Opinion: Klobuchar and Buttigieg decide enemy of my enemy is... Joe Biden
Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar shake hands. AP
Opinion
After dropping out of the presidential race, Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar unite to endorse former Vice President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee for president. The abrupt end to their presidential election bids represents a last-second attempt to coalesce against a common foe, Vermont Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
Their decisions come as Buttigieg and Klobuchar struggled in the South Carolina primary, as Biden leaped into second place in total pledged delegates behind Senator Sanders.
This consolidation of the moderate portion of the Democratic party is astounding in both pace and timing.
The pace is amazing because these two candidates were both asking South Carolinians for their votes just this past Saturday after several rallies, town halls, and presidential debates.
The timing is startling because, by Monday, Klobuchar, and Buttigieg are both out of the race just in time for Super Tuesday when 1,357 pledged delegates are up for grabs.
It is fathomable that Klobuchar and Buttigieg realized they had no clear path to the nomination and acquired their campaign ending epiphanies independent of one another.
It is perhaps more logical the two establishment Democrats underperformed in South Carolina and were informed by their campaign financiers that they’d be throwing their full support behind Joe Biden.
You can not continue a presidential campaign when the well runs dry.
Klobuchar and Buttigieg both positioned themselves within the moderate Democratic lane occupied by Joe Biden. Though they were not completely in lockstep on policy, the messaging was definitely on one accord, coupling together the issue of electability with empty platitudes.
The Democratic establishment would have you believe that the most important goal of 2020 is to defeat President Donald Trump. However, Klobuchar and Buttigieg’s endorsement of Biden is contrary to the poll numbers. According to RealClear Politics, Bernie Sanders beats Trump in almost every reputable poll with an average spread of +4.9 percentage points. Ultimately, these candidates have endorsed a less likely victor in Biden.
Bernie Sanders (right) and former Vice President Joe Biden (left). Getty Images
But why? Why did neither candidate endorse the statistical front-runner Bernie Sanders? Well, there’s the establishment talking points, then there is the truth.
The talking point is that Bernie Sanders is too liberal to defeat Donald Trump in states where Hillary Clinton lost in 2016. Also, the damage assumed to occur down-ballot, would result in the Democrats losing the House and failing to grasp a majority in the Senate.
The truth? In politics, far too often, Democrats are only as progressive as their donors permit them to be.
The billionaire donors that contribute to presidential campaigns are buying access and ultimately, political favors once their choice candidate is elected. Super PACs make it possible for campaign contributors to give unlimited amounts of money to candidates running for president.
This leads to corruption and political favors the media views as acceptable and shamefully, not news. Politicians’ principles dissolve after they become presidential candidates and in worst cases after they become presidents because they serve at the pleasure of their donors.
For example, Pete Buttigieg dismissed his support for Bernie Sanders’ Medicare For All Act and pivoted to his “Medicare for all who want it.”
Decriminalizing border crossings is another Bernie-esque position Buttigieg abandoned after joining the race. This was an obvious attempt to contrast himself from Bernie Sanders, likely at the behest of donors that have their own opinion of what the United States should be while protecting their investments with deregulation and tax incentives.
In contrast to the moderates, the liberal wing of the Democratic Party represented by Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders remains split.
There is no coincidence that the two candidates yet to receive money from Super PACs are up against a billionaire in Mike Bloomberg, and the establishment candidate Joe Biden.
Now, with Super Tuesday underway, the donors’ wager on Joe Biden will be tested. Either Klobuchar and Buttigieg will convince their supporters to vote for Biden, or Bernie Sanders will energize his base and remain the front-runner by Wednesday morning.
Only Tuesday will tell.