I think its just strategy to a certain degree. You dont have to ascribe hes caved to lobbyists when you have no evidence and there are alternate reasons.
I normally wouldn't raise it as an explanation but the sharp turn in his rhetoric is eyebrow-raising IMO. I suppose it could "merely" be that he just changed his tune because he concluded it was politically advantageous to do so but that... isn't much better?
Like, I agree that Biden is the most likely to politically implode and that it's far less crowded (among the candidates who poll better than a rock) in the moderate lane (LotM, out of curiosity is there a reason you put that in quotes before? I don't use lane as a pejorative, just as a shorthand for the ideological divide in the candidates/direction of the party. Sanders/Warren are the progressive lane, etc.) but that's not where Buttigieg tried to portray himself when he first entered. If he had done so, that'd be entirely different - it'd be consistency!
Suprak the Stud posted...
Its why Pete has been going up in the polls while Beto has been going down imo.
I don't really have the motivation to do this myself, certainly not now, but probably not ever... but I'm not entirely sure this tracks with his polling.
What I mean is, if my recollection of the race dynamics is right (which is a bit iffy I'll admit, feels like an eternity) Buttigieg entered basically as a no-name (mayor in Indiana and all that) but speaking like he was in the same area as Sanders/Warren (though obviously not with the decades of street cred those two have) in terms of big structural change, etc.
I want to say it was a strong first debate performance which is what saw him actually rise and enter the "contender" tier... but at the time he was still hanging in the progressive lane. It was only later that he started drifting towards the center and while his polling has gone up a bit we're not talking a dramatic rise. Most of that work was done before the shift.
idk it just feels to me like he entered the race talking about big changes and progressive policy, he got some buzz talking that way and his polls and fundraising went up... and then he started sliding towards the center. It could be sheer political opportunism but... it feels misplayed if it's that, I think? Like it feels too sharp and fast a turn to me. Pivoting towards the center always happens for the general, and you'll see candidates try to get a headstart on it sometimes for various reasons but doing it too fast just feels a bit too nakedly political to me.
idk maybe i'm weird
The center/left divide isn't that black and white. A lot of people like Justice Kennedy and Justice Roberts precisely because they don't vote in lockstep with their party (none of the justices do, but those are definitely the 2 perceived as not basing decisions on ideology).
I don't see how promising to nominate judges like Kennedy should be objectionable. I know Trump lambasted Ted Cruz for supporting Roberts but Trump just saw an opportunity to tie lyin Ted to Obama and he seized it. ---
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