Even as he raised $24.8 million during the second quarter of the year — easily the most money of any Democrat — his support in national polls fell by about half from a high of 10 points in April to about five points this month. And two well-received debate performances, in Miami in June and Detroit in July, seemed to do nothing to pull him closer to the leaders in the field: former Vice President Joe Biden, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, California Sen. Kamala Harris and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“He’s done some monster fundraising but his numbers haven’t moved much,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll, which on Tuesday released a poll showing Buttigieg stuck at 5% support.
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Quinnipiac’s August poll found Buttigieg with 3% of support among black voters nationally. In South Carolina, where African Americans comprise a majority of the primary electorate for Democrats, Buttigieg received 1% support in a poll conducted late last month by Monmouth University.
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poll released this week by The Economist/YouGov found that only 16 percent of black voters in the country are considering Buttigieg for president. But the poll also found that less than half of those polled knew who he was.
Who has wasted much thought on Beto at all since he lost to Cruz?
Seriously that dude has been failing up his whole life… and somehow is enough of an egomaniac to think that he’s qualified in any way to be POTUS. A friend of mines husband called Beto ‘what you’d design in a lab to pander to slightly left of center Gen-X’ers’ and I think that’s devastatingly accurate.
You’re saying that like he wasn’t running against Trump (and Ted Cruz who is NOT especially charismatic) and Texas wasn’t changing so fast politically that it’s basically a swing state for 2020.
Seriously my point is largely from watching his performance as a POTUS candidate and then looking at his Senate run through that lense. He looks incompetent, has failed a lot in his career, and despite the good optics from almost beating Cruz I think his lone moment in the sun was probably a fluke.
Beto did a fantastic job registering and turning out new voters to speed that all up. There’s also a grassroots organization in Texas doing amazing work in that regard. If it goes blue in 2020 they both get a huge assist.
He’s a very talented campaigner on the ground. Unfortunately he’s revealed himself to be an empty suit in the Dem primary. If he fixes that at some point he’s still a very talented young politician with a bright future in Dem politics.
I agree that he has a very good chance to be governor of Texas or a long serving Senator/Congressperson. He doesn’t even have to stop being an empty suit. There have always been plenty of those in politics. It’s just really bad for a POTUS.
I should have been clearer in my earlier post. It was really about Beto’s ceiling. I do worry a bit about him being delusional enough to think this was a good cycle to run for president.
Running for president was clearly his best move. Tons of upside for him, minimal downside. Even now, what’s the worst case? He doesn’t catch on in the polls and drops out and runs for Senate? Otherwise he was just going to be on the back burner for a long time.
His mistake was not figuring out what the fuck he’s for on policy before running for president.
That’s a fair take actually. I think you’ve got a better bead on Beto than I do… which isn’t surprising since I honestly haven’t bothered to really look at him or think about the world from his perspective.
Ann Richards in the 90s won the governor’s seat as a Democrat. She’s the last Democrat I know of winning state wide there. Lost to Bush iirc after her first term.
Anecdotally, I know a few people in the Dallas area, family & friends, and they’ve all said their state seems to becoming purple.
I feel like he conned me, though. I was a big fan during the Senate run, but I made the mistake of believing he actually had principles, or even policy positions. I viewed him as a top tier future POTUS candidate in need of being exposed to the national stage and given either VP or a high profile cabinet position to set him up for a 2028 or 2032 run.
Now I’m hoping he can somehow beat Cornyn, and spend a term or two in the Senate figuring out what he actually stands for on policy.
He’s one of the best in the field at calling out racial injustice and bullshit, though.
Nice, it’s a great area. So many good bars/restaurants in Austin, and cool outdoor activities too.