Pete's deer in the headlights moment

[mobeau69]

I haven't read much on here about that moment in the debate when that gal was going for his jugular but I've been thinking about it a lot today.

I think he should have answered something along the lines of yeah, that's the problem, it's illegal. And, whether you or the President know it or not, we are a nation of laws and not of men and I swore to uphold the laws of South Bend Indiana and the The United States of America. Period. Full stop.


Whatdaya think?

[msongs]

1. what's illegal? what moment? nt

[cwydro]

2. What "gal?"

[melman]

3. Here is the moment in question

Link to tweet

In my opinion, Linsey Davis did not go for his jugular. She just pressed him when he tried to dodge and he did not handle it well at all.

[mobeau69]

4. Thanks. I assumed everyone was up on the debate.

[mobeau69]

5. I agree. So what do you think of my idea? nt

[melman]

7. I don't that would have been so good either

I'm not a Pete fan to begin with so not really objective, but I think that would have come off as a dodge too.

[emmaverybo]

6. No. Nothing can cover his tracks when it comes to his numerous failures with the AA community in

South Bend. She cited but one problem. Maybe that one is not explicitly his fault. Bringing up guns and gangs, however, was yet once again blaming the community and appealing to stereotype to justify his actions or inactions.

He will not get AA support for a reason. He will not get this white lady’s support ever either because even if I overlooked his inexperience, I won’t forgive him or his campaign for his total
insensitivity to AA’s and then his damned pandering with The Frederick Douglas Plan and the insult
in its roll out. The best I can say is maybe he didn’t think. Maybe he didn’t know.

He should listen and learn and work hard if he wants to run for the highest office in the land again and be a president for ALL Americans. He not only tried to skip over the experience part but also the need for cleaning up after himself and EARNING AA support, not pretending to it with pieces of
paper titled after an AA hero.

[mobeau69]

8. So if he, by a stroke of unbelievable luck, became the nominee what would you do?

[emmaverybo]

11. He won't. His momentum is over as soon as he hits larger and more diverse states. So I won't

have to choose him for a job he is not equipped for by many measures. Should he run years from now, when his arrogance has been tempered, and with AA support, I will take another look.

[Skya Rhen]

14. +1000

[Blue_true]

22. His situation should be a learning moment for all office holders that aspire

for more elected office positions. Insure that you communicate to and listen to all groups that you govern. Failure to do that will come back to haunt you.

[emmaverybo]

23. As well it should, especially in any consideration of people who suffer every day in our country,

and then are let down by the very folks who have been elevated to a position that makes them the first responders for justice, the officials who should be paying attention to ALL members of a community.

South Bend AA folks were not asking for special treatment, but for EQUAL treatment. And how callous and insensitive to count their voices only when such an official needs them to mount a steeper personal ascent.

PB’s “inadvertent” offense to AA members of a community he led, his looking past those many tax paying citizens, repeated over time, years in fact, should not be something any liberal or progressive
finds easy to excuse. The level of ignorance and denial such blindness would take should not be easily discounted in potentially perpetuating it on a much larger scale.

What a message we send to reward ambition, self interest, and inability to stand up, to do the right thing.

[Blue_true]

27. Very good post, exactly to the point. nt

[MH1]

29. "listen to all groups that you govern"

[AngelicaHora]

9. Not sure how he should have answered

The question itself was ridiculous and sourced from a Sanders propaganda site (The Intercept). You can cherry-pick any statistic and make it look bad. But to argue with the moderator and tell her she's wrong or misleading would've looked horrible as well. But yeah that was easily his weakest moment of any debate so far. Which is surprising because you'd think they'd focus most of their preparation on the TYT and Intercept oppo research.

[emmaverybo]

24. Not by insinuating that all AA people receiving these harsh sentences were gang members, violent.

Not by scapegoating once again. The mayor had influence over local prosecutors. He chose to go
with unjust, over-punitive, and unequal adjudications in his community rather than rock the boat.
This choice was part of a larger pattern of overlooking racial injustice under his leadership that
finally forced PB to take time off from campaigning.

Jeeze. Effects of mayoral negligence, talk about cozying up to “the establishment, ” has had a toll that is way, way beyond what Buttigieg will ever have to pay when he deservedly fails in a bid to lead all of us Americans into the 21st century. He did a bad job in the 20th for a whole lot of
people he never saw on his radar. Enough.

[DavidDvorkin]

10. It was a very bad moment, and I'm astonished that he wasn't prepared for it.

[tishaLA]

12. It'd be a terrible answer

because of prosecutorial discretion, there is always the option of pursuing or not pursing certain laws more aggressively. The fact that his PD chose to pursue weed arrests aggressively, when he meddled in the PD from the very beginning, redounds to him and arguing about the laws in place is a non-starter, especially considering the racial discrepancies of the enforcement.

[MustLoveBeagles]

13. It wasn't a good moment for him

I'm surprised he wasn't more prepared for that question. It seemed to catch him off guard.

I think he should have answered something along the lines of yeah, that's the problem, it's illegal. And, whether you or the President know it or not, we are a nation of laws and not of men and I swore to uphold the laws of South Bend Indiana and the The United States of America. Period. Full stop.


Whatdaya think?

That answer would've been much better.

[Ferrets are Cool]

15. That "gal"?

I saw a woman, not a "gal". Yes, to me that is a derogatory word.

[not_the_one]

16. Bull

She was playing the "gotcha" game, insisting on a black/white, yes/no answer when it would be a damned if you do, damned if you don't result. She was determined to infer that marijuana arrests went UP his first year due to racism.

He explained to her that marijuana convictions went up the year after he started because he and his police department heads came to a consensus that marijuana arrests that involved violence would be treated differently, resulting in arrests, unlike mere possessions.

It makes sense to me, but didn't fit the questioners agenda, so she doubled down, pulling Elizabeth into implying Pete was lying. I like Elizabeth, but her jumping in on the attack was disheartening. It was wrong.

I thought Pete handled it well. He obviously wouldn't want to appear to attack the questioner, so he explained the logic. But she wasn't listening. To me the questioner looked like someone with an ax to grind.

I see that most watching apparently weren't paying attention to his answer, either.

It also seems questionable to me that although Pete has explained about demoting the police officer because he was under investigation for illegally taping fellow police officers, A CRIME, everyone immediately jumps to "RACISM". Yes, the white officers were using slurs in conversations, but you, a black police officer, do NOT commit a crime to try to document it. What the fuck was Pete SUPPOSED to do? Practice a blatant double standard and allow a policeman to commit a crime, with no accountability? The officer resigned. Pete demoted him, he didn't fire him.

And the officer that killed the man who "allegedly" had a knife, but didn't have his body cam on, has since resigned. That case is now in the courts. How was that Pete's fault? Pete came up with the body cam initiative.

Next, it is Pete's fault because only 6% of police officers are black, when the city is something like 26% black. In order for blacks to be hired as police they have to apply, and pass the requirements. What do you do if they don't apply? In hiring, do you waive the requirements?

I won't comment on the videos on social media. They frequently don't represent the reality, but that is not always their purpose, is it?

Obviously I am a Pete supporter. I don't believe he has a mean or racist bone in his body. He is incredibly smart. In listening to his responses to every question asked, it is obvious he knows what he is talking about, and can explain it in a way regular people can understand. I don't give a damn that he is young, I see that as a good thing. I don't give a damn that he is a mayor of a small mid-west town. In that office he still has had to deal with everyday problems that ordinary people have to deal with. One of our biggest complaints about "Washington" is that they have lost touch.

Life frequently presents you with situations that have no nice, tidy, neat answers. You do the best you can given what you have to work with.

It is really easy for people to find fault, if their whole intention is to FIND FAULT, regardless of the reality.

I think there is more going on here. Something smells.

[Capt. America]

17. I wish he would have mentioned his Douglas plan. He needs to bring that up more often.

[emmaverybo]

20. He doesn't because AA would-be endorsers were offended that a) Endorsement was assumed. One

had to ask to be removed from the list within a short period or be automatically opted in b) many names on the list of the touted 400 black endorsers were white c) Buttigieg had not consulted any AA groups, leaders, individuals to get input on the plan d) he did not originally introduce AA issues as a major part of his agenda, but when in trouble politically suddenly drew up a plan purporting
to remedy a full panoply of inequities—ironic in that he had had a chance for years to take action
on a much more limited set of problems in South Bend and failed to

The plan is multi-part, stunning in its range and thus completely unwieldy as a bunch of talking points. But the main problem is that discussing it will lead to more dissatisfaction expressed about all of the above.

[greenjar_01]

19. Silly

[jmg257]

21. He actually did fine answering the question...eventually - he explained why drug AA arrests were up

it was due to drug violations ASSOCIATED with violent/gang/gun crimes they were focusing on.

He could have just said that up front.

[emmaverybo]

25. So he says.

[madaboutharry]

26. Please don't call a female journalist "a gal."

The credibility of any opinion on any topic goes out the window when you us terms like that.

[mobeau69]

28. Guys and gals is a term used all the time in my area.

Google "guys and gals". Thousands of business establishments nationwide have that term in their names. Geez-O-Pete!