Post
Topic
Board Politics & Society
Re: 2020 Democrats
by
TwitchySeal
on 17/12/2019, 01:02:59 UTC
I think this is a pretty big issue for a good deal of voting groups, and I think it's fair to say that conservative / religious groups are one of those groups of people.

But at the end of the day I think the best thing to look at is the polls here - https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/30/pete-buttigieg-gay-president-poll-061350

A lot of people will at a conscious level think, "I'm tolerant, I'd definitely vote for a gay president," but subconsciously they'll be a little uncomfortable with it, and if they're not sure who to vote for, this'll tip the scales. This subconscious effect is best captured in neighbor polling, where "your neighbors" IMO ends up being a proxy for "your community's collective subconscious":

Quote from: Politico
That gap grew even wider when voters were asked whether they thought their neighbors were ready for a gay president. About a quarter of respondents answered affirmatively, while 46 percent said their neighbors were either definitely or probably not ready for a gay president. Pluralities of both Democrats and Republicans, as well as independents, all said they did not believe that their neighbors were ready for a gay president.

This might bode poorly for him in a general election, though I doubt that a lot of people are wavering on whether to vote for Trump or not -- most people either love him or hate him --, and the LGBT thing is an effect which pushes most people only slightly. Also, any negative effect will be counterbalanced to some extent by some LGBT people being actively driven to vote for him.
....
If all that was true, how did Hillary run at all? By avoiding this delicate issue?

She filed with the FEC?

Well that does solve the riddle.

Is 'how did she even run at all' something people are saying?

I'm usually pretty good at keeping up with right wing conspiracy theories but haven't heard this one.

Or are you just implying the lesbian tabloid rumors should've stopped her from getting the nomination.

Hillary has long been known to have such interests and it did seem to be an issue in her presidency attempt.

Maybe it's one of those things that will only be an issue if it's a Repub candidate. Or if it's the "wrong" Demo candidate, and of course Buttigieg is the "wrong candidate."

I think the main difference is that Pete is an openly gay man, married to another man.  Hillary is an openly straight woman, married to a man.