What Exactly is Mayor Pete up to?

Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign has been described as a “long shot” by publications ranging from the Wall Street Journal to his home town paper in South Bend, Indiana. However, this 37 year old, openly gay, small town mayor seems to disagree. In a recent interview with journalist John Heilemann, Buttigieg stated his belief that the presidential contest is winnowing down to a “two way race” between himself and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. The first in the nation Iowa Caucuses are just shy of 100 days away, meaning that now is the time where speculation becomes reality. If Mayor Pete’s hunch is correct, it will become apparent very soon.
The polling seems to both support and dispel Mayor Pete’s prediction. The Mayor, VP Biden, Sen. Sanders and Sen. Warren are all within the 4.7% margin of error in the latest Sienna/NYT poll of likely Iowa voters. In English, this means that the contest is essentially between these 4 candidates, at least in Iowa.
Mayor Pete’s surprise surge in Iowa is even more of a surprise given the criticism he’s received recently relating to his relationship with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. It was widely reported last week that Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan both sent emails to Buttigieg’s campaign manager recommending the campaign hire two former Facebook employees. The former Facebook employees were ultimately hired over 7,000 other applicants.

Zuckerberg and Buttigieg have a history that goes back to their time at Harvard, where they overlapped and had mutual friends. However, recent events show that these hires may have been politically motivated. Facebook has been in the news recently regarding a recent policy change that would allow politicians to post false or misleading information. The move has been widely criticized as an enabler of fake news, while Zuckerberg has stated that the policy is consistent with first amendment interpretations.
The Zuckerberg-Buttigieg story, which broke on Oct. 21, has largely faded from the news cycle. However, it will certainly be a point of contention between Warren and Buttigieg during the Nov. 20 Democratic debate. At the last debate, Buttigieg stood out by attacking Warren on healthcare. At the next debate, Warren will certainly attack Buttigieg over the Facebook hires, and her argument is compelling. Her campaign recently ran false ads on Facebook, proving how easy it is to spread misinformation on the platform. If she can tie Mayor Pete to this policy, then he is in big trouble.

The scene is set for a battle between Warren and Buttigieg. While the pair may not be the front runners yet, their supporters share many similarities. The polling shows that many voters are having a hard time deciding between Warren and Buttigieg, with 88% of Buttigieg supporters saying they would be comfortable with a Warren presidency (Business Insider). With Buttigieg’s entanglement in the Facebook story, it is likely him who will be on the defensive during the Nov. 20 debate.
