{"id":108230,"date":"2019-11-21T08:25:59","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T13:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/pete-buttigieg-fields-question-about-outreach-to-black-voters-in-dem-debate-i-do-have-the-experience-of-feeling-like-a-stranger-in-my-country-watch\/"},"modified":"2019-11-21T08:25:59","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T13:25:59","slug":"pete-buttigieg-fields-question-about-outreach-to-black-voters-in-dem-debate-i-do-have-the-experience-of-feeling-like-a-stranger-in-my-country-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/pete-buttigieg-fields-question-about-outreach-to-black-voters-in-dem-debate-i-do-have-the-experience-of-feeling-like-a-stranger-in-my-country-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"Pete Buttigieg Fields Question About Outreach to Black Voters in Dem Debate: \u2018I Do Have the Experience of Feeling Like a Stranger in My Country\u2019 \u2014 WATCH"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pete Buttigieg Fields Question About Outreach to Black Voters in Dem Debate: \u2018I Do Have the Experience of Feeling Like a Stranger in My Country\u2019 \u2014 WATCH<\/b><\/p>\n

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Kamala Harris was asked at last night\u2019s Democratic debate about her criticism of Pete Buttigieg\u2019s outreach to black voters, and what prompted her to make the criticism.<\/p>\n

Harris had said, earlier in the week, \u201cThe Democratic nominee has got to be someone who has the experience of connecting with all of who we are, as the diversity of the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buttigieg\u2019s campaign was criticized this week for using a stock photo in the rollout of his Douglass Plan for Black Americans. The photo<\/a> was of a Kenyan woman<\/a> and her child.<\/p>\n

Replied Harris, in part: \u201cI was asked a question that related to a stock photograph that his campaign published. But, listen, I think that it really speaks to a larger issue, and I\u2019ll speak to the larger issue. I believe that the mayor has made apologies for that. The larger issue is that for too long I think candidates have taken for granted constituencies that have been the backbone of the Democratic Party and have overlooked those constituencies and have \u2014 you know, they show up when it\u2019s, you know, close to election time and show up in a black church and want to get the vote, but just haven\u2019t been there before. \u2026 And I\u2019m running for president because I believe that we have to have leadership in this country who has worked with and have the experience of working with all folks. And we\u2019ve got to re-create the Obama coalition to win. And that means about women<\/a>, that\u2019s people of color, that\u2019s our LGBTQ community, that\u2019s working people, that\u2019s our labor unions. But that is how we are going to win this election, and I intend to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buttigieg responded: \u201cMy response is, I completely agree. And I welcome the challenge of connecting with black voters in America who don\u2019t yet know me. And before I share what\u2019s in my plans, let me talk about what\u2019s in my heart and why this is so important. As mayor of a city that is racially diverse and largely low income, for eight years, I have lived and breathed the successes and struggles of a community where far too many people live<\/a> with the consequences of racial inequity that has built-up over centuries but been compounded by policies and decisions from within living memory.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI care about this because my faith teaches me that salvation has to do with how I make myself useful to those who have been excluded, marginalized, and cast aside and oppressed in society,\u201d Buttigieg added. \u201cAnd I care about this because, while I do not have the experience of ever having been discriminated against because of the color of my skin, I do have the experience of sometimes feeling like a stranger in my own country, turning on the news and seeing my own rights come up for debate, and seeing my rights expanded by a coalition of people like me and people not at all like me, working side by side, shoulder to shoulder, making it possible for me to be standing here. Wearing this wedding ring in a way that couldn\u2019t have happened two elections ago lets me know just how deep my obligation is to help those whose rights are on the line every day, even if they are nothing like me in their experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kamala Harris, careful not to personally attack Pete Buttigieg over his lack of appeal with black voters, explained what she called \u201cthe larger issue\u201d of candidates taking for granted constituencies that have been the backbone of the Democratic party t.co\/EWaRlzzV3s<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/qiXzDNCXez<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 POLITICO (@politico) November 21, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Buttigieg\u2019s response was well received, at least by black voters in this focus group: <\/p>\n

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.@PeteButtigieg<\/a> improved his standing with every undecided voter in our @foxla<\/a> focus group. <\/p>\n

Several were moved by his comments about the African American community. <\/p>\n

“What I heard from him is he’s willing to learn. He’s willing to listen.”<\/p>\n

Many say he won #DemocraticDebate<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/chTZO1FbTL<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Elex Michaelson (@Elex_Michaelson) November 21, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The post Pete Buttigieg Fields Question About Outreach to Black Voters in Dem Debate: \u2018I Do Have the Experience of Feeling Like a Stranger in My Country\u2019 \u2014 WATCH<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad Gay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Pete Buttigieg Fields Question About Outreach to Black Voters in Dem Debate: ‘I Do Have the Experience of Feeling Like a Stranger in My Country’ \u2014 WATCH<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n