THE TWERP

Pete 5 by Nancy Ohanian

The RealClearPolitics national polling average shows Mayo Pete in 5th place with negative momentum. He's also in 5th place with negative momentum in South Carolina, in 5th place in California, 5th place in Texas and 5th place in North Carolina. The newest poll from The Economist by YouGov shows only 24% of Democrats are even considering voting for him and that he's the first choice of just 8% of Democrats (and second choice of just 5%). 60% of registered voters say he would lose to Trump. Only 4% of Democratic primary voters thought he won the last debate.

But unless Bloomberg pays him off, Mayo Pete, who appears to be coming down with coronavirus and is already cancelling live appearances, will never drop out. He'll always harbor some hope that he could somehow be part of a compromise at a brokered convention. And besides, what better does he have do? He has nothing going for him, the way, say Amy Klobuchar does, who will go back to the Senate when this is over. The security establishment that's behind Mayo, can't exactly give him any gainful employment while Trump is in charge and I doubt McKinsey would take him back now.

On Monday, Norman Solomon discussed how a generally innocuous Mayo Pete turned into the nasty twerp who has become a vile anti-Bernie attack machine. Desperate after his terrible performance in the Nevada caucuses, Mayo, with his record of ugly racism as a mayor, accused Bernie of being "narrow" and "not inclusive." Solomon wrote that "Buttigieg has gone from pseudo-progressive to anti-progressive in the last year, and much of his current mission involves denouncing Bernie Sanders with attack lines that are corporate-media favorites ('ideological purity. . . call people names online. . . a narrow and hardcore base'). Buttigieg’s chances of winning the 2020 presidential nomination are now tiny, but he might have a bright future as a rising leader of corporate Democrats. Weirdly, Buttigieg’s claim that Sanders has 'a narrow and hardcore base' came from someone who appears to be almost incapable of getting votes from black people. In Nevada, columnist E.J. Dionne noted, Buttigieg 'received virtually no African American votes.' And Buttigieg made his claim in the midst of a Nevada vote count showing that Sanders received more than three times as many votes as he did. The Washington Post reported that Sanders 'even narrowly prevailed among those who identified as moderate or conservative.' ...[The Twerp's] mission is being steadily repurposed. After increasingly aligning himself with the dominant corporate sectors of the party-- vacuuming up millions of dollars in bundled checks along the way-- Buttigieg is hurling an array of bogus accusations at Sanders."

Solomon had noted previously that Twerpy is a corporate whore gobbling up massive contributions from the health insurance, pharmaceutical and hospital industries for his stand against government-provided healthcare for the working class. Solomon noted that he is nothing but "a glib ally of corporate America posing as an advocate for working people and their families."

Since then, continuing his rightward swerve, Buttigieg has become even more glib, refining his campaign’s creation myth and fine-tuning his capacity to combine corporate policy positions with wispy intimations of technocratic populism. Buttigieg is highly articulate, very shrewd-- and now, in attack mode, more valuable than ever to corporate patrons who are feverishly trying to figure out how to prevent Sanders from winning the nomination. During last week’s Nevada debate, Buttigieg warned that Sanders “wants to burn this party down.”

Over the weekend, the Buttigieg campaign sent out email that tried to obscure its major support from extremely wealthy backers. “At the last debate,” Buttigieg’s deputy campaign manager Hari Sevugan wrote indignantly, “Senator Bernie Sanders condemned us for taking contributions from billionaires. That’s interesting. Because what that tells us is in the eyes of Bernie Sanders, the donations of 45 folks (that’s .0054% of our total donor base) are more important than the donations of nearly 1,000,000 grassroots supporters.”

But Sevugan left out the pivotal roles that very rich contributors have played in launching and sustaining the Buttigieg campaign, with lobbyists and corporate executives serving as high-dollar collectors of bundled donations that add up to untold millions. Buttigieg’s corresponding shifts in policy prescriptions make some sense if we follow the money.

In a detailed article that appeared last week, “Buttigieg Is a Wall Street Democrat Beholden to Corporate Interests,” former Communications Workers of America chief economist Kenneth Peres summed up: “Buttigieg and his supporters like to portray him as a ‘change agent.’ However, he has proven to be a change agent that will not in any significant way challenge the current distribution of power, wealth and income in this country. Given his history, it is no surprise that Wall Street, Big Tech, Big Pharma, Health Insurers, Real Estate Developers and Private Equity have decided to invest millions of dollars into Buttigieg’s campaign.”

In the aftermath of the Nevada caucuses, Buttigieg is escalating his attacks on Sanders (who I actively support), in sync with “news” coverage that is especially virulent from some major corporate outlets. Consider, for example, the de facto smear article that the New York Times printed on Sunday. Or the venomous hostility toward Sanders that’s routine on Comcast-owned MSNBC, which has stepped up its routine trashing of Sanders by journalists and invited guests.

More than ever, corporate Democrats and their media allies are freaking out about the grassroots momentum of the Bernie 2020 campaign. No one has figured out how to stop him. But Buttigieg is determined to do as much damage as he can.

The Mayo Pete Twerp Team has been working in high gear trying to get a Hootie and the Blowfish reunion for his big March 2nd blowout rally. How'd that happen. Jon Reremy's GishGallop post may hold the key.

With the election season heating up, Democratic presidential nominee Bernie Sanders has just been greeted with another round of good news. The pioneering heavy metal band Megadeth has offered to play at Sanders’ upcoming rally before the next primary on Saturday, March 2nd in San Jose, California, and the Sanders campaign has enthusiastically accepted.

“This is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate the diversity of people who believe in a Sanders presidency,” said campaign manager Faiz Shakir, awkwardly forming a set of horns with his fingers for the cameras.

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine was open about the profound role Sanders has played in his stormy life.

“For years, I held on to such intense anger. I could feel it eating my insides. So I drank to getaway. It took me decades to hit rock bottom, and then I bounced to fundamentalist Christianity and went completely off the deep end, even announcing at a show that Obama staged a mass shooting to take away guns,” he explained, sighing. “After that, I knew my meds were wrong. I went to my doctor, and we played with combinations and dosages until I stabilized.”

Mustaine shook visibly as he continued.

“My whole life I’ve been tossed around, too weak to stand without a crutch-- first alcohol, then religion. The things I see Bernie doing, though, it’s unbelievable. It’s inspirational. I want to be part of the team that helps people instead of hiding behind my couch with a gun, muttering to an invisible man and hoping things magically get better. This is a crutch I can really stand behind.”

Sanders took a moment to comment on Mustaine’s journey, saying, “the young man has had it rough. He’s fought his demons, but he’s a better man. I believe in him, and I am proud to have him by my side. Peace sells, and the American people are buying!”