Tag: 2020 election

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Oscar-Winning Producer Working On Pete Buttigieg Documentary

A film production company is currently shooting a documentary that will chronicle the presidential campaign of openly gay Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg

A film production company is currently shooting a documentary that will chronicle the presidential campaign of openly gay Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana.

The production company, Story Syndicate, was founded by veteran filmmakers Dan Cogan (Oscar winner for Icarus) and Liz Garbus (Oscar-nominated for What Happened, Miss Simone?).

According to Axios, the independently funded film will document Mayor Pete’s “rise to national attention.”

Film crews have been seen filming at Buttigieg campaign events as well as at last week’s first Democratic presidential debates in Miami.

Buttigieg isn’t the first millennial politician to get the indie film treatment, though.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the focus of the campaign trail doc Knock Down the House, and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke was the subject of HBO’s Running with Beto.

Documentaries have been useful tools for younger politicians to be a part of creating their own narrative. The Ocasio-Cortez and O’Rourke projects helped establish the candidates with younger voters as the films landed at platforms that appeal to those demographics.

The Buttigieg project hasn’t been picked up by a distributor or streaming service as of yet, according to Axios, as the film’s future is “contingent on the outcome of Buttigieg’s campaign.”

That said, it’s easy to imagine the narrative taking several directions.

As the first openly gay presidential candidate to be a serious contender, that story alone could warrant documenting.

If he were to clinch the nomination, he’d be the youngest Democratic presidential nominee in history.

Or, there’s been much talk of him being considered as a running mate for other Democratic candidates. Lots of chatter about a Kamala Harris/Pete Buttigieg ticket going on…
All of these could make for a compelling documentary.

But, there’s a long road ahead in this election cycle, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

(source: Axios)

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New Polls Show Post-Debate Shakeup Among Democrats

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (L) and Kamala Harris (R)

New polling shows how the first Democratic presidential debates affected the early race.

The latest from Quinnipiac University polling shows former Vice President Joe Biden getting his lowest numbers to date dropping to 22 percent.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) jumped up to second place with 20 percent support.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren follows at 14 percent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is at 13 percent, and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg gets 4 percent. No other candidate garnered more than 3 percent.

The June 11 Quinnipiac University Poll showed Biden at 30 percent, Sanders at 19 percent, Warren with 15 percent, Buttigieg at 8 percent, and Harris with 7 percent.

And in Iowa, Elizabeth Warren has vaulted to the number one position in the new David Binder Research poll.

From IowaStartingLine:

Elizabeth Warren leads the pack in the Iowa Caucus, according to a new poll out this morning from David Binder Research, currently earning the support of 20% of likely Democratic caucus-goers.

Kamala Harris and Joe Biden are both within the margin of error with Warren for first place, but they trail just slightly at 18% for Harris and 17% for Biden.

Bernie Sanders has fallen to fourth place in the polling, sitting at 12%, while Pete Buttigieg has 10% in the survey.

Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker round out the the field with 4% and 2%, respectively, while everyone else is at 1% or below.

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News Round-Up: July 1, 2019

“And what your name is…?”

Some news items you might have missed:

• Don’t know who today’s hottie (above) is, but sure wish I did… #woof #DaddyDefined

• NewNowNext: A survey of Pride Month media coverage shows LGBTQ reports don’t even come close to making up at least the 4.5% that we do in the population.

• NY Daily News: City Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced $19M in new LGBT programs for his city.

• The Hill: The prediction model that accurately predicted Democratic gains in the House four months before the 2018 midterm elections says President Trump will lose Electoral College 278-197 in 2020.

• Gallup Polling: U.S. adults greatly overestimate the American gay population – most guess 23.6% of Americans are gay or lesbian when most reliable reports say 4.5% of Americans are LGBT.

• Donald Trump boasted about having “new Sherman tanks” for his upcoming commandeering of the July 4th celebration in Washington, D.C.

Btw – the last Sherman tank was made in 1945, and haven’t been in service since 1957.

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Poll: Harris & Warren Surge After 1st Democratic Debates

The results of a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS shows Democratic presidential contenders Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have each surged nearly ten points since the first debates last week.

Harris saw the biggest increase from 8 percent support to 17 percent, and Warren jumped 8 points from 7 percent to 15 percent.

Former Vice President Joe Biden dropped a precipitous ten points from 32 percent support to 22 percent.

And Mayor Pete Buttigieg, despite getting strong response for his debate performance, dropped one percent.

Asked ‘who did the best job in the debates,” the hands-down favorite was Harris with 41 percent saying she won.

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Buttigieg Campaign Announces Huge $24 Million In 2nd Quarter Donations

The New York Times reports Mayor Pete Buttigieg received $24.8 million in campaign donations over the past three months.

The New York Times reports Mayor Pete Buttigieg received $24.8 million in campaign donations over the past three months.

According to the Times, that figure is triple Mayor Pete’s 1st quarter reporting, and will be one of the largest disclosed by the current Democratic presidential contenders.

Mr. Buttigieg’s haul, from more than 294,000 donors, is the clearest indicator yet of how a candidate who only months ago was little known among voters has become a formidable contender in the race for the Democratic nomination.

His strong fund-raising gives him the financial resources to build a robust campaign operation and compete with rivals who entered the race as far better-known figures, such as former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is also expected to report a big fund-raising total for the quarter.

Mr. Buttigieg had more than 230,000 new donors in the quarter, bringing his total number of donors during his presidential bid to more than 400,000, his campaign said. The average contribution over the course of his campaign has been $47.42, according to his team.

Campaign press secretary Chris Meagher told CNN that Mayor Pete heads into the 3rd quarter of 2019 with $22.6 million in cash.

All of the candidates are required to report their fund-raising numbers to the Federal Election Commission by July 15.

In related news, LGBTQ Victory Fund – a political action committee that works to elect LGBTQ politicians to office – endorsed Mayor Pete Buttigieg this weekend. The nod is the first presidential endorsement in the organization’s history.

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Night 1 Of Democratic Debates: Warren Leads, Castro Surprises, Booker Strong On LGBTQ Issues

The first Democratic National Committee (DNC) debate of the 2020 presidential election cycle took place last night in Miami and, as expected, there were a few surprises.
Sens. Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and former HUD Sec. Julian Castro

The first Democratic National Committee (DNC) debate of the 2020 presidential election cycle took place last night in Miami and, as expected, there were a few surprises.

Last night’s debate, the first of two, included Julián Castro, Bill de Blasio, Jay Inslee, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Tim Ryan, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Cory Booker, and Elizabeth Warren.

One of the biggest moments of the evening came when Rep. Tulsi Gabbard was asked a question about her history of opposing LGBTQ rights and supporting conversion therapy.

Gabbard noted that she’s since apologized for those statements and reminded people that she grew up in a conservative family with conservative thoughts on LGBTQ people.

“Maybe many people in this country can relate to the fact that I grew up in a socially conservative home, held views when I was very young that I no longer hold today,” Gabbard said. “I served with LGBTQ service members, both in training and deployed down the range. I know they would give their life for me, and I would give my life for them.”

She also promised to support and vote for The Equality Act.

But Sen. Cory Booker jumped in saying Gabbard’s support of The Equality Act was “not enough,” and expanded the conversation to transgender people saying, “We do not talk enough about trans Americans, especially African American trans Americans and the incredibly high rates of murder right now.”

“We don’t talk enough about how many children – about how 30% of LGBTQ children do not go to school because of fear,” said Booker. “It’s not enough just to be on the Equality Act, which I’m an original co-sponsor of. We need to have a president who will fight to protect LGBTQ Americans every single day from violence.”

Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, who appears to have helped himself the most via his debate performance, also brought up trans people during a question about healthcare and abortion rights.

Castro also looked strong on immigration issues as he dominated during that segment of the debate.

The rest of the field didn’t seem to make up any ground, although, sensing they needed their ‘moment,’ Bill de Blasio, Tim Ryan, Beto O’Rourke, and John Delaney began inserting themselves into questions hoping for more speaking time.

At the end of the day, it seems Warren did as expected and came across as the front-runner (in this crowd); Castro elevated himself; and Booker and Sen. Amy Klobuchar each had strong moments.

One surprise was how flat O’Rourke seemed throughout. After a stellar run for U.S. Senate in Texas last year, it seemed his time off from the campaign trail took a bit of a toll on his usual charismatic presence.

Other thoughts from the Twitterverse:

The second group of 10 Democratic candidates – including former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mayor Pete Buttigieg – face off tonight in Miami on NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo at 9 p.m.

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Mayor Pete: Being Gay Is “Not The Only Thing That Defines Me”

In a chat with the Des Moines Register, Mayor Pete Buttigieg shared that, while he's not shied away from being open about being gay and his marriage, "it's not the only thing that defines" him."
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (screen capture)

In a chat with the Des Moines Register, Mayor Pete Buttigieg shared that, while he’s not shied away from being open about being gay and his marriage, “it’s not the only thing that defines” him.”

“I am proud of who I am,” Buttigieg told the Des Moines Register. “I’m certainly very proud of my marriage and my husband. We don’t shy away from that. It’s also not the only thing that defines me.”

“I think some people have an image of what a gay person or an LGBTQ activist is supposed to look like. And I think if you’ve met one gay person, you’ve met one gay person,” he said. “We have different styles and different approaches. But what I try to do is just be who I am … I don’t know who else to be.”

Mayor Pete also addressed the topic of “healthy identity” politics in which “each identity [can] connect with every other one.”

And he drew a contrast between himself and how the current occupant of the Oval Office handles those who are ‘different’ saying, “This is a moment where anybody who can be marked down as different is in some way vulnerable because of the way this administration works.”

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New Florida Poll Shows Biden Would Beat Trump 9+

A new poll of Florida voters from Quinnipiac University shows former Vice President Joe Biden leading Donald Trump by 9 points in a hypothetical head-to-head match up 50% - 41% respectively.
Donald Trump (L) Joe Biden (R)

I know, I know, it’s way early but I always find polls (from reputable firms) interesting to gauge the mood of voters.

A new poll of Florida voters from Quinnipiac University shows former Vice President Joe Biden leading Donald Trump by 9 points in a hypothetical head-to-head match up 50% – 41% respectively.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would trump Trump by 6 points, 48% – 42% respectively.

Some Democrats did better than Trump but within the statistical margin of error:

• Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren 47% to Trump’s 43%

• California Sen. Kamala Harris 45% to Trump’s 44%

• Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke 45% to Trump’s 44%

• Mayor Pete Buttigieg 44% to Trump’s 43%

Also from the survey:

• Democrats back Joe Biden 91 – 3 percent versus Republicans backing Trump 90 – 7 percent.

• Florida voters are not hip on impeaching Trump 62 percent against versus 32 percent who support.

• 54 percent of Florida voters say they are better off today than they were in 2016; 23 percent say they are worse off.

• But Trump’s approval rating is still upside down: 44% approval versus disapproval at 51%.

On the Democrats side, Joe Biden has a huge lead among his fellow contenders garnering 41 percent.

It drops a lot to the second place with Sanders getting 14 percent, Warren 12 percent, Buttigieg 8 percent and Harris scoring 6 percent.

While Trump won Florida’s 29 electoral votes in 2016, he beat Hillary Clinton by only 1.2 points – 49 percent to 47.8 percent respectively. So anything along the lines of this poll is devastating for Trump.

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‘Meet The Press’ Host Presses Mayor Pete On Winning The Black Vote

During an appearance on NBC’s Meet The Press, host Chuck Todd repeatedly quizzed Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, on his relationship with African-American voters and whether being openly gay could be an obstacle in winning their votes.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ‘Meet The Press’

During an appearance on NBC’s Meet The Press, host Chuck Todd repeatedly quizzed Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, on his relationship with African-American voters and whether being openly gay could be an obstacle in winning their votes.

Reading from an interview with Reverend Rodric Reid of the Uplift Church in Indianapolis, Todd recounted Reid’s thoughts on Buttigieg’s marriage to his husband, Chasten.

“‘I guarantee it’s going to be an obstacle for the candidate from South Bend,” read the quote from Reid. “That is really still a touchy subject, specifically and especially in the African American church.”

“Now, I think it could be overcome, because we are gradually getting to a point of, and I don’t want to say ‘accept,’ but we are getting to a point of realizing this is the culture that we are going to have to begin to live with and adapt to it,” added Reid.

Todd then turned to the Mayor and asked how his outreach efforts to the Black community are going.

“They’re going well,” said the 37-year-old mayor. “And we are working very hard to engage people across the party, but especially black voters, who expect you to demonstrate, especially when you’re new on the scene, what your values are and how you’re going to promote policies that lift them up.”

Buttigieg then pivoted to Donald Trump adding, “I also think we have a moment on our hands when we can do the exact opposite of what the president has done.”

“The president has used identity as a wedge, used race as a wedge to divide people who have common interests,” the young mayor explained.

Instead of dividing people, Buttigieg suggested recognizing our “distinctive identities,” whether the Black or LGBTQ community, could help to “build bridges, to reach out to people different from us, knowing that anybody who has been on the short end of an equation of exclusion has a way to sympathize with people who’ve had different experiences with exclusion in this country.”

“And if we build a solidarity around that, then people who have, for whatever reason, felt a lack of belonging or felt exclusion or felt discrimination in this country, even though those patterns of discrimination are very, very different, when all of us come together, we win, and we are all better off,” he added.

‘Meet The Press” host Chuck Todd and Mayor Pete Buttigieg

Todd wasn’t done with the subject, though.

The NBC host told Buttigieg he’d spoken to African-American congressmen who like what they’ve heard from the mayor and could see themselves supporting his campaign, but are concerned some of their more socially conservative constituents may have issues with his sexuality.

Todd wondered what could Buttigieg do to win over those voters?

Noting that he won his second term as mayor in a 80 percent landslide as an out candidate, Mayor Pete answered, “I’d invite them to look at what happened in South Bend.”

He continued saying he was confident “that American voters, especially Democratic voters, will not discriminate when the opportunity comes up to choose the right leader for the future.”

It is worth noting that a recent Post and Courier/Change Research Poll of likely Democratic primary voters in South Carolina, which holds the third presidential primary in the country and is the first real gauge of African-American voters mood, shows Buttigieg has recently surged into third place with 11% behind former Vice President Joe Biden (37%) and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (17%).

So it would appear that Mayor Pete’s outreach to the Black community is showing positive results.

You can watch Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s full interview on NBC’s Meet the Press below. The discussion on Buttigieg and the Black vote happens at the 12:57 mark.

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Trump’s Own Polling Shows Him Trailing Joe Biden In Critical Swing States

ABC News has obtained data from Donald Trump's own internal campaign polling that shows him trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in critical battleground states.
Donald Trump

ABC News has obtained data from Donald Trump’s own internal campaign polling that shows him trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in critical battleground states.

According to the numbers:

Biden leads Trump by 16 points in Pennsylvania, 10 points in Wisconsin, and 7 points in Florida.

In deep red state Texas, Trump leads Biden but by only 2 points.

Until Trump’s narrow wins in both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the two states had voted for the Democratic presidential candidate for decades. Trump cannot afford to lose either of those states as well as Florida.

Earlier this week, Trump denied that such polling exists.

ABC News reports it did not obtain any data on early matchups against other candidates.

The New York Times was first to report the existence of the internal polls.

The Trump campaign told ABC News the data is real but pushed back saying the numbers were old. The campaign apparently claimed that since that polling they’ve seen “huge swings” in Trump’s favor.

In related news, a new poll by EPIC-MRA of Lansing out today shows Biden leading Trump by 11 points 52%-41%.

Michigan was another traditionally blue state that went for Trump in 2016, but by less than 1 percentage point.