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| BUTTIGIEG: In trouble with black voters |
So
what does he choose to do? He gets himself a spot on the program Tuesday of the
Rainbow/PUSH convention held every year in Chicago.
IN
SHORT, HE seeks out an audience with none other than the Rev. Jesse Jackson
himself – hoping that Jackson will give him the political equivalent of a papal
blessing that would get many black voters to quit thinking in terms of
Buttigieg as the absolute last of the two dozen presidential aspirants whom
they’d consider supporting.
Buttigieg,
at 37, is amongst the youngest of the presidential dreamers, and he has
attracted some support from the kind of people who want to believe that
everybody else is far too old to be in charge of the federal government.
Youth,
vigor, somebody who understands (and is fully a part of) the world of the 21st
Century! Which is why he was able to raise some $24.8 million in donations
during the second fundraising quarter – more than any other candidate.
He
may have the kind of campaign cash that could make him competitive with the
Bernie Sanders’ and the Joe Biden’s of the political world. But the man whose
political background is serving as the mayor of South Bend, Ind., also is turning
out to be the guy that black voters want to see go down to an embarrassing
defeat.
AS
IN THERE are some black voters who not only want him to lose, they want him to
become politically-damaged goods to the point where he’d never be able to run
for any government post again in the future.
It
stems from an incident in South Bend where the local police were involved in a
shooting incident in which a black man was killed.
It
didn’t help that the officer was equipped with a body camera and a squad car
with a video camera, yet neither one managed to record the incident – which
might have backed up the officer’s claims that the man was armed with a knife
and was brandishing it.
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| JACKSON: Being sought for his aid |
Also the fact that Buttigieg himself has let himself get bogged down by the whole
affair – making himself seem weak and indecisive and potentially helping to
cover up details in the whole affair.
SO
THE MAN who is openly in a gay marriage who’d like to think he’s the natural
choice of all progressive-minded people has one segment of the Democratic
electorate wishing he’d drop dead.
And
some Democratic political operatives thinking that Buttigieg himself is just
too flawed to unite the various factions that comprise the modern-day
Democrats.
Hence,
Buttigieg seeks redemption in the form of Jesse Jackson. Who had a meeting with
the mayor, then allowed him to speak at the Rainbow/PUSH forum gathering.
But
the most important part may well be the words from Jackson himself, who said he
thinks the accounts many people have heard about what is happening in South
Bend are distorted, and that Buttigieg has handled things about as well as any
political person could.
“HE’S
HANDLED AN awkward situation well by being transparent,” Jackson said of
Buttigieg, while also tossing out a potshot against Indiana state law that
actually forbids municipalities from having residency requirements for their
police officers and firefighters.
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| SANDERS: Can 'Mayor Pete' beat him? |
The
fact that cops in South Bend don’t have to live in the city (only within an adjacent county) means local
residents don’t necessarily trust them, and view them as something of the
equivalent of an “occupying force.”
A
description that I’m sure law enforcement types will resent, and one that could
come back to bite Buttigieg on the behind if he gets perceived as having too
much support from Jackson.
Although
for now, I’m sure “Mayor Pete” would gladly accept a Jesse Jackson blessing, if
only it results in turning black voters into a segment that eagerly awaits his
electoral defeat in the 2020 presidential election cycle.
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