John Fetterman and Graham Platner both flailed into adulthood, living off their affluent parents while not amounting to much. Why have leftists decided this is a good resume for the U.S. Senate?
Pete Buttigieg followed a clear track into politics. Go to Harvard, work in consulting, join the military, run for mayor with clear ambitions for higher office. Why is this ambition inherently bad? I don't care if my electrician authentically wants to rewire my house; I want him to be predictable and competent. Similarly I want my politicians to be predictable and competent. Does it really matter if they are also "authentic"? As you wrote so eloquently, this authenticity is often predictive of unreliability.
On the other hand, as someone with academic and professional success in elite circles, I find Pete Buttigieg very legible. I find it relatively easy to listen to him and understand his priorities. I think I can tell when his support for a position is genuine versus a calculated political bid, and judge him accordingly. I think most Americans find his archetype much more illegible. That's fine, and it's why other bios can be great for political candidates. The problem is when voters find the "angry loser" archetype legible and compelling.
This is a problem with the dirtbag left. They seem to resent a certain type of professional meritocratic success, and view those who succeed this way with deep distrust. Many leftists in elite circles chose to avoid the private sector and instead work in academia, nonprofits, or activism, which creates a real blind spot to the reality that private sector success is typically positive-sum, not theft. It is also correlated with competence and perfectly compatible with progressive policy preferences.
Finally, I hope that everyone learns a lesson here, not just the left. Plenty of moderate democrats are losers who engage in destructive factional warfare, often appealing to diversity in extraordinarily cynical ways (e.g. the Equality PAC recently, the congressional hispanic caucus with Xavier Becerra). And why the fuck did Schumer decide to recruit an unpopular 80 year old governor instead of any other Maine politician under 60 years old?
My most Barro-pilled take is that progressives and leftists just want to find candidates who they think code working class (Platner) or Midwestern male (Tim Walz) or whatever without sacrificing any policy commitments.
This is absolutely it. They are desperate to avoid having to moderate on any cultural commitments (trans, immigration) and think so poorly of the rubes that they can throw a bit of misdirection their way: “Look! He wears a hoodie! Look ! He’s a sports-ball coach! Look! He’s a (pretend) farmer!” It’s all downstream from Trump which made any candidate seem possible, but Trump has severely weakened the Republican Party, not to mention the country. It’s not a playbook we should be implementing.
That is why I pay for your substack, Josh. No bullshit here.
Yet Democrats are yearning for an alternative to, say, serious, responsible Chuck Schumer who writes strongly worded letters, or serious, responsible Elissa Slotkin who whines with "alpha energy" about the Iran war, "Oh, the president needs to *explain* to the American people why we should do this" instead of denouncing it outright from the start.
So you are spot on. Somehow the movement has to figure out how to recognize and elevate the rare combination: character, charisma, strength, and wisdom. The discourse of outrage becomes chaotic and works against this.
Conscientiousness is a valuable asset in this life with all of its tripwires and disappointments. Those who lack this asset often are f*uck ups or cynics.
I guess I prefer the former over the latter, but can’t we find candidates who are neither? That seems a low bar to me.
Love the point about nepo-babies. Say what you will about how John David Washington or Bronny James got to where they are, but now that they are there they actually work- hard. Fetterman? Not so much.
The really sad part is that Maine had a great potential candidate- Jared Golden, the top Democratic electoral over-performer and who would have made a fantastic candidate for this senate seat. But rather than rally around him, many Democrats have attacked him for his moderate views and he’s now retiring from politics.
Pete Buttigieg followed a clear track into politics. Go to Harvard, work in consulting, join the military, run for mayor with clear ambitions for higher office. Why is this ambition inherently bad? I don't care if my electrician authentically wants to rewire my house; I want him to be predictable and competent. Similarly I want my politicians to be predictable and competent. Does it really matter if they are also "authentic"? As you wrote so eloquently, this authenticity is often predictive of unreliability.
On the other hand, as someone with academic and professional success in elite circles, I find Pete Buttigieg very legible. I find it relatively easy to listen to him and understand his priorities. I think I can tell when his support for a position is genuine versus a calculated political bid, and judge him accordingly. I think most Americans find his archetype much more illegible. That's fine, and it's why other bios can be great for political candidates. The problem is when voters find the "angry loser" archetype legible and compelling.
This is a problem with the dirtbag left. They seem to resent a certain type of professional meritocratic success, and view those who succeed this way with deep distrust. Many leftists in elite circles chose to avoid the private sector and instead work in academia, nonprofits, or activism, which creates a real blind spot to the reality that private sector success is typically positive-sum, not theft. It is also correlated with competence and perfectly compatible with progressive policy preferences.
Finally, I hope that everyone learns a lesson here, not just the left. Plenty of moderate democrats are losers who engage in destructive factional warfare, often appealing to diversity in extraordinarily cynical ways (e.g. the Equality PAC recently, the congressional hispanic caucus with Xavier Becerra). And why the fuck did Schumer decide to recruit an unpopular 80 year old governor instead of any other Maine politician under 60 years old?
My most Barro-pilled take is that progressives and leftists just want to find candidates who they think code working class (Platner) or Midwestern male (Tim Walz) or whatever without sacrificing any policy commitments.
This is absolutely it. They are desperate to avoid having to moderate on any cultural commitments (trans, immigration) and think so poorly of the rubes that they can throw a bit of misdirection their way: “Look! He wears a hoodie! Look ! He’s a sports-ball coach! Look! He’s a (pretend) farmer!” It’s all downstream from Trump which made any candidate seem possible, but Trump has severely weakened the Republican Party, not to mention the country. It’s not a playbook we should be implementing.
Wham! Pow! Bang! (Batman fighting words)
That is why I pay for your substack, Josh. No bullshit here.
Yet Democrats are yearning for an alternative to, say, serious, responsible Chuck Schumer who writes strongly worded letters, or serious, responsible Elissa Slotkin who whines with "alpha energy" about the Iran war, "Oh, the president needs to *explain* to the American people why we should do this" instead of denouncing it outright from the start.
So you are spot on. Somehow the movement has to figure out how to recognize and elevate the rare combination: character, charisma, strength, and wisdom. The discourse of outrage becomes chaotic and works against this.
Yes.
Conscientiousness is a valuable asset in this life with all of its tripwires and disappointments. Those who lack this asset often are f*uck ups or cynics.
I guess I prefer the former over the latter, but can’t we find candidates who are neither? That seems a low bar to me.
Thanks Josh.
Love the point about nepo-babies. Say what you will about how John David Washington or Bronny James got to where they are, but now that they are there they actually work- hard. Fetterman? Not so much.
The really sad part is that Maine had a great potential candidate- Jared Golden, the top Democratic electoral over-performer and who would have made a fantastic candidate for this senate seat. But rather than rally around him, many Democrats have attacked him for his moderate views and he’s now retiring from politics.