{"id":26950,"date":"2019-10-28T09:00:56","date_gmt":"2019-10-28T14:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=26950"},"modified":"2019-10-28T09:39:39","modified_gmt":"2019-10-28T14:39:39","slug":"who-are-the-moderate-democrats-actually-fighting-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2019\/10\/28\/who-are-the-moderate-democrats-actually-fighting-for\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Are the Moderate Democrats Actually Fighting For?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, California Senator Kamala Harris, former Rep. Beto O\u2019Rourke and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar may talk a good game when it comes to criticizing corporate greed and the government\u2019s indifference toward the working-class, but when one looks beyond the surface and digs into their policies, an air of \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d looms in the background.
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In the battle for the centrist vote within the Democratic party, Buttigieg has emerged as the top dog for the moment since the last debate<\/a>, narrowly edging out Harris in multiple polls<\/a> after a post-debate bump<\/a> in support, lending him credit toward being the most popular left-leaning (major emphasis on the word \u201cleaning\u201d) moderate not named Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.
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And why would anyone be surprised? The clean-cut mayor ticks off many of the boxes that the establishment\/corporate crowd tend to adore.
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Ivy league education? Check. Military experience? Check. Strong religious beliefs? Check. Youthfulness? Check. A unique background that when carefully utilized by campaign staff could make him simultaneously appeal to salt-of-the-earth factory workers and yoga-loving wine moms? Being a piano-playing polyglot from America\u2019s heartland with the possibility of becoming the nation\u2019s first gay president certainly can\u2019t hurt in that regard.
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Buttigieg speaking at the 2019 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, California. (Credit: Gage Skidmore \/ Flickr) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Underneath the glossy magazine covers<\/a>, presidential aesthetic and his appearances on Showtime\u2019s \u201cDesus & Mero<\/a>\u201d and the wildly-popular radio show known as \u201cThe Breakfast Club<\/a>,\u201d Buttigieg\u2019s strategy\u2014along with the strategies of the other center-left Democrats in the race\u2014is to use the neoliberal playbook from the Clinton\/Obama years.
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This \u201cstrategy\u201d is one which involves saying a lot without actually saying anything at all. And this time, this model has been updated for 2020.
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Had Biden chose not to run in this election, I\u2019m highly confident that Buttigieg would be polling as a solid third, with Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren duking out for the number one spot as both of them would alternate between first and second until the nomination.
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Don\u2019t believe me? Buttigieg is Ivy League-educated (he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University and followed it up by attending England\u2019s prestigious University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship for his postgraduate studies), well-spoken, looks like a natural on the debate stage and his status as a married, openly-gay politician has high potential to aid in erasing the negative stereotypes that many Americans still hold towards the LGBT community.
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On paper, he should be among the ranks of the growing progressive branch of the Democratic party, being seen in photo ops with left-wing firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (who recently announced her support for Sanders<\/a>) and Shahid Buttar<\/a>, the 45-year-old attorney from San Francisco aiming to unseat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from congress.
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