Is Pete Buttigieg's fandom a cult ?

No, but Trump's is.

Buddha Judge

100%. His fandom refuses to acknowledge his many shortcomings and will rabidly shout homophobia at any criticism.

The fact they're mostly white doesn't help. White people love cults.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I like him because he is intelligent, thoughtful, can speak coherently, and seems willing to learn from, and listen to other people. If he doesn't get the nomination, I will vote for whoever it is that gets it, even Bernie. As of now, Pete is my first choice because I believe he has the qualities required to grow into a great president.

No, it isn't. He's a politician and I have that in the back of my mind at all times. Here's a nice mental exercise: if you can't wrap your head around why someone could be supporting some other candidate than yours or if you make everything super personal, you might be in a proto-cult. I happen to support Pete, but I can totally see why other people support other candidates and their reasons for that support.

Another sign is when people can't stick to discussing policy issues and resort to name calling and Trumpian smears unsupported by any facts, which both seem to be rampant among supporters of one campaign in particular.

I suspect a substantial part are women. The same ones who come here to ship C-list actors and pop twinks and defend poor Kate Middleton against that "awful Smeg Markle". The threads about him are kind of fun to lurk in, if you want to see something usually confined to the BRF threads, "Supernatural", or what have you.

Twitter is the best gauge of cult potential. The Rose Twitter faction (DSA and Our Revolution socialists who are with Bernie) are the worst of the worst. They bullied Beto, Kamala, and Warren as well. Of course, Pete remains their biggest target. The Yang Gangers are more annoying than anything.

But if you want to see an example of a cult of personality, look no further than this tweet. Rachel Thomas used to be Beto's comms person before she switched to Pete's team after he had dropped out. This is her tweet announcing that - just look at the replies. You will never see Pete supporters on Twitter reacting like that, ever.

She also got threatened later on...

Lots of missing posts here.

Identity politics shit stirrers , R9. Trolls have been very active here with their divide-and-conquer playbook lately.

R3 Bullshit. I’m black and I love him. I love we have a gay Democratic candidate, unlike you self-hating Bernie/Liz cunts

It’s not a cult. Pete is the first openly gay man to run for President, and his bold run is fascinating and compelling. He’s incredibly inspirational to gay men as a result. Is it a shock they’d be a million percent behind him?

It’s incredibly unlikely he will be the nominee though, and I’d hope that my fellow gays will not pull a Bernbot in 2020, and will get behind Biden or, quite a bit less likely, Warren.

Sure some people act it but not anymore so than supporters of any other damn candidate. Actually I would argue substantially less so than Bernie ( & even Warren). Have you heard of this thing called Twitter, OP? It’s pretty much just daily scripture praising the Bern mixed with demands for a gay guy’s head to be presented on a silver platter.

What's with the countless anti-Buttigieg threads?

Him being gay is the only interesting thing to me about him. The rest of the package may as well be John Kasich of some other equally blah Midwestern centrist Republican. I don't vote with my penis or based on my sexuality, that's why I find this slavish obsession with him so bemusing.

No, Pete supporters are reasonable center-left people who like intelligence, realistic solutions to complex problems and nuanced arguments. Bernie, however, is the leader of a cult. That is obvious in the Bros' interactions online (see Twitter and the OP of this thread) and offline (see them protesting Pete's events instead of going after Trump). Does that answer your question, OP?

What's not to love about this wholesome gay couple from the Midwest?

But to answer your question OP, certainly not. Fandom implies thoughtless emotional adulation. On the contrary the support of Pete is informed and smart.

See, read this to see why Pete is the best bet even though I agree with Bernie and Warren. (Biden is a useless, losing, lazy option.)

"But among the radical/socialist/progressive/liberal (choose your epithet) wing of the Democratic Party there is an ambition, a hunger for earth-shaking pledges. The bold Green New Deal, Medicare for all (which to those of us who are European may not seem such a giant leap) - these are big ticket policy ambitions with even greater price tags attached.

People like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may be a social media genius (and she is), and she may have a massive number of followers (and she has), and be charismatic (and she has that by the bucketload) - but America is a big country with an awful lot of voters who are not signed up to all the "woke" things she and others might be advocating."

R4: yes, it was extremely intelligent to respond that he didn't want black people's votes. Whether he meant it or not, a soundbite like that tanks a political career. How smart can he be?

Do not bother to cite his academic CV. Scholastic accolades are not always a measure of intelligence.

That wasn't what he said R18. He was not campaigning at the time, he was dealing with a shooting. He was saying that he was there to talk about the situation, not to ask for their votes.

Of course the far left has taken that moment out of context and run with it as part of their smears.

R18, you Bernie Bros don't care how much you lie just to achieve your ends of getting Comrade Bernie the nomination. Fuck you! You know good and well that Pete was dealing with a shooting and he told the woman who was yelling at him non-stop (about the shooting) in South Bend that he wasn't there seeking her (or anyone else's) vote, that he was there as mayor to listen to his constituents. But keep lying, Bros. My absolute revulsion at your "revolution" will ensure that I never vote for Bernie in any election (primary or general).

Pete is seen as a threat by both the progressives and the establishment wings of the DP. He must be doing something right. Who'd have thought this 6 months ago about a young gay man from Indiana?

damn, someone has discovered our secret haven in the basement of the South Bend pizza parlor, where we convert all the gays into white bread christian fundamentalists espousing the prosperity gospel of capitalism.

none of us have dicks or holes.

That pic is awfully creepy OP.

No, I admire him for some practical reasons. When you are nothing like him, OP, you may wonder why you're not admired and you will question his appeal.

R19: re-read what I said. It doesn't matter the context- my point was that a soundbite like that is stupid regardless of context. "He wasn't campaigning" is naive- of course he already had his eye toward the presidency. He goofed.

R20: I'm not a fanatic of any candidate because I'm not a ridiculous zealot like yourself. Pete provided a soundbite in a way that was stupid and sloppy and it has been used against him. It also isn't the only reason nonwhites don't like him. People like you are way worse than any Bernie bro I have encountered.

R19: P.S. you must be really stupid to talk about the "far left" on a gay forum. The far left is the only reason we have rights, you nitwit. What's next? Are you going to go into the closet and become a Republican?

R26 is hilarious. Sit the fuck down. The far left hates your faggot ass as much as it hates Jews. Unless you’re black and or trans you’re the reason for all the world’s problems.

R27: none of that made any sense. You sound of sub-human intelligence. Go back to Reddit.

Another nice look into the cult of The Bern. This hysterical 17 year old Bernie fan & climate “activist” confronting Pete on the rope line at an event. Greta Thunberg she is not.

Girl, you best not be grabbing onto a gay man’s arm and aggressively yelling in his face like that. MARY.

These Pete threads are great for blocking rabid Bernie Bros

A Bernie Bro who is running to primary Castro in Texas suggested Pete and his donors should be hanged earlier today.

Though to be fair, he also wished malignant cancer on Obama previously...

^^ Running to primary Joaquin, not Julián, just to clarify.

So a typical Bernie Bro, R31?

[quote]People are criticizing me for wishing cancer on Obama. I say that having lost a parent to brain cancer after 12 years of fighting, and getting to see just how terrible our Healthcare system is, and I still think he deserves it or worse.

r33 Pretty much.

OP is a GOP plant.

My God, R34, are these Bros trying to lose the black vote? They do everything in their power.

Bro's name is Justin Lecea.

Can we get back to Pete please? Enough of this impeachment. We all know the Senate will make a joke out of it.

People who espouse the sentiments in R18's second half really cause me to question THEIR intelligence. I'm quite turned off by this American pride in claiming those who don't do well at school, or drop out, are somehow more intelligent than a Rhodes Scholar, and other scholarship recipients.

R18 No matter what you think of this man, you cannot take his degrees away from him, his honours, or his academic accolades. Regardless of your [italic] opinion [/italic] , his CV does indeed prove he's intelligent.

No, only Warren's is, among the Dem nominees.