South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg is threatening to upend the 2020 Democratic primary after a recent CNN poll found him comfortably leading the field in Iowa at 25 percent.
Buttigieg's success has been driven in part by his popularity among rich white liberals with college degrees, as evidenced by his dominance in the "boat shoe" strongholds of Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Cape Cod.
However, some Democrats have expressed concern about Buttigieg's inability to win over black voters, a key Democratic constituency. A recent poll of South Carolina, for example, found Buttigieg receiving just 1 percent of the black vote in the early primary state.
This perception of Buttigieg, who has been on the receiving end of protests and calls for his resignation from black residents of South Bend, was reinforced by reports that his campaign claimed endorsements from black lawmakers in South Carolina who hadn't actually endorsed the candidate, and used a stock photo taken in Kenya to promote Buttigieg's "Frederick Douglass Plan for Black America."
Amid these bizarre revelations, a Buttigieg campaign organizer tweeted out a video of what is perhaps the whitest moment of the 2020 presidential race thus far: A group of white Baby Boomers in New Hampshire dancing to "High Hopes" by Panic! at the Disco, one of the whitest musical acts in the country.
WARNING: Graphic content.
...meanwhile, during the #PeteSummit lunch break #teampete #highhopes pic.twitter.com/8VFU4b1q0c
— Liz McLeod (@LizMcLeod) November 17, 2019