The Long Shot Candidate
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Can Pete Buttigieg Become The Democratic Nominee?
On the 14th of April 2019, Pete Buttigieg launched his campaign for the presidency of the United States. Since then his national profile has risen considerably. Among other things, he has appeared on the cover of Out Magazine, Politico, and the coveted Time Magazine. More Importantly though, he has been consistently risen in the polls for the Democratic Nomination for the presidency. Can he, however, secure the nomination of the democratic party?
Lets first consider his chances at the nomination. Mayor Pete is currently polling at around 6% nationally. This effectively places him at ‘fourth place’ in the race for the nomination. When one looks at the polls for the Iowa primary he polls at 14%, which is still ‘fourth place’. This however, must not be discounted. With the number of candidates reducing in each debate and only eight nominees (of the twenty who started) qualifying for the 5th democratic debate (to be held on November 20th), being in fourth place is a comfortable position to be in for Mayor Pete. Being in the middle of the order, allows him to attack the front runner to gain a political edge but keeps in a position small enough not to be attacked back. This helped Former President Obama during his nomination for the presidency in 2008, as he was able to come from behind and attack the then front runner, Hillary Clinton.
Lack of federal political experience is also working in Mayor Pete’s favor. He is consistently able to attack his primary opponents for their specific and numerous (as any long term politician will have) failures while being shielded from the fact that he has only served as Mayor. The only on significant scandal he has had to face has been the firing of a black Police Chief Darryl Boykins. While the other prominent candidates have had to face numerous. Joe Biden's behaviour towards women, Bernie Sanders’s campaign workers pay, Elizabeth Warren’s pregnancy firing story and Kamala Harris’s criminal justice record have all been just the recent scandals that they had to face.
Another advantage that might just keep Mayor Pete’s campaign moving forward is his ability to raise money. As of now, Mayor Peter has raised the 3rd most amount of money among the democrats (with Bernie first and Warren second). He also has about $23.4 Million of…
