The Ignored Historical Moment
By: Edward Anderson
Tags: Politics, History, Opinion, LGBTQ, Election 2020

The Ignored Historical Moment

History was made this week but got drowned out by other headlines.

Photo from Time Magazine

Pete Buttigieg won the Iowa Caucus. On its own, there is nothing very significant about that statement, outside of giving his campaign a major boost as the Democratic hopefuls head into the New Hampshire primaries. And normally there would no reason to make a big to-do about the big Buttigieg win.

But this is not a normal case. Mayor Pete, as he is known to his supporters, is an out and proud gay man. This was the first time that an out gay person has won the Iowa caucus! No matter what happens from this point, Buttigieg should go down in history for that alone. Let alone leapfrogging his way to front runner status over more seasoned political veterans.

But other headlines drowned that out. The State of the Union address and Speaker Pelosi’s ripping up of that speech stole headlines on February 4, 2020. Then on the 5th, the Senate voted not to remove Trump from office despite gross abuse of power. That story was a historic moment on its own, even if it was entirely predictable looking at the other two Presidents who were impeached.

And then there is the mess with the Iowa vote that consumed most of the headlines that would have gone to Buttigieg had things been handled properly. Despite this, there should have been something mentioned about the historic nature of Mayor Pete’s win.

Will The Real Winner Stand Up

The angry old man known as Senator Bernie Sanders has tried to claim the victory. He has touted his standing and inaccurately said he had more votes than Buttigieg. The stats as reported by every major outlet had Buttigieg with 26.2% of the vote and Sanders with 26.1% of the vote.

It doesn’t take a mathematician to determine that Buttigieg got more votes than Sanders. Even if it was a razor-thin margin, Sanders got fewer votes than his stiffest competition and should have lost with dignity. Instead, he got cantankerous and made many who would have supported him question whether he has the right temperament to be President.

One of the arguments made against Buttigieg is that because he is gay, people won’t want to vote for him. Those who make this argument usually support Bernie or at least say they would support the Vermont Senator. If electability is in question, no independent or moderate republican looking for an alternative to Trump will throw their support behind Sanders.

But for Sanders, this isn’t about electability. It’s about redemption and trying to recapture the love he felt in 2016. And he’s running as a Democrat despite turning down the party’s nomination for Senator in 2018. He wanted to run as an independent.

So his cranky answer that he won Iowa falls flat for many reasons. The numbers don’t lie.

No Need To Change

On the latest episode of Sandyland, Sandra Bernhardt’s Radio Andy show, they talked about Buttigieg’s win. The comedian answered a caller’s question about why Mayor Pete’s win wasn’t a bigger deal. Her answer was uncalled for and frankly insulting to the LGBTQ community (of which she is a part) as a whole.

Bernhardt said she didn’t think it was a big deal that Buttigieg won because he’s not a firebrand for the community. Her rationale is basically if he’s not waving around a rainbow flag and screaming about gay rights then he is doing nothing for the community. And she is wrong. Dead wrong.

The fact that Pete Buttigieg is an out gay man running for President is enough of a statement. That he brings his husband, Chasten, with him on the campaign trail is trailblazing in and of itself. Just because he is not focusing on LGBTQ issues right now, doesn’t mean he’s not worried about them. It means that he is working on issues that resonates with more communities.

Stop Listening To Talking Heads

Buttigieg appeared on The View this week. Meghan McCain asked him about his stance on partial-birth abortion. He gave her the answer that he, nor anyone else, is in the position to tell a grieving mother what to do in those circumstances. McCain got on her high horse and declared the answer “radical” and decided that somehow despite being the Princess of Arizona, she knows what middle America wants, and that is not Mayor Pete.

Here’s the thing. McCain has admitted time and again that she won’t vote for any Democrat, including family friend Joe Biden. She is not the one who should be weighing in on what the left wants or who they should be voting for. Let her vote for Trump despite her alleged distaste for him because she doesn’t have the balls to vote for another party.

Buttigieg answered the question according to his ethics and what the right thing to do and say was. And for someone who allegedly isn’t resonating in middle America, he got twice the number of votes as Biden, the former front runner.

Instead of letting the negative nellies snatch this victory away from Buttigieg, let us celebrate the fact that he won Iowa. A gay man won in a state that is stereotypically homophobic. That is a reason to rejoice.