Wine caves and billionaires: Buttigieg under fire over fundraising at Democratic debate

[rooster59]

Wine caves and billionaires: Buttigieg under fire over fundraising at Democratic debate

By Ginger Gibson and Tim Reid

 

Senator Elizabeth Warren criticizes South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg as he seeks the ability to respond during the sixth 2020 U.S. Democratic presidential candidates campaign debate at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California, U.S., December 19, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rising Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg came under attack during a debate among U.S. presidential hopefuls on Thursday, as his rivals questioned the 37-year-old mayor's thin political resume and criticized his fundraising from wealthy donors.

 

During the sixth debate for Democrats seeking their party's nomination to challenge President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election, an intensifying feud between leading contenders Buttigieg and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren over transparency and fundraising burst to the surface.

 

Debating a day after Trump's impeachment in the Democratic-led House of Representatives, the seven candidates were unanimous in supporting that action, but their unity on the issue quickly gave way to spirited and personal battles over money in politics and experience.

 

The exchanges underlined the increasing stakes in the Democratic race seven weeks before the first contest in the state-by-state nominating process in Iowa on Feb. 3. Opinion polls show the race up for grabs, with Buttigieg taking the lead in Iowa and former Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Warren fighting for the top in national polls.

 

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, lagging the frontrunners and pinning her hopes on a strong showing in Iowa to propel her candidacy, also took a shot at Buttigieg by comparing her Senate accomplishments to his public record.

 

Warren questioned whether Buttigieg, the mayor of the Indiana city of South Bend who previously served in the U.S. military and was deployed to Afghanistan, was beholden to his big-money donors and described his ritzy, closed-door fundraiser in a wine cave in California. In a shot at Buttigieg, Warren said she did not sell access to her time or "spend time with millionaires or billionaires."

 

The Buttigieg campaign said after the debate that the fundraiser was not "closed-door", as Warren said, because a designated reporter was in attendance and issued a report on the event to news outlets immediately after the fundraiser ended on Dec. 16.

 

"The mayor just recently had a fundraiser that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and served a $900-a-bottle wine," said the Massachusetts senator, who does not hold big-ticket fundraisers and has focused her campaign on fighting corruption and corporate greed.

 

"Billionaires in wine caves should not pick the president of the United States," Warren said.

 

Buttigieg shot back at Warren, who has a net worth in the millions of dollars, noting that he was the only candidate on the stage who was not a millionaire or billionaire.

 

"This is the problem with issuing purity tests you cannot yourself pass," Buttigieg told Warren.

 

"Your net worth is 100 times mine. We need the support from everybody who is committed to helping us beat Donald Trump," Buttigieg added.

 

Klobuchar noted Buttigieg's failure to win statewide election in Indiana.

 

"Try putting together a coalition to bring you back to office with 80% of the vote as a gay dude in Mike Pence's Indiana," Buttigieg said, referring to the U.S. vice president, who previously served as governor of Indiana and is an opponent of gay rights.

 

The less-crowded debate stage, which featured the fewest participants since the debates began over the summer, gave more time to middle-tier contenders. Klobuchar and entrepreneur Andrew Yang took the spotlight in several of the night's most memorable moments.

 

'MOCKERY AT COCKTAIL PARTY'

 

A day after the historic impeachment vote, the candidates promised to make the case to a divided American public that Trump's impeachment was necessary. They said his leadership had diminished the country's stature and respect abroad.

 

"It's not only in the Middle East we see the consequences of the disappearance of U.S. leadership," Buttigieg said, noting Trump was ridiculed behind his back at a recent gathering of world leaders. "It's not just the mockery at a cocktail party. ... It's the looks on the faces."

 

The House on Wednesday impeached Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress arising from his request that Ukraine investigate Biden and Biden's son Hunter, who had joined the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma while his father was U.S. vice president.

 

Klobuchar said she wanted to hear testimony from top White House aides at the Republican president's trial due next month in the Republican-led Senate, which will determine whether Trump is removed from office.

 

"If President Trump thinks he should not be impeached, he should be not scared to put forward his own witnesses," Klobuchar said. "The president is not king in America. The law is king."

 

The candidates acknowledged that the American public is split over impeachment, with Republicans largely opposing it and Democrats favouring it. But they said it is a fundamental question of right and wrong.

 

"We have to prosecute the case against him, and that means we need a candidate for president who can draw the sharpest distinction," said Warren, who will serve as a juror in the Senate trial.

 

Sanders, another of the jurors, said the United States "cannot have a president with that temperament who is dishonouring the presidency of the United States."

 

With deep and widening partisan divisions in the United States, Biden made the case for the importance of Democrats being able to work with Republicans.

 

"I refuse to accept the notion - as some on this stage do - that we can never get to a place where we have cooperation again. If that's the case, we are dead as a country," Biden said.

 

"If anyone has reason to be angry with the Republicans and not want to cooperate it's me," Biden added. "They have attacked me and my son and my family. I have no love. But the fact is, we have to be able to get things done."

 

In a party that prides itself on its diversity, the debate lineup has been criticized for being nearly all-white - Asian-American Yang was the only minority candidate to qualify.

 

"It's both an honour and a disappointment to be the only candidate of colour on the stage," Yang said.

 

(Reporting by Ginger Gibson and Tim Reid; Additional reporting by Sharon Bernstein and Amanda Becker; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Will Dunham)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-21

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[mogandave]

I’m guessing Warren is done. 
 

Anyone? 

[Baerboxer]

1 hour ago, mogandave said:

I’m guessing Warren is done. 
 

Anyone? 

 

She ought to be. Another millionaire 'socialist" who wants to spend other people's money how she sees fit and claim all the praise and credit for it.

 

Sign of the times thought that she's still there even after deliberately lying about her racial ancestors to enhance her chances.

[mogandave]

1 minute ago, Baerboxer said:

...deliberately lying about her racial ancestors to enhance her chances.

And her job history...

[samran]

12 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

She ought to be. Another millionaire 'socialist" who wants to spend other people's money how she sees fit and claim all the praise and credit for it.

 

Sign of the times thought that she's still there even after deliberately lying about her racial ancestors to enhance her chances.

Quite - she should have instead bragged about grabbing random women’s pussy’s and have set up sham charities and universities in her name. Maybe not paid a few people who worked for her for good measure (you know, others peoples money and all...).

 

She would have been top of the ticket after that. 

Edited December 21, 2019 by samran

[Credo]

It takes money and a lot of money to run a campaign.   Warren had a huge senate war chest which she transferred over and much of that was from big donors.   So, I have to agree with Buttigieg on this one.   She can't pass her own purity test.   

My problem with Warren is her constant castigation of billionaires.  They are not the enemy.   They are the symptom of an economic system out of kilter.   

 

[Stargeezr]

Yes it seems that the USA, has been a country that is being lead by the Millionaires, and 

Billionaires. People who have never known what being in debt is like personally.

  The Donald is a great example. I wonder if a regular person will

ever get in as the President. Doubt it.

Geezer

[spidermike007]

Warren is a witless candidate, who will say anything to win. She is worth $12 million and probably has alot of wealthy friends. And she is slamming Pete for having wealthy friends? She is making a big deal about these guys drinking expensive wine? Means nothing. Just a trope. She is inane. Pete is correct to attract whatever money he can to his campaign. Better to accept money from winemakers and Silicon Valley billionaires, than the guys Trump accepts money from, like Monsanto, and Dow Chemical. Warren will lose. Unfortunately, so will Pete. Bloomberg is the only one with a shot at beating Don Donald.

[Nigel Garvie]

12 hours ago, rhyddid said:

Warren is the best candidate to antagonize Trump, for sure they will try to slash garbage on her, indeed look what Trump has done !

Agreed - best candidate for sure 

1) Not old and failing like Biden and Sanders.

2)  Well to the left (I.e. centre in European terms) but not ideologically besotted like Sanders.

3) Not gay - I doubt the US is ready, most countries aren't, lesbians are more acceptable it appears, I've no idea why. He appears a bit of a wimp also, not Trump beating material.

4) Highly intelligent and articulate

5) Not an also ran like Yang

 

A week is a long time in politics, I'm guessing she is far from done.

Warrens polling figures went way up and have now dropped a fair amount, however she is still clearly in the top 3 .

 

[RideJocky]

2 minutes ago, Nigel Garvie said:

Agreed - best candidate for sure 

1) Not old and failing like Biden and Sanders.

2)  Well to the left (I.e. centre in European terms) but not ideologically besotted like Sanders.

3) Not gay - I doubt the US is ready, most countries aren't, lesbians are more acceptable it appears, I've no idea why. He appears a bit of a wimp also, not Trump beating material.

4) Highly intelligent and articulate

5) Not an also ran like Yang

 

A week is a long time in politics, I'm guessing she is far from done.

Warrens polling figures went way up and have now dropped a fair amount, however she is still clearly in the top 3 .

 

I would vote for a black, Muslim  lesbian conservative before I would vote for Bernie Sanders or any other leftist.

 

 

[Nigel Garvie]

2 minutes ago, RideJocky said:

I would vote for a black, Muslim  lesbian conservative before I would vote for Bernie Sanders or any other leftist.

 

 

I'll tell her to get in touch!

[RideJocky]

Just now, Nigel Garvie said:

I'll tell her to get in touch!

Tell her to run!

[sammieuk1]

Wine cave made me read it or maybe half of it before i fell asleep????

[samran]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Warren is a witless candidate, who will say anything to win. She is worth $12 million and probably has alot of wealthy friends. And she is slamming Pete for having wealthy friends? She is making a big deal about these guys drinking expensive wine? Means nothing. Just a trope. She is inane. Pete is correct to attract whatever money he can to his campaign. Better to accept money from winemakers and Silicon Valley billionaires, than the guys Trump accepts money from, like Monsanto, and Dow Chemical. Warren will lose. Unfortunately, so will Pete. Bloomberg is the only one with a shot at beating Don Donald.

I’m making an early call. I reckon Pete will get the nomination and has the best chance of winning. 

 

When you think about it he’s the perfect contrast to trump. He’s got the intellectual goods, without question to handled the job. Comes across as throughly decent, his Medicare for all who want it won’t scare the horses, and he can shove his military service in the face of captain bonespurs whenever he feels like it. He’s also ‘not of the swamp’ which is a charge Donald can throw at every other candidate. 

Edited December 22, 2019 by samran

[mogandave]

6 minutes ago, samran said:

I’m making an early call. I reckon Pete will get the nomination and has the best chance of winning. 

 

When you think about it he’s the perfect contrast to trump. He’s got the intellectual goods, without question to handled the job. Comes across as throughly decent, his Medicare for all who want it won’t scare the horses, and he can shove his military service in the face of captain bonespurs whenever he feels like it. He’s also ‘not of the swamp’ which is a charge Donald can throw at every other candidate. 

I think he has the best chance, but apparently blacks don’t like him. 

 

What’s he done as a mayor he can point at? He’s pretty smooth, but he’s no Obama, and (from what I’ve seen) has not really done anything. 

I think Amy has a better chance, but please God let it be Elizabeth Warren!!!

 

[samran]

14 minutes ago, mogandave said:

I think he has the best chance, but apparently blacks don’t like him. 

 

What’s he done as a mayor he can point at? He’s pretty smooth, but he’s no Obama, and (from what I’ve seen) has not really done anything. 

I think Amy has a better chance, but please God let it be Elizabeth Warren!!!

 

I think he’ll use the small town mayor thing to his advantage, but you are right that his public office CV is a bit flimsy. In this election, that won’t matter as the Donald’s public office CV is equally as flimsy and he’s been president for 3 years. 
 

As for minorities not voting for him, that will be overstated I think. They certainly aren’t going to vote for the Klansman in chief so they’ll come back to a Pete when the time comes. 
 

[spidermike007]

32 minutes ago, samran said:

I’m making an early call. I reckon Pete will get the nomination and has the best chance of winning. 

 

When you think about it he’s the perfect contrast to trump. He’s got the intellectual goods, without question to handled the job. Comes across as throughly decent, his Medicare for all who want it won’t scare the horses, and he can shove his military service in the face of captain bonespurs whenever he feels like it. He’s also ‘not of the swamp’ which is a charge Donald can throw at every other candidate. 

I like the idea. I would vote for him. Anything is better than an overlord alligator. And I love the idea of a gay president who is a very decent man. It would drive the evangelicals crazy. Love that. But, I think the fly over states would not support him. Hope I am wrong and you are right for the sake of the nation, and the future it has left. 

[RideJocky]

1 minute ago, samran said:

I think he’ll use the small town mayor thing to his advantage, but you are right that his public office CV is a bit flimsy. In this election, that won’t matter as the Donald’s public office CV is equally as flimsy and he’s been president for 3 years. 
 

As for minorities not voting for him, that will be overstated I think. They certainly aren’t going to vote for the Klansman in chief so they’ll come back to a Pete when the time comes. 
 

I didn’t say minorities, I said blacks. They don’t seem to like him, and there support for Trump is on the rise. 
 

The only people buying into the klansman thing is the left, and Trump’s going to start hammering on the history of the Democrat party, and how the left has been exploiting them for years. 
 

Trump wasn’t on the public teat before he was elected, and he did plenty before he was elected. Funny how the left loved him before he was elected. 

[copa8]

On 12/21/2019 at 10:24 PM, RideJocky said:

I would vote for a black, Muslim  lesbian conservative before I would vote for Bernie Sanders or any other leftist.

 

 

I'm voting for an Asian...Andrew Yang.

[Cryingdick]

Thankfully Pete brought his wooden stake and garlic and took out Warren for all of us. She was already sliding down because she actually showed people her plans for everything and was laughed at.

 

She is the equivalent of the ill natured little old lady that sits down at a nice Christmas dinner. The table is loaded with prime rib and the trimmings and nice wine. The entire evening she complains about the price of the wine and brings up how much her last colon surgery cost every chance she can and why beef bothers her. Her only other topic of conversation is that yams make her gassy.

 

Later she commandeers the remote control and fails to be able to use the DVR or find a channel. Yet will not yield the remote to anybody more able because she is such a raging control freak. She sits there muttering under her breath about raising taxes on tech companies that make remote controls. 

 

To Mayor Pete thank you for that. One more down for the circular firing squad. 

Edited December 24, 2019 by Cryingdick

[Cryingdick]

23 minutes ago, copa8 said:

I'm voting for an Asian...Andrew Yang.

 

Please do. A vote for Yang is as good as a vote for Trump.

[lannarebirth]

5 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

Thankfully Pete brought his wooden stake and garlic and took out Warren for all of us. She was already sliding down because she actually showed people her plans for everything and was laughed at.

 

She is the equivalent of the ill natured little old lady that sits down at a nice Christmas dinner. The table is loaded with prime rib and the trimmings and nice wine. The entire evening she complains about the price of the wine and brings up how much her last colon surgery cost every chance she can and why beef bothers her. Her only other topic of conversation is that yams make her gassy.

 

Later she commandeers the remote control and fails to be able to use the DVR or find a channel. Yet will not yield the remote to anybody more able because she is such a raging control freak. She sits there muttering under her breath about raising taxes on tech companies that make remote controls. 

 

To Mayor Pete thank you for that. One more down for the circular firing squad. 

Hopefully Pete and Warren took each other out. Klobuchar and Yang had a good night. Oh, and she's right about the billionaire class.

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-bloomberg-used-prisoners-make-phone-calls-for-2020-campaign-2019-12

[Cryingdick]

1 minute ago, lannarebirth said:

Hopefully Pete and Warren took each other out. Klobuchar and Yang had a good night. Oh, and she's right about the billionaire class.

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-bloomberg-used-prisoners-make-phone-calls-for-2020-campaign-2019-12

 

I am guessing if Biden can remember what room/state he is in and speak as little as he has to he will get the nomination. 

[Jingthing]

I like any of them a million times more than 45. But I really don't get the Mayor Pete mania. He's trying to pose as the Obama of this race but it comes off plastic to me. I think his extreme youth is a bigger problem than the gay thing. It's not only the number but his appearance. Such superficial things aren't supposed to matter but they do. To me the obvious best choices with the best shots to beat 45 -- Klobuchar and Bloomberg.

[Cryingdick]

12 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I like any of them a million times more than 45. But I really don't get the Mayor Pete mania. He's trying to pose as the Obama of this race but it comes off plastic to me. I think his extreme youth is a bigger problem than the gay thing. It's not only the number but his appearance. Such superficial things aren't supposed to matter but they do. To me the obvious best choices with the best shots to beat 45 -- Klobuchar and Bloomberg.

 

The gay thing is a problem because that's a big reason why blacks don't like him.

 

 

Edited December 24, 2019 by Cryingdick

[lannarebirth]

1 hour ago, Cryingdick said:

 

I am guessing if Biden can remember what room/state he is in and speak as little as he has to he will get the nomination. 

Probably, if he promises only one term nd he picks a VP that looks like they can turn it into a 12 year run. Klobuchar is an excellent VP choice. Woman, excellent legislator and from battleground state. I'd prefer Yang win and choose Klobuchar as his VP. He's the only democrat running with any vision whatsoever and his vision mirrors the country I'd like the US to become. Bernie's got some vision but it keeps getting more divisive. But his M4A is still the best plan out there.

[lannarebirth]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

I like any of them a million times more than 45. But I really don't get the Mayor Pete mania. He's trying to pose as the Obama of this race but it comes off plastic to me. I think his extreme youth is a bigger problem than the gay thing. It's not only the number but his appearance. Such superficial things aren't supposed to matter but they do. To me the obvious best choices with the best shots to beat 45 -- Klobuchar and Bloomberg.

I don't think it's his youth or the fact that he's gay. I think it's because he's a corporate Republican that's running as a Democrat. He was mayor of a small town through two term of economic expansion and yet 25%-40% of his constituents live below the poverty line, depending what numbers you look at. And that's in a college town. One get's the sense Pete can live with that.   As for Bloomberg, I'd like to see him in stocks being pelted with garbage for his attempt at subverting our democracy.

Edited December 24, 2019 by lannarebirth

[lannarebirth]

1 hour ago, Cryingdick said:

 

The gay thing is a problem because that's a big reason why blacks don't like him.

 

 

 

It's not because he's gay that Blacks don't like him, it's because he turned his back on them in his small town. He did absolutely nothing for them in South Bend and word gets around. I think he may even be biased against Black people. That's how obvious his disregard for them has been.

[Cryingdick]

16 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

It's not because he's gay that Blacks don't like him, it's because he turned his back on them in his small town. He did absolutely nothing for them in South Bend and word gets around. I think he may even be biased against Black people. That's how obvious his disregard for them has been.

 

Blacks tend to be more homophobic. Anyway whatever the case is you can't win as a dem without them.

[bendejo]

In the US these days a million dollars isn't all that much, in some parts of the country being worth a million bucks merely means you own a house.  It doesn't necessarily imply you can afford a Land Rover. 

 

With so many candidates over 70 you have to consider the health and longevity of any of them, like who will be alive and functional on election day.

Depends who the GOP is running, and what level of disgrace this administration and his party and has been caught lowering itself to by November.  Warren I think is done, she's been pasted with a Doctor Zhivago scenario, along with Bernie.  I can't see a gay candidate winning the general election, and the level of Sodom and Gomorrah accusations about his alleged lifestyle will top the legend of Hillary's infamous email server; if he's running against Pence it'll be billed as St Mike vs The Antichrist. 

I'm not going to comment on each Dem hopeful, but I don't see any shining stars.

 

But I think it would be great if Marianne Williamson made it, especially after this guy.  Her whacko stuff isn't really all that different from what the evangelicals go on about, she just uses different terms. 

 

Don't lose sight that for 35% of the GOP electorate this is not about policy, it is about the person.  Issues are not a factor for them.

 

 

Edited December 24, 2019 by bendejo