Mayor Pete and Pence: Pure politics
Pete Buttegieg is happening. He’s everybody’s favorite mayor, and now that he has announced his candidacy for president, every cable show wants him front and center. Mayor Pete is pretty impressive. Combat veteran, Rhodes scholar, young, respectful – but feisty.
And gay. In fact, Pete Buttegieg is a gay man married to another gay man.
Yes, the mayor with the name no one can pronounce is a cool dude. You can almost hear them in the Manhattan sushi bars murmuring: He could be the next Obama, the next thing, the first gay married president.
And up until a few days ago, I thought the Indiana native was a decent man, particularly when compared to the outrageously offensive, motley crew of Democratic presidential hopefuls. He seemed to be tethered to reality, not afraid of the Sorority Girls (Rachida, Ilhan and Alexandria) and much kinder, and more respectful than Donald Trump (which is an admittedly low threshold.)
But then he decided to do what he implored us not to do: Use his sexual orientation as a reason to elect him.
From the beginning, Mayor Pete has downplayed the importance of his “gayness.” That’s not to say he hid it, not by a long shot. One of the first things we learned about Buttegieg is that he was married to a man, which is kind of a clue.
When he was goaded by some commentators to take the low road and, for example, attack Chick-fil-A because of its owner’s position on gay marriage, he refused to take the bait and said, “I do not approve of their politics, but I kind of approve of their chicken.”
That’s the way a grown-up would speak, not someone beholden to the identity fascists out there who wanted him to reject the company because of its politics. Mayor Pete wasn’t saying “Poultry over Party” but he was saying that there are some battles too insignificant to fight. And the combat veteran understands that better than perhaps anyone.
I was very impressed by his ability to withstand the assault of the LGBT purists. But someone must have gotten to him, because before long, the man who was able to stare down the diversity Nazis started taking a page out of their playbook.
Case in point: the stealth attack on Mike Pence.
Buttegieg is the mayor of South Bend, which happens to be in the state of Indiana. Before becoming Donald Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence was the governor of that state. The two knew each other, and while I doubt they shared a beer and a Chick-fil-A sandwich on weekends, they clearly had open lines of communication.
That’s why what Mayor Pete did to former Governor Mike is pretty cowardly, disrespectful and an example that the toxic fumes of identity politics have infected even the most rational and well-meaning Democrats.
The married-to-a-manchicken-eating-scholar-warrior criticized the conservativeChristian-not-on-board-withthe-LGBT-agenda by implying that he was a bigot and “unChristian” for not supporting gay marriage, or any other aspect of the LGBT lifestyle. In noting that his marriage to his husband, Chasten, made him more spiritual (which is fine) he took a hit at Pence (which is not fine:) “That’s the thing that I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand. That if you have a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.” I know that people will remind me about Pence’s support for “gay conversion therapy,” which is unfortunate and which no one should support, even in the name of religious freedom. It’s pretty well established that you cannot “pray the gay away.” But it is obvious that Mayor Pete, that sweet and charming hail fellow well met who says all the right things and packages himself as a tolerant friendly guy, is really a charlatan when it comes to respecting religious differences. Pete Buttegieg is perfectly entitled to talk about how wonderful it is that he finally accepted his homosexuality, and how that makes him a better person. Good for him. What he is not entitled to do is play the “I’m A Better Christian Than Thou” game, one that conservatives have always been accused of playing, and get a pat on the back for his tolerance. He’s not tolerant. He’s not even particularly courageous. In fact, he has something in common with that sandwich he “kind of” likes.