack of national/international experience. Of course, Trump has no experience, except with international criminal scams, but his persona gives the illusion that he has that experience to morons.

I'm not sure if Pete's sexuality would be a net negative or positive, but it would get a lot of attention. But, I think his lack of experience beyond city government might be more of an issue. Rightly or wrongly, once someone serves as a US Senator or Governor, they're seen as more qualified.

He'd be a great cabinet secretary and then hopefully, he could get elected to the US Senate or governorship of Indiana, though I think being gay could be more of an issue in Indiana than nationally.

[marylandblue]

37. If you listen to him, he sounds more knowledgable than a lot of Congressmembers.

So I think he will overcome that barrier. His ability to communicate the way he does, and come up with new angles is what has carried him this far. I am backing him because I think it will carry him a lot farther.

[LakeArenal]

36. I think 47% of America is totally ready.

That winning 4% is hard but not impossible.

[secondwind]

39. It will not affect one bit - -

and it should not affect anyone else either. He will be a breath of fresh air after the Orange Shitgibbon.

[Socal31]

40. Literally the only place I've heard people concerned is here.

[IluvPitties]

41. The right will make it an issue for sure.

Again, they make an issue out of everything. Race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, class... you name it.

[UniteFightBack]

42. America likes to act more uptight than it really is. nt