Buttigieg Is a Master Manipulator, and He Doesn’t Deserve Our Votes.

A power-hungry sociopath took advantage of chaos, and we should all be disgusted.

Photo via Pete Buttigieg on Instagram

What happened in the Iowa Caucus was and continues to be an absolute disgrace, and there’s no doubt in my mind that if what happened there had happened in a country like Bolivia or Venezuela, the United States would likely use it as an excuse to invade in the name of “spreading democracy”.

While Joe Biden’s downfall was probably one of the biggest takeaways from the Iowa caucus, the other is the serious threat of South Bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, not only to Bernie Sanders’ candidacy but democracy overall. To declare victory in Iowa with zero precincts reporting is not only absolutely appalling, but shows us the lengths that he and the Democratic Party are willing to go to stop Bernie Sanders. To do this in the midst of the chaos showed remarkable levels of manipulation, and remembering that he had gone to dinners discussing how to stop Bernie Sanders only infuriated me further.

Let me be clear: Bernie Sanders is the real winner of Iowa. Given the context of the voter turnout, his six thousand vote lead once all was said and done is significant. Not only that, Buttigieg only has a tenth of a percent of a pledged delegate more than Bernie. It’s also worth noting that Bernie cited six inconsistencies in the reporting. Inconsistencies that would have handed him a definite pledged delegate lead.

In taking advantage of the chaos the way that he did, Buttigieg was able to manipulate the discourse in a way that could have a lasting effect on the race moving forward. It was a move with such a profound impact at least in the immediate aftermath that it has arguably made him the centrist replacement for Biden, and indefinitely will if he performs just as well in the upcoming states.

A recent poll had him now in a statistical tie with Bernie in New Hampshire.

While I doubt his bump was that significant overall, clearly it’s something to take seriously and Bernie’s base needs to get to work. During the debate before New Hampshire, Bernie needs to take advantage of the platform to do everything he can to point out exactly who Buttigieg really is. At this moment in time he is the main threat to his candidacy, and it’s time for us to respond accordingly.

That being said, Buttigeg will never get my vote. I will never vote for a man funded by forty billionaires. I will never vote for a man with more exclusive billionaire donors than any other democrat. I will never vote for a man who referred to small dollar donations funding Bernie’s campaign as “pocket change”. He is one of the most self-serving, corporatist, sociopathic individuals running among the democrats, and that is not a candidate America should even remotely consider supporting if they’re looking for a candidate who hopes to serve their best interests and defeat Donald Trump.

*EDIT:

I feel as though I should apologize for calling Buttigieg a sociopath. I let the anger get the better of me, and used language that I should not have and that does no one any favors. Writing has always been a way for me to vent my frustration, and using that word wasn’t necessary. I am not going to edit away and try to hide what I said because that feels pointless and weak, but I admit I should not have written that. That being said, I think all the pearl clutching and calling me an insane Russian agent was over the top as well, but I know better than to expect any apologies.

ALso, there are a LOT of people flooding the comments of this article condemning me for saying Buttigieg will never get my vote. Not that it is ANYONE’S business, but I live in an electorally irrelevant state. I will not be bullied in to voting for a candidate I despise when I can take advantage of a vote that ultimately will not matter. If I lived in a swing state, I would hold my nose and vote for him, so RELAX.