All of which is to say: I like Pete Buttigieg.

Gail: Is it just because he can speak eight languages?

Seriously, I’m sort of in awe of the way he’s sweeping the field. We haven’t heard his detailed positions on the big issues the Democrats will be arguing about, but I believe you’ve pointed out in the past that the main thing is just to nominate somebody who can win. Either one of Pete Buttigieg’s dogs would be better than the man we’ve got in the Oval Office now.

But what would you do if the primaries went a different way and the winner was, say, Bernie Sanders. Would you vote for him?

Bret: I’ll get to Sanders in a second, but let’s say this about Buttigieg: It helps that he is incredibly bright — the contrast between the guy who learned Norwegian just for fun and the incumbent who hasn’t yet mastered English would be a useful one in a general election. But what really impresses me about Buttigieg is that he’s campaigning as a moderate Midwest problem-solver in a field full of coastal ideologues. I think it’s a no-lose strategy, setting himself up either as a credible candidate if he wins or a highly plausible VP pick if he doesn’t.

As for Bernie: I would never vote for him under any circumstances. I want Trump gone as much as anyone, but Sanders is a bridge too far as far as I’m concerned. I guess it would mean a Bill Weld vote for me, or whoever is the least feckless third-party candidate.

Gail: Bernie Sanders would not bring shame on the White House. He’d never defame a religious or ethnic group. He’s got a position on health care you hate, but if he couldn’t get a bill through Congress he wouldn’t try to declare a national emergency to force his will on the country. He’d bring America back to its position as a global leader, not a global delinquent.

And you know that voting for a third-party candidate is a cop-out. Also, it can screw things up if enough people do it and throw the election to the worst of two evils. I don’t think the people who self-righteously voted for Jill Stein really intended to give Donald Trump the presidency. But here we are.

Bret: Well, this is why I hope and pray that Sanders isn’t the nominee. We already have one major political party in the United States that has jumped off the cliff, morally and ideologically speaking. Why should I participate in helping the second one go over it also?