I get this concern, but only to a point. How does this risk manifest itself in reality?
Consider:
What kind of foreign policy role is a Harris VP likely to play? Maybe a lot, though not sure what Mayor Pete brings to the table here, much as I love him
Who are the countries that are going to risk offending the United States of America by snubbing (at best) their deputy head of state? Are they going to stop trading with us? Who are these economic powerhouses?
If the USA, the largest economy on the planet, containing within us states that would themselves be among the largest economies on the planet, with military spending that literally dwarfs the next ten countries combined, if that country -modern economic empire, really- can’t risk having an openly gay deputy head of state, how is it that San Marino (91% Christian), Latvia (64% Christian), Serbia (87% Christian), Iceland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Ireland1 are all able to weather the international uproar? Is it because they have less to lose?
I actually think the US is lagging much of the rest of the developed world, but even if that weren’t the case, no one is better positioned to set an example than we are, and, y’know, shining city on a hill, and all that.
Well, yeah. As much as I push back on the idea that homophobia makes him a liability internationally, I fully agree that it is problematic for him domestically. At least in comparison to Kelly.
I really, really like Buttigieg. He is a Sorkinian democrat. That is, closest to the type of politician romanticized in The West Wing. That kind of portrayal is often derided as naive these days, but I think it is closest to the ideal of what this country needs at the moment. So he is, if not a true Sorkinian democrat, than at least the first of a generation of politicians who was clearly raised on the West Wing. And he’s got the goods, rhetorically speaking, to let that influence make an impact. He’s a better leader and closer to what I’d like in a future president, but Kelly is going to do better in this election.
I get this concern, but only to a point. How does this risk manifest itself in reality?
Consider:
What kind of foreign policy role is a Harris VP likely to play? Maybe a lot, though not sure what Mayor Pete brings to the table here, much as I love him
Who are the countries that are going to risk offending the United States of America by snubbing (at best) their deputy head of state? Are they going to stop trading with us? Who are these economic powerhouses?
If the USA, the largest economy on the planet, containing within us states that would themselves be among the largest economies on the planet, with military spending that literally dwarfs the next ten countries combined, if that country -modern economic empire, really- can’t risk having an openly gay deputy head of state, how is it that San Marino (91% Christian), Latvia (64% Christian), Serbia (87% Christian), Iceland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Ireland1 are all able to weather the international uproar? Is it because they have less to lose?
I actually think the US is lagging much of the rest of the developed world, but even if that weren’t the case, no one is better positioned to set an example than we are, and, y’know, shining city on a hill, and all that.
1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_openly_LGBT_heads_of_state_and_government
Hopefully you’re right and she picks him?
I don’t know. Even the homophobia within the USA is problematic to her.
Well, yeah. As much as I push back on the idea that homophobia makes him a liability internationally, I fully agree that it is problematic for him domestically. At least in comparison to Kelly.
I really, really like Buttigieg. He is a Sorkinian democrat. That is, closest to the type of politician romanticized in The West Wing. That kind of portrayal is often derided as naive these days, but I think it is closest to the ideal of what this country needs at the moment. So he is, if not a true Sorkinian democrat, than at least the first of a generation of politicians who was clearly raised on the West Wing. And he’s got the goods, rhetorically speaking, to let that influence make an impact. He’s a better leader and closer to what I’d like in a future president, but Kelly is going to do better in this election.