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radical noodle

(7,990 posts)
Wed Apr 24, 2019, 09:42 AM Apr 2019

What the Press Is Missing About Pete Buttigieg

After nearly every election, journalists and pundits bloviate during postmortems at Harvard’s Kennedy School and the Aspen Institute about how there were too many “process” stories in their campaign coverage—too many articles and segments about the horse race, how big the crowds were, and how much money the candidates raised. Reporters promise to do more in-depth reporting during the next cycle, painting fuller pictures of the candidates and the choices Americans will face as they enter the ballot box.

Well, we’re more than a year and a half out from the 2020 election, and they’re already screwing it up—again.

As an example, look at what’s happening with coverage of South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s meteoric rise to become a top-tier candidate. Who is Mayor Pete? Voters relying on mainstream coverage to keep them informed probably know only three things about him. He’s a candidate for the Democratic nomination. He has a funny-sounding last name. And he’s gay.

I’ve rarely seen a group of people work harder to find different ways to focus on a single issue. CNBC’s John Harwood asked Buttigieg how he felt “about potentially becoming the first gay president.” “If Elected, Buttigieg Would Make History as First Gay President,” read the CNN chyron as Kate Bolduan asked him, “You represent a historic first in your candidacy. How much do you want it to define the campaign?” Seth Meyers framed a question about his announcement speech by asking if there was “a special, added element” to having his husband onstage with him at the time. I’m just hoping no one decides to lead off an interview by asking for his opinion on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Or the Queer Eye reboot.


https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/journalists-only-focus-pete-buttigiegs-sexuality/587788/

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
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