Harris reveals she almost picked Buttigieg as VP, feared America wasn't ready for duo

[Valletta]

Harris reveals she almost picked Buttigieg as VP, feared America wasn't ready for duo

Buttigieg, who previously served as President Joe Biden's Transportation Secretary, was among Harris's top eight picks for Vice President.

keprtv.com

The bottom line was she didn't pick him because he was gay.

 

[PloverWing]

Yes, that's the kind of calculation that candidates have to make.

 

[Valletta]

Yes, that's the kind of calculation that candidates have to make.

No, they don't.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Harris reveals she almost picked Buttigieg as VP, feared America wasn't ready for duo

Buttigieg, who previously served as President Joe Biden's Transportation Secretary, was among Harris's top eight picks for Vice President.

keprtv.com

The bottom line was she didn't pick him because he was gay.

And Walz was somehow a better pick? Wow.

 

[Desk trauma]

No, they don't.

How a VP candidate will be received is something that is considered by anyone running for president. That calculus includes how people will react to their sexuality.

 

[rambot]

Harris reveals she almost picked Buttigieg as VP, feared America wasn't ready for duo

Buttigieg, who previously served as President Joe Biden's Transportation Secretary, was among Harris's top eight picks for Vice President.

keprtv.com

The bottom line was she didn't pick him because he was gay.

Yes. BEcause he wouldn't be voted for because he's gay.

I assume your angle is that you have a problem that "Harris didn't take the DEI hire?"

 

[GoldenBoy89]

The bottom line was she didn't pick him because he was gay.

That’s seems rather prejudice to assume. Maybe she thought he didn’t have the experience necessary to be second in line for the presidency at his age.

Why do you assume it’s because he’s gay? Do you believe a gay president would be unelectable?

 

[Valletta]

Why do you assume it’s because he’s gay? Do you believe a gay president would be unelectable?

That came across as her assumption. Here's what Buttigieg said about it:

Buttigieg responds to Harris’ VP snub: You earn voters’ trust on ‘what they think you’re going to do,’ not ‘on categories’​

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/18/buttigieg-harris-runing-mate-107-days-00571954

 

[rambot]

That came across as her assumption. Here's what Buttigieg said about it:

Buttigieg responds to Harris’ VP snub: You earn voters’ trust on ‘what they think you’re going to do,’ not ‘on categories’​

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/18/buttigieg-harris-runing-mate-107-days-00571954

He is a hopeful person. But if even 2 percent of people don't behave that way (And I am convinced that number is WAY more) that's 6million people.

 

[Servus]

Yes. BEcause he wouldn't be voted for because he's gay.

I assume your angle is that you have a problem that "Harris didn't take the DEI hire?"

Ah, so DEI hires aren't just black people. Good to know.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

While I realize certain pros/cons tradeoffs are tough decision people have to make when running for office.

It was a poor calculation on her part.

Voter apathy from her own side was one of the reasons she lost

Biden got 6 million more votes than she did (while Trump's vote tally between the two elections was relatively similar)

She would've been better off trying to excite her own base by picking the first gay dude than she was insulting everyone's intelligence by trying to parade Tim Walz around as a moderate on the basis that he coaches football and did some photo ops in a hunting outfit.

Tim Walz did not gain her any votes.

 

[FireDragon76]

Probably true. VP's are often chosen pragmatically, and don't reflect ideals.

I haven't seen enough about Buttigieg's politics to know much about him... even though I have watched several interviews with him, so that says alot. He's a bit of a cypher.

I'm sure he has a decent character and comes across as charismatic and likeable, but I'm unconvinced he's prepared to be president in such a troubled nation. He reminds me of Obama, and not in a good way. Obama was a flawed figure that trusted too much in the neoliberal myth and not enough in making tough decisions with moral clarity that wouldn't win him any friends among his peers. After the 2008 financial crash, our country needed a liturgy of public repudiation of private greed, instead we got Obama's promise that nothing would fundamentally change for Wall Street, and he had their backs. Instead of systemic critique, we got years of posturing identity politics and techno-utopian fantasies while the average Americans standard of living declined, all accompanied by zero empathy from Obama in the process (other than making cold remarks about people clinging to their "guns and religion" in rural America)

So, I'm sure Buttigieg is a decent Christian man and would make a good cabinet appointee, but I wouldn't count on him to make hard decisions that will be contrary his instincts to build a soft consensus. Buttigieg comes across as somebody that wants to be likeable, in an almost desperate way, his whole life has been marred by a self-creation project of acceptability politics. And that's not exactly a good thing right now in this cultural moment.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Probably true. VP's are often chosen pragmatically, and don't reflect ideals.

I haven't seen enough about Buttigieg's politics to know much about him. I'm sure he has a decent character, but I'm unconvinced he's prepared to be president in such a troubled nation. He reminds me of Obama, and not in a good way. Obama was a flawed figure that trusted too much in the neoliberal myth and not enough in making tough decisions with moral clarity that wouldn't win him any friends among his peers. After the 2008 financial crash, our country needed a liturgy of public repudiation of private greed, instead we got Obama's promise that nothing would fundamentally change for Wall Street, and he had their backs. Instead of systemic critique, we got years of posturing identity politics and techno-utopian fantasies while the average Americans standard of living declined, all accompanied by zero empathy from Obama in the process (other than making cold remarks about people clinging to their "guns and religion" in rural America)

So, I'm sure Buttigieg is a decent Christian man and would make a good cabinet appointee, but I wouldn't count on him to make hard decisions that will be contrary his instincts to build a soft consensus. Buttigieg comes across as somebody that wants to be likeable, in an almost desperate way, his whole life has been marred by a self-creation project of acceptability politics. And that's not exactly a good thing right now in this cultural moment.

With the rigorous screening process and complex calculus you describe, how did Walz make the cut?

I think you're attributing a deeper amount of thought in the process than what was actually exercised.

From my vantage point, she picked Walz because she thought "football coach who hunts might appeal to young men and moderates"

 

[FireDragon76]

With the rigorous screening process and complex calculus you describe, how did Walz make the cut?

I think you're attributing a deeper amount of thought in the process than what was actually exercised.

From my vantage point, she picked Walz because she thought "football coach who hunts might appeal to young men and moderates"

I don't think Waltz is just an empty stuffed suit, he was an actual governor with executive experience, as well as having experience as a school teacher and coach. Buttigieg was just a mayor for a short period of time, in comparison. He might have been good at understanding foreign policy, given his intelligence background, but foreign policy issues haven't been pertinent in US politics in some time: the future in US politics is going to be about managing America's geopolitical decline gracefully while facing domestic challenges, the likes of which we haven't seen since the US Civil War.

Democrats do best when they run on actual proven competence. Buttigieg needs more political experience making tough calls.

 

[Servus]

With the rigorous screening process and complex calculus you describe, how did Walz make the cut?

I think you're attributing a deeper amount of thought in the process than what was actually exercised.

From my vantage point, she picked Walz because she thought "football coach who hunts might appeal to young men and moderates"

Despite being a football coach who hunts, he came off as being somewhat effeminate.

 

[PloverWing]

Despite being a football coach who hunts, he came off as being somewhat effeminate.

Well, I didn't expect that. I don't get to pick candidates, but for future reference: what would make a candidate sufficiently masculine for you to approve of him?

 

[Servus]

Well, I didn't expect that. I don't get to pick candidates, but for future reference: what would make a candidate sufficiently masculine for you to approve of him?

My approval has nothing to do with it. That's how he was perceived. Odd and flaky.

 

[FireDragon76]

Despite being a football coach who hunts, he came off as being somewhat effeminate.

He's a midwestern Lutheran man. Swagger and bravado aren't considered virtues, in that context. Showing up for your community consistently is what is a virtue.

The folks that considers bluster and bravado to be hallmarks of masculinity are simply not the segment of the population that Kamala was trying to win, nor would it have been good electoral strategy to do so.

 

[Servus]

He's a midwestern Lutheran man. Swagger and bravado aren't considered virtues, in that context. Showing up for your community consistently is what is a virtue.

The folks that considers bluster and bravado to be hallmarks of masculinity are simply not the segment of the population that Kamala was trying to win, nor would it have been good electoral strategy to do so.

Swagger and bluster et al is a misconception of masculinity. When it comes to Walz staked up against JD Vance, Vance was a lot closer to exemplifying what Harris needed if that's what she was going for.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Despite being a football coach who hunts, he came off as being somewhat effeminate.

I don't even care about any "effeminate" stuff... I'd gladly vote for a gay guy who exhibited shared values.

The part that made it somewhat insulting was that he held actual values that were politically left of center (some pretty far left of center), and she thought that would somehow be "balanced out" in the eyes of moderates and some center-right by "he likes hunting and football"

Basically how that comes across is "my side requires deeper connections on actual important values to support someone, but for their side...meh, we'll just have someone who can talk about how he like venison burgers and which running back is his favorite"

It'd be like if a republican presidential candidate claimed they were trying to reach across the aisle and get some cross-over and independent votes, and said "I'll pick someone who has distinctly deep conservative positions on the actual issues for the peeps on my side, but I'll make sure it's someone who talks about liking rap music and Starbucks, because that's what liberals are into, right?"