Thoughts Upon Witnessing a Protest Against Pete Buttigieg on West 69th Street

Last night, on my way home from work, I picked up my clothing from a laundromat on West 69th Street. Across the street from the laundromat there were a couple of dozen people chanting. At first I thought they were saying, "Wall Street B". But this didn't make a lot of sense.


After I exited the laundromat, the chants became, "Hey hey!!! Ho ho!!! Wall Street Pete has got to go!!!" It was then that I realized they were protesting Pete Buttigieg and that he was appearing at the home of a wealthy Democratic Party donor for a fundraiser. I would later learn that Buttigieg was at the home of tech entrepreneur Kevin Ryan.


I also learned the protest was organized by New York Communities for Change, an organization which ostensibly advocates for low income communities of color. Although from what I could see across the street a majority of the small gathering was overwhelmingly white. Whatever their racial background of protesters they object to Buttigieg consorting with billionaires. Of course, there is a segment of Democratic Party supporters who believe the very existence of billionaires is immoral. But now that we know Bernie Sanders is a millionaire....well, they look the other way.


There is a certain irony in that an organization which is sympathetic to Bernie's anti-Wall Street agenda is angriest at the candidate with the smallest net worth. Buttigieg might have worked at McKinsey, but it didn't make him a millionaire. There a lot of people who work for large private sector corporations who don't become millionaires. Somehow I don't think targeting Buttigieg because he worked for a large corporation is going to resonate with the majority of American workers.


In which case this could help Buttigieg in the long run. Of course, people are free to protest Buttigieg, but the reasons for their protest and the manner in which they are protesting come across as silly and unreasonable. Trans people are going to have a hard time convincing people Buttigieg is transphobic. Black Lives Matter protesters are going to have a hard time convincing people Buttigieg is a racist. Should Buttigieg over come this kind of resistance and somehow win his party's nomination, it will be hard for Trump to convince people that Buttigieg is a socialist when the socialists call him Wall Street Pete. Most people don't hate billionaires and if given the chance would like to become one themselves.


Being the voice of reason has taken Pete Buttigieg further than anyone possibly expected. So long as Buttigieg remains the voice of reason in an age of irrationality then he has chance of going even further than he has already come so far.