Pete Buttigieg Writes to Himself
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****
TO: PETE BUTTIGIEG
FROM: self
DATE: June 15, 2022
RE: I alone
What a day for America!
It warmed my heart to see this entry on the President’s public schedule for Wednesday:
4:00 PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY host a reception and deliver remarks celebrating Pride Month; THE VICE PRESIDENT, THE SECOND GENTLEMAN, the Secretary of Interior, and the Secretary of Transportation attend
East Room
The United States has come so far in such a short period of time, revolutionizing acceptance and opportunity for the millions of us who have now gone from hiding and shame to pride.
And my donors agree with me: America is ready for a gay president in 2024, as long as that gay president is more competent than Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, my friends.
It is always eye-opening for me to be over at the White House, the pomp and circumstance largely hiding from public view what a complete crap show it is behind the scenes – the chaos, the odd dynamics, the deference to old Biden hands who were the masterminds behind barely beating Donald Trump (after he showed us his heart for four years) and then overseeing a historic drop in presidential approval.
There are four truths about my party and my nation that are obvious to my donor network; I have no idea if the White House understands any of this:
1. The economy will stay in bad shape for a long time -- and the public perception matches the reality: the administration is doing nothing serious about it.
2. Tuesday’s primary results demonstrate that our erosion with Hispanic voters could end up being THE story of the midterms – and, if the economy doesn’t get better in 2023, THE political story of 2024.
3. President Biden, with all due respect, is basically a non-factor in the news cycle, on the economy, and on Capitol Hill.
4. Democrats’ obsession with Donald Trump is making it more likely he will get elected president in 2024, rather than less likely.
I know all of these things in part because my donors tell me, but mostly because I am, like Barack Obama, capable of being both a kickass presidential candidate and a super-composite national political strategist, with the comms savvy of Mike McCurry, the speechwriting capability of Peggy Noonan, the demographic understanding of Karl Rove, and the historical mastery of Doug Sosnik.
Some might see that statement as bragging, but as Chasten and I always joke, I couldn’t say it if it weren’t true!
I also know all these things because, unlike a lot of my administration colleagues, I follow the conservative media as closely (really, more closely) than I do the liberal side. You gotta know what the other half is thinking, as I learned in Indiana.
We can’t run away from the lead sentence of the lead editorial in the Wall Street Journal:
Inflation is rampant, the Federal Reserve seems prepared to raise interest rates even higher than previously expected, financial markets are reeling, and rumors of recession are in the air.
Why are we unable to counter all this?
Part of it is the sheer challenge of dealing with inflation, the supply chain, etc.
But part of it is the President, no matter how loudly he tries to speak, carries a small stick.
Imagine at this historic time, a Democratic United States President goes to Philadelphia and tries to give his best stemwinder to the most important and symbolically resonant part of our party – the AFL CIO – and gets almost no coverage.
Sure, Politico wrote a piece, but they cover everything, and the gestalt of the story was that time is running out before November and the President is already out of ideas. Otherwise, the speech pretty much disappeared into the ether by sundown.
What are we actually doing to address the gloom and doom around the economy?
Talking talking talking about the exact same flawed options that have been on the table for weeks – even months.
I laughed and cried when I read the latest two examples of how (my) Team Biden is still in paralysis-by-analysis mode.
This one, with its “showing signs,” “more seriously considering,” and “expected to meet later this week for further talks” is a classic of the genre:
The White House is showing signs that it is more seriously considering a federal gas tax holiday, sources tell The Hill.
President Biden’s economic team has discussed the gas tax holiday recently and is expected to meet later this week for further talks….
And the New York Times’ accurate report that we are still mulling over reducing China tariffs is also filled with hilarious indecision, including this on-the-other-hand paragraph:
Any move to tweak the tariffs could carry significant trade-offs. It could encourage companies to keep their supply chains in China, undercutting another White House priority to bring jobs back to America. And it could expose Mr. Biden — and his Democratic allies in Congress — to attacks that he is letting Beijing off the hook when America’s economic relationship with China has become openly hostile, deepening a wedge issue for the midterm elections and the next presidential race.
The White House doesn’t even have the sway to get the China competitiveness bill – backed by Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and most everyone else – out of conference committee and onto the President’s desk!
We better do something soon. The Washington Post’s latest step-back on the economy, pegged to the Fed action today, is brutal:
The Federal Reserve’s missteps in waiting too long to tackle the greatest run-up in prices in four decades has shaken trust across markets and the American public that it is up to the task of curbing inflation.
On the eve of a high-stakes Fed policy announcement, investors, economists and policymakers were on edge over how sharply the Fed would raise interest rates to deal with inflation, which hit a new peak in May.
Financial market volatility and losses deepened on Tuesday, fueled by fears that the Fed continues to misjudge inflation and will come down too hard on the economy, prompting a recession. The S&P 500 has fallen into bear market territory — a 20 percent fall from the most recent high — and all the indexes have accelerated losses for the year.
Even more concerning are new signs that families have lost faith in the Fed’s policies.
I am also amazed that the White House doesn’t see that its level of actual (or feigned?) Trump Derangement Syndrome is as high as Rachel Maddows. Maybe that is why all of those departing administration folks move straight to MSNBC anchor chairs.
As I said, I avidly consume the Red media. Marc Thiessen and Holman Jenkins both seem to agree with me that we are doing way too much to smooth Trump’s return to the White House, including putting all this focus on 1/6.
Here is Thiessen:
The objective of the Democrat-run House Jan. 6 select committee is clear: to make sure Donald Trump is never elected president again. So why are Democrats doing everything in their power to ensure that Trump wins back the White House in 2024?...
Biden has become captive to his party’s progressive wing. His leftward lurch is providing no safe harbor for voters who don’t like Trump but also don’t like the left’s agenda. It has also unleashed a series of catastrophes that has left him less popular around the 500-day mark of his presidency than any modern president before him.
Biden says today’s GOP “isn’t your grandfather’s Republican Party.” Well, this isn’t your grandfather’s Democratic Party, either. In just a few decades, we’ve gone from a Democratic president who promised that “the era of big government is over” to a Democratic president who tried to enact the highest sustained levels of federal spending since World War II while collecting more tax revenue as a share of the economy than at almost any point in the past century. That’s not what Americans voted for in 2020.
And Jenkins:
Don’t underestimate how much the determination to prevent a Trump restoration now permeates the establishment, with quite a few Republicans quietly on board. You may have noticed Democrats are investing in a big televised Jan. 6 pseudo-prosecution for one reason: to inoculate America against a Trump revival that Democrats would likely only be able to oppose with the lackluster Joe Biden or the lackluster Kamala Harris.
Many of the institutions that matter most—the press, Wall Street, university economics departments—already can be heard sounding off on the need to avoid an ’80s-like recession even if the cost is more inflation. Jerome Powell and his Federal Reserve colleagues are hardly insensate to the risk that their inflation-fighting actions might bring Mr. Trump back to power.
Protecting our very democracy from the evil of Donald Trump is important, but so is demonstrating that we are pushing back against a Republican Party that is united less around Trump and more around critiquing our record.
Our media allies are not helping. Check out what the New York Times considers to be today’s top four political stories:
When Josh Hawley can swing at us like we are a battered-to-bursting pinata, there is a problem:
And let’s not kid ourselves about the meaning of Tuesday’s primary results. We are in real trouble with Hispanics, and Trump is in charge of his party:
We need new leadership, new ways of thinking, a new perspective.
Conservative columnists might mock my White House aspirations, and Matt Lewis might be floating Oprah for president, but I’m going to keep doodling “Buttigieg-Raimondo ‘24” logos on my iPad until I find one I like. I’m also the best graphic designer I know.
Time to immaculately knot my tie and answer donor emails, both of which are more enticing than looking at my 401(k).
All the best,
Pete
****
IN OTHER NEWS
David Ignatius remains somewhat bullish on beating Putin on the current trajectory:
Russian military advances in eastern Ukraine this month have raised growing concern in the West that the balance of the war is tipping in Moscow’s favor. But Biden administration officials think these fears are overblown, and that Ukrainian defenses remain solid in this ugly war of attrition.
“We share the concerns, but for now we believe the Ukrainians are well-positioned and equipped to hold off the advances, while the Russians have their own sustainment challenges,” a senior administration official told me Tuesday.
….while Bret Stephens is bearish on Russia.
****
In honor of the runup to Father’s Day:
Two 90-year-old guys, Leo and Frank, had been friends all their lives.
When it was clear that Leo was dying, Frank visited him every day.
One day Frank said, "Leo, we both loved playing baseball, and we played
all through high school. Please do me one favor: when you get to
heaven, somehow you must let me know if there's baseball there."
Leo looked up at Frank from his deathbed and said,
"Frank you've been my best friend for many years. If it's at all
possible, I'll do this favor for you."
Shortly after that, Leo passed away.
A few nights later, Frank was awakened from a sound sleep by a
blinding flash of white light and a voice calling out to him, "Frank
... Frank …”
"Who is it?" asked Frank sitting up suddenly. "Who is it?”
“It's me, Leo.”
"You're not Leo. Leo just died.”
"I'm telling you it's me, Leo," insisted the voice.
"Leo! Where are you?”
"In Heaven," replied Leo. "I have some really good news and a little bad news.”
"Tell me the good news first," said Frank.
"The good news," Leo said, "is that there is baseball in heaven. Better
yet, all of our old buddies who died before us are here too. Better
than that, we're all young again. Better still, it's always springtime,and it never rains or snows. And best of all, we can play baseball all we want,
and we never get tired.”
"That's fantastic," said Frank. "It's beyond my wildest dreams! So
what's the bad news?"
"You're pitching Tuesday."