Sorry, Pete Buttigieg: We Don’t Need a White Obama

Everyone’s weighing in on the mayor’s primary success, except those of us at the center of his self-conscious branding

Michael Arceneaux
LEVEL

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Photo: Boston Globe/Getty Images

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NoNo matter the eventual outcome of the already miserable 2020 presidential election, Pete Buttigieg has cemented his place in history. As the sort-of winner of the Iowa caucus and after netting a very close second-place finish in New Hampshire, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana has become the first openly gay, actually viable presidential candidate in American history. It matters not if this storied campaign will eventually falter as a result of the fact that Buttigieg’s support is relegated mainly to White folks of the higher-earning sort — it’s a historical moment of immense significance all the same.

Yet, for the life of me, I have not managed to muster a single damn about this man, who I find to be as endearing as fraud on your credit report.

Evidently, I’m not alone. Others have pointed to an almost eerie quietness to this queer history being made in real time. Even cable news hosts and other pundits have noticed that an unprecedented political story is being treated…

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